Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/42

24 Jauhereh, daughter of our lord the king; wherefore, O king, disappoint thou not thy suitor.’

When the king heard this, he laughed till he fell backward, in derision of him, and said, ‘O Salih, I had thought thee a man of worth and sense, seeking nought but what was reasonable and speaking not but advisedly. What then hath befallen thy reason and urged thee to this monstrous matter and mighty hazard, that thou seekest in marriage the daughters of kings, lords of cities and countries? Art thou of a rank to aspire to this great eminence and hath thy wit failed thee to this pass that thou affrontest me with this demand?’

‘God amend the king!’ replied Salih. ‘I seek her not for myself (albeit, an I did, I am her match and more than her match, for thou knowest that my father was king of the kings of the sea, for all thou art now our king), but for King Bedr Basim, lord of the lands of the Persians and son of King Shehriman, whose puissance thou knowest. If thou object that thou art a great king, King Bedr is a greater; and if thou object thy daughter’s beauty, he is handsomer than she and fairer of form and more excellent of rank and lineage; and he is the champion of the people of his day. Wherefore, O king of the age, if thou grant my request, thou wilt have set the thing in its place; but, if thou deal arrogantly with us, thou wilt not use us justly nor travel the right road with us. Moreover, O king, thou knowest that the princess Jauhereh, the daughter of our lord the king, must needs be married, for the sage saith, “Needs must for a girl marriage or the grave.” So, if thou mean to marry her, my sister’s son is worthier of her than any other man.’

When King Es Semendel heard Salih’s words, he was exceeding wroth; his reason fled and his soul was like to depart his body for rage, and he said, ‘O dog, shall the like of thee dare to bespeak me thus and name my