Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/137

119 great and small, and grandees and officers taken and bound and brought before King Shehyal, who said to the captive monarch, ‘O Azrec, where is my guest, the mortal Seif el Mulouk?’ ‘O Shehyal,’ answered the Blue King, ‘thou art a genie and I am a genie, and is it on account of a mortal, who slew my son, the darling of my heart and the delight of my soul, that thou hast done all this and spilt the blood of so many thousand Jinn?’

‘Leave this talk,’ rejoined Shehyal; ‘knowest thou not that a single mortal is better, in God’s sight, than a thousand Jinn? If he be alive, bring him to me, and I will set thee free and all whom I have taken of thy sons and people; but if thou have slain him, I will slaughter thee and thy sons.’ ‘O king,’ said Azrec, ‘is this fellow of more account with thee than my son?’ Quoth Shehyal, ‘Thy son was an evildoer, who carried off kings’ daughters and shut them up in the Castle of Japhet son of Noah and evil entreated them.’ Then said the Blue King, ‘He is with me; but make thou peace between us.’ So he delivered the prince to Shehyal, who made peace between him and the Blue King, and the latter gave him a writ of absolution for the death of his son. Then Shehyal conferred robes of honour on them and entertained the Blue King and his troops hospitably for three days, after which he took the prince and carried him back to the old queen, who rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy, and Shehyal marvelled at the beauty of Seif el Mulouk and his grace and perfection.

Then Seif related to him his story from beginning to end and Shehyal said, ‘O my mother, since it is thy pleasure that this should be, I hearken and obey all that it pleaseth thee to command; wherefore do thou carry him to Serendib and there celebrate his wedding and