' So the headsman smote him with
the sword and cut off his head: and thus it fared with the second
and the third, till forty were dead and there remained but
Alaeddin, who drank the cup of his comrades' anguish and said to
himself, 'God have mercy on thee, O Alaeddin! Thou art a dead
man.' Then said the King to him, 'And thou, what countryman art
thou?' 'I am of Alexandria,' answered Alaeddin, and the King
said, 'O headsman, strike off his head.' So the headsman raised
his arm and was about to strike, when an old woman of venerable
aspect presented herself before the King, who rose to do her
honour, and said to him, 'O King, did I not bid thee remember,
when the captain came back with captives, to keep one or two for
the convent, to serve in the church?' 'O my mother, answered the
King, 'would thou hadst come a while earlier! But take this one
that is left.' So she turned to Alaeddin and said to him, 'Wilt
thou serve in the church, or shall I let the King kill thee?'
Quoth he, 'I will serve in the church.' So she took him and
carried him forth of the palace to the church, where he said to
her, 'What service must I do?' And she answered, 'Thou must arise
in the morning and take five mules and go with them into the
forest and there cut dry firewood and split it and bring it to
the convent-kitchen.
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