Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 2.djvu/401

364 head awhile, then raised his eyes to me and answered, ‘Thou sayest sooth in avouching thyself a renowned cavalier and a famous champion and the lion of the desert; but if ye all attack me treacherously and slay me and take my sister by force, it will be a stain upon your honour. If ye be, as thou sayest, cavaliers that are counted among the champions and fear not the shock of battle, give me time to don my armour and gird on my sword and set my lance in rest and mount my horse. Then will we go forth into the field and fight; and if I conquer you, I will kill you, every man of you; and if you overcome me and slay me, this damsel my sister is thine.’ ‘This is but just,’ answered I, ‘and we oppose it not.’ Then I turned my horse’s head, mad for love of the damsel, and rode back to my companions, to whom I set forth her beauty and grace, as also the comeliness of the young man and his valour and strength of soul and how he avouched himself a match for a thousand horse. Moreover, I described to them the tent and all the riches and rarities it contained and said to them, ‘Be sure that this youth would not have taken up his abode alone in this desert place, were he not a man of great prowess: so I propose that whoso slays him shall take his sister.’ And they agreed to this. Then we armed ourselves and mounting, rode to the tent, where we found the young man armed and mounted; but his sister ran up to him, with her veil drenched with tears, and laying hold of his stirrup, cried out, saying, ‘Alas!’ and ‘Woe worth the day!’ in her fear for her brother, and recited the following verses:

To God above I make my moan of sorrow and affright. Mayhap, the empyrean’s Lord will smite them with dismay. They fain would kill thee, brother mine, with malice aforethought, Though never cause of anger was nor fault forewent the fray. Yet for a champion art thou known among the men of war, The doughtiest knight that East or West goes camping by the way.