Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 5.djvu/267

235 the messenger grievously and returned a flouting answer to Solomon, threatening him and saying, “Thy soul hath suggested to thee a vain thing: dost thou threaten me with lying words? But gird thyself for battle; for, an thou come not to me, I will assuredly come to thee.”

The messenger returned to Solomon and told him all that had passed, which when the prophet heard, he was exceeding wroth and levied an army of men and Jinn and birds and beasts and reptiles. He commanded his Vizier Ed Dimiryat, King of the Jinn, to assemble the Marids of the Jinn from all parts, and he gathered together unto him six hundred millions of devils. Moreover, by his order, his Vizier Asef ben Berkhiya levied him an army of men, to the number of a thousand thousand or more. These all he equipped with arms and armour and mounting, with his host, upon his magic carpet, flew through the air, whilst the beasts fared under him and the birds flew overhead, till he lighted down on the island of the refractory King and encompassed it about, filling the earth with his hosts. Then he sent to our King, saying, “Behold, I am come: defend thyself against that which is fallen upon thee, or else make thy submission to me and confess my apostleship and give me thy daughter to wife and break thine idol and worship the one God, the alone Worship-Worth, and testify, thou and thine, that there is no god but God and that I am His prophet. This if thou do, thou shalt have peace and pardon; but, if not, it will avail thee nothing to fortify thyself in this island, for God, blessed and exalted be He, hath commanded the wind to obey me; so I will bid it bear me to thee on my carpet and make thee an example to deter others.” But the King made answer to his messenger, saying, “It may not in any wise be as he demandeth; so tell him I come forth to him.” Then he gathered together all the Jinn that were under his hand, to the number of a thousand thousand, and added to them