Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 5.djvu/144

122 will not return to my country.’ So the bird left him with Shah Bedra and flew away. The King bade him welcome and said to him, ‘O my son, who art thou and whence comest thou with yonder great bird?’ So Janshah told him his story, whereat Shah Bedra marvelled and said, ‘By the virtue of the lord Solomon, I know not of this castle; but [when the beasts come to pay their respects to me, we will ask them thereof, and] if any know it, we will reward him bountifully and send thee thither by him.’

So Janshah took patience and abode with Shah Bedra, [who gave him certain tablets, inscribed with magical formulas,] saying ‘O my son, commit to memory that which is in these tablets; [so wilt thou be gifted to understand the language of beasts;] and when the beasts come, question them of the Castle of Jewels.’ He did as the King bade him, and before long, up came the beasts, kind after kind, and saluted Shah Bedra, who questioned them of the Castle of Jewels; but they all replied, ‘We know not this castle, nor ever heard we of it.’ At this Janshah wept sore and lamented for that he had not gone with the bird that brought him from Sheikh Nesr’s castle; but Shah Bedra said to him, ‘Grieve not, O my son, for I have a brother who is older than I; his name is King Shimakh and he rules over all the Jinn in the country. He was once a prisoner to King Solomon, for that he rebelled against him; nor is there among the Jinn an elder than he and Sheikh Nesr. Belike he knows of this castle.’ So saying, he set Janshah on the back of a beast and gave him a letter to his brother, commending him to his care.

So the beast set off with the prince and fared on days and nights, till it came to King Shimakh’s abiding-place and stood still afar off; whereupon Janshah alighted and walked on, till he found himself in the presence of the