to the Princess’s kitchen; and thus they abode five[FN#405] years.  Now one day it so chanced that the Prince and his men were sitting on the sea-shore, devising of what had befallen, and Sayf al-Muluk, seeing himself and his men in such case, bethought him of his mother and father and his brother Sa’id and, calling to mind what high degree he had been in, fell a-weeping and lamenting passing sore, whilst his slaves wept likewise.  Then said they to him, “O King of the Age, how long shall we weep?  Weeping availeth not; for this thing was written on our brows by the ordinance of Allah, to whom belong Might and Majesty.  Indeed, the Pen runneth with that He decreeth and nought will serve us but patience:  haply Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) who hath saddened us shall gladden us!” Quoth he, “O my brothers, how shall we win free from this accursed woman?  I see no way of escape for us, save Allah of his grace deliver us from her; but methinks we may flee and be at rest from this hard labour.”  And quoth they, “O King of the Age, whither shall we flee?  For the whole island is full of Ghuls which devour the Sons of Adam, and whithersoever we go, they will find us there and either eat us or capture and carry us back to that accursed, the King’s daughter, who will be wroth with us.”  Sayf al-Muluk rejoined, “I will contrive you somewhat, whereby peradventure Allah Almighty shall deliver us and help us to escape from this island.”  They asked, “And how wilt thou do?”; and he answered, “Let us cut some of these long pieces of wood, and twist ropes of their bark and bind them one with another, and make of them a raft[FN#406] which we will launch and load with these fruits:  then we will fashion us paddles and embark on the raft after breaking our bonds with the axe.  It may be that Almighty Allah will make it the means of our deliverance from this accursed woman and vouchsafe us a fair wind to bring us to the land of Hind, for He over all things is Almighty!” Said they, “Right is thy rede,” and rejoiced thereat with exceeding joy.  So they arose without stay or delay and cut with their axes wood for the raft and twisted ropes to bind the logs and at this they worked a whole month.  Every day about evening they gathered somewhat of fuel and bore it to the Princess’s kitchen, and employed the rest of the twenty-four hours working at the raft.—­And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

    When it was the Seven Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sayf al-Muluk and his Mamelukes, having cut the wood and twisted the ropes for their raft, made an end of it and launched it upon the sea; then, after breaking their bonds with the axe, and loading the craft with fruits plucked from the island-trees, they embarked at close of day; nor did any wot of their intent.  They put out to sea in their raft and paddled on four months, knowing not whither the craft