Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/173

161 and bring her to me a prisoner, abject and humiliated!’ ‘I hear and obey, O my father,’ answered he and setting spurs to his horse, drove at his sister, who met him in mid-career, and they fought, he and she, a sore battle, yet sorer than the first. Bertous soon found himself unable to cope with her and would have sought safety in flight, but could not avail unto this, of the greatness of her prowess; for, as often as he turned to flee, she drove after him and still clave to him and pressed him hard, till presently she smote him with the sword in his throat, that it issued gleaming from his nape, and sent him after his brother. Then she wheeled about in the mid-field, crying out and saying, ‘Where are the horsemen? Where are the braves? Where is the one-eyed vizier, the cripple, the man of the crooked faith?’

Thereupon the king her father cried out with a bleeding heart and eyes ulcerated with tears, saying, ‘By the virtue of the Messiah and the true faith, she hath killed my second son!’ And he cried out to his youngest son, saying, ‘O Fusyan, surnamed Selh es Subyan, go forth, O my son, to do battle with thy sister and take of her the blood-revenge for thy brothers and fall on her, come what may; and if thou conquer her, kill her without mercy!’ So he pricked out to Meryem, who ran at him with the best of her skill and courage and prowess and said to him, ‘O accursed one, O enemy of God and the Muslims, I will assuredly send thee after thy brothers, and woeful is the abiding-place of the unbelievers!’ So saying, she drew her sword and smote him and cut off his head and arms and sent him after his brothers and God hurried his soul to the fire and ill is the abiding-place [to which he went].

VOL. VIII.