Yea, the sun in all his splendour cannot with his brightness vie,
And the crescent moon's a fragment that he from his nail
doth pare.
The King, accordingly, waited till a day of state, when the
audience hall was filled with his Amirs and Viziers and grandees
and officers of state and captains. As soon as they were all
assembled, he sent for his son Kemerezzeman, who came and kissing
the earth three times, stood before him, with his hands clasped
behind his back. Then said the King to him, 'Know, O my son,
that I have sent for thee and summoned thee to appear before this
assembly and all these officers of state that I may lay a
commandment on thee, wherein do thou not gainsay me. It is that
thou marry, for I am minded to wed thee to a king's daughter and
rejoice in thee ere I die.' When the prince heard these his
father's words, he bowed his head awhile, then raising it,
replied, being moved thereto by youthful folly and boyish
ignorance, 'Never will I marry, no, not though I drink the cup of
death! As for thee, thou art great in years and little of wit:
hast thou not, twice before this, questioned me of the matter of
marriage, and I refused thee? Indeed, thou dotest and art not
fit to govern a flock of sheep!' So saying, he unclasped his
hands from behind his back and rolled up his sleeves, in his
rage; moreover, he added many words to his father, knowing not
what he said, in the trouble of his spirit.
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