The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night, Vol 1 Page-114

The Book Of The Thousand Nights And A Night, Vol 1

A plain and literal translation of the arabian nights entertainments

I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; * And so they were� when aiming at my heart!” When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire and he owed me a debt of gratitude) he cried, “O my lord, what can I do, being but a slave under orders?” presently adding, “Fly for thy life and nevermore return to this land, or they will slay thee and slay me with thee, even as the poet said:— Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; * Let the ruined house tell its owner’s fate: New land for the old thou shalt seek and find * But to find new life thou must not await. Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, * When Allah’s world is so wide and great! And trust not other, in matters grave * Life itself must act for a life beset: Ne’er would prowl the lion with maned neck, * Did he reckon on aid or of others reck.” Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the loss of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping from being slain. I arrived at my uncle’s capital; and, going in to him, told him of what had befallen my father and myself; whereat he wept with sore weeping and said, “Verily thou addest grief to my grief, and woe to my woe; for thy cousin hath been missing these many days; I wot not what hath happened to him, and none can give me news of him.” And he wept till he fainted. I sorrowed and condoled with him; and he would have applied certain medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as a walnut with the shell empty. Then said he, “O my son, better to lose eye and keep life!” After that I could no longer remain silent about my cousin, who was his only son and one dearly loved, so I told him all that had happened. He