Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/125

103 where he sat with her; and they lay together that night without lewdness. Next morning, he went out and sitting down on the throne of his kingship, invested his uncle Damigh with a dress of honour and appointed him his viceroy over all Irak, commending Mehdiyeh to his care, till he should return from his expedition against Agib; after which he set out for the land of Yemen with twenty thousand horse and ten thousand foot.

Now, when Agib and his defeated army came in sight of Oman, King Julned saw the dust of their approach and sent scouts to find out its meaning, who returned and told him that this was the dust of Agib, lord of Irak. And Julned wondered at his coming and said to his officers, ‘Go forth and meet him.’ So they went forth and met him and pitched tents for him at the gate of the city; and Agib sent in to Julned, weeping and mournful-hearted. Now Julned’s wife was the daughter of Agib’s father’s brother, and he had children by her. So, when he saw his kinsman in this plight, he asked what ailed him and Agib told him all that had befallen him, saying, ‘O King, Gherib commandeth the folk to worship the Lord of the Heavens and forbiddeth them from the service of idols and other gods.’ When Julned heard this, he was mightily enraged and said, ‘By the virtue of the light-giving sun, I will not leave one of thy brother’s folk on life! But where didst thou leave them and how many men are they?’ ‘I left them in Cufa,’ answered Agib; ‘and they are fifty thousand horse.’ Whereupon Julned called his Vizier Jawamerd, saying, ‘Take seventy thousand horse and go to Cufa and bring me the Muslims alive, that I may torture them with all manner of tortures.’

So Jawamerd departed with his host and fared on seven days’ journey towards Cufa, till he came to a valley abounding in trees and streams and fruits, where he called a halt and they rested till the middle of the night, when