When the King saw him, he made him sit down by his side and said
to him, 'By Allah, O my son, an thou be not an astrologer,
venture not thy life nor submit thyself to my condition; for I
have bound myself to strike off the head of whoso goeth in to my
daughter and healeth her not of her disorder; but him who healeth
her I will marry to her. So let not thy beauty and grace delude
thee; for, by Allah, if thou cure her not, I will assuredly cut
off thy head!' 'I knew of this condition before I came hither,'
answered Kemerezzeman, 'and am ready to abide by it.' Then King
Gha?our took the Cadis to witness against him and delivered him
to an eunuch, saying, 'Carry this fellow to the lady Budour.' So
the eunuch took him by the hand and led him along the gallery;
but Kemerezzeman out-went him and pushed on before, whilst the
eunuch ran after him, saying, 'Out on thee! Hasten not to
destroy thyself. By Allah, never yet saw I astrologer so eager
for his own destruction: thou knowest not the calamities that
await thee.' But Kemerezzeman turned away his face and repeated
the following verses:
A learn?d man, I'm ignorant before thy beauties bright; Indeed, I
know not what I say, confounded at thy sight.
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