Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 5.djvu/139

117 So he despatched a company, to learn the meaning of this, who presently returned and said to him, ‘O King, when we drew near the cloud of dust, the wind smote it and it lifted and discovered seven standards and under each standard three thousand horse, making for King Kefid’s camp.’ Then King Facoun joined himself to the King of Hind and saluting him, enquired how it was with him and what was this war in which he was engaged. ‘Knowest thou not,’ answered Kefid, ‘that King Teigmous is my enemy and the murderer of my father and brothers? Wherefore I am come forth to do battle with him and take my wreak on him.’ Quoth Facoun, ‘The blessing of the sun be upon thee!’ And the King of Hind carried King Facoun to his tent and rejoiced in him with an exceeding great joy.

To return to Janshah. He abode shut up in his palace, without seeing his father or allowing one of the damsels or singing-women in his service to come in to him, for two months’ space, at the end of which time he grew troubled and restless at not seeing the King and said to his attendants, ‘What ails my father that he cometh not to visit me?’ They told him that he had gone forth to do battle with the King of Hind, whereupon quoth Janshah, ‘Bring me my horse, that I may go to my father.’ But he said in himself, ‘I am taken up with the thought of my beloved, and I deem well to journey to the city of the Jews, where haply God shall grant me to meet the merchant, and maybe he will hire me once more and deal with me as before, for none knoweth wherein is good.’ So he took with him a thousand horse and set out, the folk deeming that he purposed to join his father in the field, and they fared on till dusk, when they halted for the night in a vast meadow. As soon as he knew that all his men were asleep, the prince rose and girding his middle, mounted his horse and rode out, intending for Baghdad, for that he had heard from the Jews that a caravan came thence to