He fared on day and night, eating
of the herbs of the earth and the fruits of the trees and
drinking of the streams, till he came in sight of a city;
whereupon he rejoiced and hurried on; but before he reached it,
the night overtook him and the gates were shut. Now, as chance
would have it, this was the very city in which he had been a
prisoner and to whose king his brother Amjed was vizier. When
he saw the gate was shut, he turned back and made for the
burial-ground, where finding a tomb without a door, he entered
and lay down and fell asleep, with his face in his sleeve.
Meanwhile, Queen Merjaneh, coming up with Behram's ship,
questioned him of Asaad; but he swore to her that he was not with
him and that he knew nothing of him. She searched the ship, but
found no trace of Asaad, so took Behram and carrying him back to
her castle, would have put him to death; but he ransomed himself
from her with all his good and his ship and she released him and
his men. They went forth from her, hardly believing in their
escape, and fared on ten days' journey, till they came to their
own city and found the gate shut, it being eventide. So they
made for the burial-ground, thinking to lie the night there, and
going round about the tombs, as fate would have it, saw that, in
which Asaad lay, open; whereat Behram marvelled and said,' I must
look into this tomb.
Pages:
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326