But who may be this woman thou seest?" He made answer "I wot
not;" but the dame exclaimed, "Why this denial, O thou who
fearest Allah so little? I conjure thee by the life of the King
to recount in his presence all that betided thee." He could deny
it no longer so he told his tale before the Caliph, who laughed
at him aloud; and at each adventure the King cried out, "Allah
spare thee and thy child, O Kazi!" Thereupon the Judge explained
saying, "Pardon, O King of the Age, I merit even more than what
hath betided me."--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day
and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth
her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O
sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where
is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming
night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the
next night and that was

The Three Hundred and Ninety-second Night,

Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be
other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short
the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love
and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the
director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting
and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that quoth the
Kazi to the King, "I deserve even more than what hath betided me
for my deeds were unrighteous, O Ruler of the Time. But now the
twain of us be present between thy hands; so do thou, of thy
generous grace and the perfection of thy beneficence, deign
reconcile me unto my wife and from this moment forwards I repent
before the face of Allah nor will I ever return to the condition