The Arabian Nights Entertainments, vol 1 | Page 4

put such an
outrage upon me? All! perfidious wretches, your crime shall not go
unpunished. As king, I am to punish wickednesses committed in my
dominions; and, as an enraged husband, I must sacrifice you to my just
resentment. In a word, this unfortunate prince, giving way to his rage,
drew his scimitar, and, approaching the bed, killed them both with one
blow, turning their sleep into death, and afterwards taking them up,
threw them out of a window into the ditch that surrounded the palace.
Having avenged himself thus, he went out of town privately as he came
into it; and returning to his pavilion, without saying one word of what
had happened, he ordered the tents to be struck, and to make ready for

his journey. This was speedily done, and before day he began his march,
with kettle-drums and other instruments of music, that filled every one
with joy, except the king, who was so much troubled at the disloyalty
of his wife, that he was seized with extreme melancholy, which preyed
upon him during his whole journey.
When he drew near the capital of the Indies, the sultan Schahriar, and
all his court, came out to meet him; the princes were overjoyed fo see
one another; and alighting, after mutual embraces, and other marks of
affection and respect, they mounted again, and entered the city, with
the acclamations of vast multitudes of people. The sultan conducted his
brother to the palace he had provided for him, which had a
communication with his own by means of a garden; and was so much
the more magnificent, for it was set apart as a banqueting-house for
public entertainment, and other diversions of the court, and the
splendour of it had been lately augmented by new furniture.
Schahriar immediately left the king of Tartary, that he might give him
time to bathe himself, and to change his apparel; and as soon as he had
done, he came to him again, and they sat down together upon a sofa or
alcove. The courtiers kept a distance, out of respect; and those two
princes entertained one another suitably to their friendship, their
nearness of blood, and the long separation that had been betwixt them.
The time of supper being come, they ate together; after which they
renewed their conversation, which continued till Schahriar, perceiving
it was very late, left his brother to his rest.
The unfortunate Schahzenan went to bed; and though the conversation
of his brother had suspended his grief for some time, it returned upon
him with more violence; so that, instead of taking his necessary rest, he
tormented himself with cruel reflections. All the circumstances of his
wife's disloyalty represented themselves afresh to his imagination in so
lively a manner, that he was like one beside himself. In a word, not
being able to sleep, he got up, and giving himself over to afflicting
thoughts, they made such an impression upon his countenance, that the
sultan could not but take notice of it, and said thus to himself: "What
can be the matter with the king of Tartary, that he is so melancholy; has
he any cause to complain of his reception? No, surely; I have received
him as a brother whom I love, so that I can charge myself with no
omission in that respect. Perhaps it grieves him to be at such a distance

from his dominions, or from the queen, his wife: Alas! if that be the
matter, I must forthwith give him the presents I designed for him, that
he may return to Samarcande when he pleases.' Accordingly, next day
Schahriar sent him a part of those presents, being the greatest rarities
and the richest things that the Indies could afford. At the same time he
endeavoured to divert his brother every day by new objects of pleasure,
and the finest treats, which, instead of giving the king of Tartary any
ease, did only increase his sorrow.
One day, Schahriar having appointed a great hunting-match, about two
days journey from his capital, in a place that abounded with deer,
Schahzenan prayed him to excuse him, for his health would not allow
him to bear him company. The sultan, unwilling to put any constraint
upon him, left him at his liberty, and went a hunting with his nobles.
The king of Tartary, being thus left alone, shut himself up in his
apartment, and sat down at a window that looked into the garden. That
delicious place, and the sweet harmony of an infinite number of birds,
which chose it for a place of retreat, must certainly have diverted him,
had he been capable of taking pleasure in any thing; but, being
perpetually tormented with the fatal remembrance of his queen's
infamous conduct, his eyes were not so