Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/33

15 And indeed the king loved him with an exceeding great love and summoning his vizier and amirs and the chief officers of state and grandees of his realm, required of them a binding oath that they would make Bedr Basim king over them after himself; and they took the oath gladly, for the king was beneficent to the people, pleasant in speech and saying nought but that wherein was advantage for them, brief, a very compend of goodness.

On the morrow Shehriman mounted, with all his troops and amirs and grandees, and went forth into the city and returned. When they drew near the palace, the king dismounted, to wait upon his son, whilst the latter abode on horseback, and he and all the amirs and grandees bore the saddle-cloth of honour before him, each in his turn, till they came to the vestibule of the palace, where the prince alighted and his father and the amirs embraced him and seated him on the throne of kingship, whilst they all stood before him. Then Bedr judged the people, deposing the unjust and appointing the just, till near upon midday, when he descended from the throne and went in to his mother, Julnar of the Sea, with the crown on his head, as he were the moon. When she saw him, with the king before him, she rose and kissing him, gave him joy of the sultanate and wished him and his father length of life and victory over their enemies. He sat with her and rested till the hour of afternoon-prayer, when he took horse and repaired, with the amirs before him, to the tilting-ground, where he played at arms with his father and his grandees, till night-fall,nightfall, [sic] when he returned to the palace, preceded by all the folk.

He rode forth thus every day to the tilting-ground, returning to sit and judge the people and do justice between amir and poor man; and thus he did a whole year, at the end of which time he began to ride out a-hunting and to go round about in the cities and countries under