The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 3 | Page 9

him wan faced, lean of limb and
tearful eyed, knew that something had occurred to chagrin him and said,
"O my son, acquaint me with thy case and tell me what hath befallen
thee, that thy colour is changed and thy body is wasted. So he told him
all that had passed and what tale he had heard of Aziz and the account
of the Princess Dunya; and how he had fallen in love of her on hearsay,
without having set eyes on her. Quoth his sire, "O my son, she is the
daughter of a King whose land is far from ours: so put away this

thought and go in to thy mother's palace."--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Thirtieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan
continued to Zau al-Makan: And the father of Taj al-Muluk spake to
him on this wise, "O my son, her father is a King whose land is far
from ours: so put away this thought and go into thy mother's palace
where are five hundred maidens like moons, and whichsoever of them
pleaseth thee, take her; or else we will seek for thee in marriage some
one of the King's daughters, fairer than the Lady Dunya." Answered
Taj al-Muluk, "O my father, I desire none other, for she it is who
wrought the gazelles which I saw, and there is no help but that I have
her; else I will flee into the world and the waste and I will slay myself
for her sake." Then said his father, "Have patience with me, till I send
to her sire and demand her in marriage, and win thee thy wish as I did
for myself with thy mother. Haply Allah will bring thee to thy desire;
and, if her parent will not consent, I will make his kingdom quake
under him with an army, whose rear shall be with me whilst its van
shall be upon him." Then he sent for the youth Aziz and asked him, "O
my son, tell me dost thou know the way to the Camphor Islands?" He
answered "Yes"; and the King said, "I desire of thee that thou fare with
my Wazir thither." Replied Aziz, "I hear and I obey, O King of the
Age!"; where upon the King summoned his Minister and said to him,
"Devise me some device, whereby my son's affair may be rightly
managed and fare thou forth to the Camphor Islands and demand of
their King his daughter in marriage for my son, Taj al-Muluk." The
Wazir replied, "Hearkening and obedience." Then Taj al-Muluk
returned to his dwelling place and his love and longing redoubled and
the delay seemed endless to him; and when the night darkened around
him, he wept and sighed and complained and repeated this poetry,
"Dark falls the night: my tears unaided rail * And fiercest flames of
love my heart assail: Ask thou the nights of me, and they shall tell * An
I find aught to do but weep and wail: Night long awake, I watch the
stars what while * Pour down my cheeks the tears like dropping hail:
And lone and lorn I'm grown with none to aid; * For kith and kin the
love lost lover fail."
And when he had ended his reciting he swooned away and did not

recover his senses till the morning, at which time there came to him one
of his father's eunuchs and, standing at his head, summoned him to the
King's presence. So he went with him and his father, seeing that his
pallor had increased, exhorted him to patience and promised him union
with her he loved. Then he equipped Aziz and the Wazir and supplied
them with presents; and they set out and fared on day and night till they
drew near the Isles of Camphor, where they halted on the banks of a
stream, and the Minister despatched a messenger to acquaint the King
of his arrival. The messenger hurried forwards and had not been gone
more than an hour, before they saw the King's Chamberlains and Emirs
advancing towards them, to meet them at a parasang's distance from the
city and escort them into the royal presence. They laid their gifts before
the King and became his guests for three days. And on the fourth day
the Wazir rose and going in to the King, stood between his hands and
acquainted him with the object which induced his visit; whereat he was
perplexed for an answer inasmuch as his daughter misliked men and
disliked marriage. So he bowed his head groundwards awhile, then
raised it and calling one of his eunuchs, said to