Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 3.djvu/147

127 telling him where she is and who took her away. But I have seen neither girl nor boy; the door was locked all night, for I slept before it, with the key under my head, and opened to him in the morning with my own hand.’ When the King heard this, he cried out, saying, ‘Alas, my son!’ And he was sore enraged against the Vizier, who had been the cause of all this, and said to him, ‘Go, bring me news of my son and see what hath befallen his wit.’ So the Vizier rose and hastened with the slave to the tower, tumbling over his skirts, in his fear of the King’s anger. The sun had now risen and when he came in to Kemerezzeman, he found him sitting on the couch, reading the Koran; so he saluted him and sitting down by his side, said to him, ‘O my lord, this wretched slave brought us news that disquieted and alarmed us and incensed the King.’ ‘And what,’ asked Kemerezzeman, ‘hath he told you of me, to trouble my father? In good sooth, he hath troubled none but me.’ ‘He came to us in a sorry plight,’ answered the Vizier, ‘and told us of thee a thing which God forfend and a lie which it befits not to repeat, may God preserve thy youth and sound wit and eloquent tongue and forbid aught of foul to come from thee!’ ‘O Vizier,’ said the prince, ‘what did this pestilent slave say of me?’ ‘He told us,’ replied the Vizier, ‘thou hadst taken leave of thy wits and would have it that a young lady lay with thee last night and wast instant with him to tell thee whither she had gone and didst torture him to that end.’ When Kemerezzeman heard this, he was sore enraged and said to the Vizier, ‘It is manifest to me that you taught the eunuch to do as he did and forbade him to tell me what became of the young lady. But thou, O Vizier, art more reasonable than the eunuch; so do thou tell me forthright whither went the young lady that lay in my bosom last night; for it was you who sent her and bade her sleep in my arms, and we lay together till day; but