his horse; and, if he make aught delay with you, seize and pinion him and drag him before me debased and degraded and in other than plight pleasurable!”—­And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say.  Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was

The Seven Hundred nd Ninety-fifth Night,

Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the King sent to his suite bidding them bring the owner of that stallion adding, “If he make aught delay with you drag him before me debased and degraded, and in other than pleasurable plight.”  Accordingly, they went to him and accosting him said, “O youth, thou owest hearing and obeying to His Highness the King; and, if thou come not to him with good gree we will bear thee maugre thyself.”  But the Prince, hearing these their words, set his left foot in stirrup and throwing his right leg over the saddle mounted till he was firm of seat upon his stallion’s back and had power over his monture.  Then he asked saying, “Who amongst you shall come near me to carry me to yonder Sultan of yours?” Whenas they saw this from him they kept away from his arm-reach, but inasmuch as they could not return to their King and report saying, “We availed not to bring him,” they exclaimed, “Allah upon thee, O Youth, that thou draw nigh with us to the Sovran and bespeak him from the back of thy steed:  so shall we be clear and bear nor rebuke nor reproach.”  Hearing this much the Prince understood what was in their thoughts and that their design was to win free of the King and the avoidance of blame; accordingly he said to them; “Fare ye before me and I will follow you."[FN#519] But when they returned with the youth behind them to within a short distance of the King where either of the twain could hear the other’s words, the Prince asked, “O King of the Age, what dost thou require of me and what is it thou wantest?” “Do thou dismount,” answered the Sultan, “and draw near me when I will tell thee and question thee of a certain matter;” but quoth the youth, “I will not alight from the back of my steed and let whoso hath a claim upon me demand satisfaction,[FN#520] for here be the Mayd n—­the field of fight.”  So saying he wheeled his steed and would have made for the open country, when the Sultan cried aloud to his followers, “Seize him and bring him hither.”  So they took horse all of them, a matter of one hundred and fifty