Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 3.djvu/217

197 help and lifting his hands to heaven. When Amjed saw this, he took the sword and running to the lion, smote him between the eyes and laid him dead on the ground. The Amir arose, marvelling at this, and seeing Amjed and Asaad his lord’s sons, standing there, cast himself at their feet and exclaimed, ‘By Allah, O my lords, it were foul wrong in me to put you to death! May the man never be who would kill you! Indeed, I will ransom you with my life.’ Then he rose and embracing them, enquired how they had loosed their bonds and come thither, whereupon they told him how the bonds of one of them had fallen loose and he had unbound the other, that they might quit their intent, and how they had followed his track till they came upon him. He thanked them for their deed and went with them forth of the wood, where they said to him, ‘O uncle, do our father’s bidding.’ ‘God forbid,’ answered he, ‘that I should draw near to you with hurt! I mean to take your clothes and clothe you with mine; then will I fill two vials with the lion’s blood and go back to the King and tell him I have put you to death. But as for you, fare ye forth into the lands, for God’s earth is wide; and know, O my lords, that it irks me to part from you.’ At this, they all fell a-weeping; then the two youths put off their clothes and the treasurer covered them with his own. Moreover, he filled two vials with the lion’s blood and making two parcels of the princes’ clothes, set them before him on his horse’s back. Then he took leave of them and making his way back to the city, went in to King Kemerezzeman and kissed the earth before him. The King saw him pale and troubled and deeming this came of the slaughter of the two princes (though in truth it came of his adventure with the lion) rejoiced and said to him, ‘Hast thou done the business?’ ‘Yes, O our lord,’ answered the treasurer and gave him the two parcels of clothes and the two vials of blood. ‘How bore they