Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/101

83 days [at a time] and go round about the island in all directions, gathering firewood, which they brought to the princess’s kitchen; and thus they abode five years.

One day, it chanced that the prince and his men were sitting on the sea-shore, devising of what had befallen, and Seif bethought him of his father and mother and his brother Saïd and calling to mind his former high estate, fell a-weeping and lamenting passing sore, whilst his servants wept likewise. Then said they to him, ‘O king of the age, how long shall we weep? Weeping availeth not; for this thing was written on our foreheads by the ordinance of God, to whom belong might and majesty. Indeed, the pen runneth with that which He decreeth and nought will serve us but patience. Peradventure God (blessed and exalted be He!), who hath afflicted us with this calamity, will deliver us therefrom.’ ‘O my brothers,’ said Seif, ‘how shall we win free from this accursed woman? I see no way of escape for us, except God of His favour deliver us from her; but methinks we may flee and be at rest from this travail.’

‘O king of the age,’ answered they, ‘whither shall we flee? For the whole island is full of man-eating ghouls, and whithersoever we go, they will find us there and either eat us or carry us back to the king’s daughter, who will be wroth with us.’ Quoth Seif, ‘I will contrive you somewhat, whereby it may be God the Most High will help us to escape from this island.’ ‘And how wilt thou do?’ asked they. ‘Let us cut some of these long pieces of wood,’ answered he, ‘and twist ropes of their bark and bind them one with another, and make of them a raft, which we will cast into the sea and load with these fruits. Then will we fashion us oars and embark on the raft; peradventure God the Most High will make it the means of our deliverance from this accursed woman and vouchsafe us a fair wind to bring us to the land of Hind, for