Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 5.djvu/395

Then King Fakun joined himself to the King of Hind and saluting him, asked, 'How is it with thee, and what be this war in which thou arrest?'; and Kafid answered, 'Knowest thou not that King Teghmus is my enemy and the murtherer of my father and brothers? Wherefore I am come forth to do battle with him and take my brood wreak on him.' Quoth Fakun, 'The blessing of the sun be upon thee!'; and the King of Hind carried King Fakun al-Kalb to his tent and rejoiced in him with exceeding joy. Such was the case of the two hostile Kings; but as regards King Janshah, he abode two months shut up in his palace, without seeing his father or allowing one of the damsels in his service to come in to him; at the end of which time he grew troubled and restless and said to his attendants, 'What aileth my father that he cometh not to visit me?' They told him that he had gone forth to do battle with King Kafid, whereupon quoth Janshah, 'Bring me my steed, that I may go to my sire.' They replied, 'We hear and obey,' and brought his horse; but he said in himself, 'I am taken up with the thought of myself and my love and I deem well to mount and ride for the city of the Jews, where haply Allah shall grant me the boon to meet the merchant who hired me for the ruby business and may be he will deal with me as he dealt before, for none knoweth whence good cometh.' So he took with him a thousand horse and set out, the folk saying, 'At last Janshah hath fared forth to join his father in the field, and to fight by his side;' and they stinted not pushing on till dusk, when they halted for the night in a vast meadow. As soon as he knew that all his men were asleep, the Prince rose privily and girding his waist, mounted his horse and rode away intending to make Baghdad, because he had heard from the Jews that a caravan came thence to their city once in every two years and he made up his mind to journey thither with the next cafilah. When his men awoke and missed the Prince and his horse, they mounted and sought him right and left but, finding no trace of him, rejoined his father and told him what his son had done; whereat he was wroth beyond measure and cast the crown from his head, whilst the sparks were like to fly from his mouth, and he said 'There is no Majesty and there is no Might but in Allah! Verily I have lost my son, and the enemy is still before me.' But his Wazirs and vassals said to him, 'Patience, O King of the age! Patience bringeth weal in wake.' Meanwhile Janshah, parted