Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 3.djvu/238

212 not their tale (continued Shahrazad) more wonderful than that of King Shahriman. The King asked her "And what was his tale?"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, as regards the

there was in times of yore and in ages long gone before a King called Shahrimán, who was lord of many troops and guards, and officers, and who reigned over certain islands, known as the Khálidán Islands, on the borders of the land of the Persians. But he was stricken in years and his bones were wasted, without having been blessed with a son, albeit he had four wives, daughters of Kings, and threescore concubines, with each of whom he was wont to lie one night in turn. This