And King Schahriar immediately sent for his vizier who, convinced that it was the funeral night written in the destiny of his daughter, arrived with, under his arm, the shroud intended for Sheherazade. And King Schahriar arose in her honor, and kissed her between the two eyes and said to him: “O father of Sheherazade, O vizier to the blessed posterity, behold, Allah has raised up your daughter for the salvation of my people; and through her he brought repentance into my heart." And Sheherazade's father was so overwhelmed with joy, on seeing and hearing this, that he fainted. And they rushed around him, and sprinkled him with rose water, and brought him back to consciousness. And Sheherazade and Doniazade came to kiss his hand. And he blesses them. And they spent that night together in transports of joy and expansions of happiness.
And King Schahriar hastened to send quick couriers to summon his brother Schahzaman, king of Samarkand Al-Ajam. And King Schahzaman answered with hearing and obedience, and hastened to his eldest brother, who had come out to meet him, at the head of a magnificent procession, through the midst of the fully adorned city. and decked out, while in the souks and in the streets they burned incense, sublimated camphor, aloes, Indian musk, nadd and ambergris, while the inhabitants freshly dyed their hands with henna and their faces with saffron, and drums, flutes, clarinets, fifes, cymbals and dulcimers made the air resound as on the days of great feasts.
And, after the outpourings of the meeting, and while the rejoicings and the feasts were given entirely at the expense of the treasury, King Schahriar took in particular his brother King Schahzaman, and told him all that had happened to him during these three years, with Sheherazade, the vizier's daughter. And he told him, in summary, all that he had learned from her and heard of maxims, beautiful words, stories, proverbs, chronicles, jokes, anecdotes, charming traits, marvels, poems and recitations. And he told him of her beauty, her wisdom, her eloquence, her sagacity, her intelligence, her purity, her piety, her gentleness, her honesty, her ingenuity, her discretion, and all the qualities of body and mind which she had adorned its Creator. And he added: "And she is now my lawful wife, and the mother of my children!"
All of this ! And King Schahzaman marveled prodigiously and marveled at the limit of wonderment. Then he said to King Schahriar: “O my brother, since it is so, I too want to marry. And I will take Sheherazade's sister as my wife, this little one whose name I don't know. And we will thus be two brothers married to two sisters. Then he added: "And in this way, having now two sure and honest wives, we will forget our former misfortune. For, as regards the ancient calamity in question, it began by reaching me first; then, because of me, it reached you in your turn, And, without the discovery of my misfortune, you would have known nothing of yours. Alas! O my brother, during these last three years, my state has been a very bad state. I never really got to taste love. For, following your example, every night I took a virgin girl, and in the morning I had her killed, to make the race of women atone for the calamity that had befallen us both. But now I want to follow the example you also give me, and marry the second daughter of your vizier."
When King Schahriar had heard these words of his brother, he stirred with joy, and got up, just in time, and went to find his wife Sheherazade, and told her what had just happened to be said between him and his brother. And he told her that King Schahzaman was automatically engaged to his sister Doniazade.
And Sheherazade replied: “O King of time, we grant our consent, but it is on the express condition that your brother, King Schahzaman, henceforth resides with us. For I could not separate myself, even for an hour, from my little sister. I raised her; and she can no more leave me than I can leave her. If therefore your brother accepts this condition, my sister is, from this moment, his slave. Otherwise, we keep her."
So King Schahriar went to his brother, with Sheherazade's answer. And the king of Samarkand exclaimed: “By Allah! O my brother, that was precisely my intention. For I, too, could no longer separate myself from you, were it only for a single hour! As for the throne of Samarkand, Allah will choose and send to him whomever He wills. Because, for my part, I no longer want to reign over there, and I will not move from here."
Hearing these words, King Schahriar no longer knew the bounds of joy, and replied: “This is what I wanted! Praise be to Allah, O my brother, who finally reunited us after the long separation!"
And, on the spot, they sent for the kadi and the witnesses. And they drew up King Schahzaman's marriage contract with Doniazade, Sheherazade's sister. And the two brothers were thus married to the two sisters
(To be continued)
