The Eight Hundred and Twenty-first 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 adoptive father pursued to his comrade, “So we permitted him to hie a-hunting, and he farewelled us and went forth from us and left us, whereat we fell to beweeping him; and inasmuch as until this present he hath not returned to us, I have set out to seek him and here am I in this place searching for traces of him.  Peradventure may Allah Almighty deign unite me with him and gar me forgather with him; for, Wall hi! from the hour he went from us sleep hath done us no good nor have we found relish in food.”  And when the speech was ended, quoth his comrade, “O my brother, whenas he is not the son of thy loins and he could prove himself perverse to thee, what must be the condition in his regard of the father who begat him and the mother who enwombed him?” He replied, “Theirs must be cark and care and misery beyond even mine;” and the other rejoined, “By Allah, O my brother, verily the relation thou hast related anent this child proveth that he is, by God, my child and of mine own seed, for in sooth his mother gave birth to him in that stead where she left him being unable to carry him with her; but now she beweepeth the loss of him through the nights and the days.”  “O my brother,” quoth the adoptive father, “we twain, I and thou, will indeed make public search and open inquiry for him through the lands, and Allah Almighty shall guide us himwards.”  When morning came the pair went forth together intending to journey from that city, but by doom of the Decreer the Sultan on that very day set out to visit the gardens; and, when the travellers heard tidings thereof, one said to the other, “Let us stay and solace ourselves with a sight of the royal suite and after we will wend our ways.”  Said his comrade, “’Tis well.”  So they took their station to await the issuing forth of the Sultan, who suddenly rode out amid his suite as the two stood leaning beside the road and looking at the Sultan, when behold, his glance fell upon the two men.  He at once recognised the father who had reared him, and when he gazed at the other standing beside him his heart was opened to the love of him albeit he weeted naught of their tie of blood nor believed that any was his sire save the Shaykh who had adopted him.  Accordingly, after considering them he bade carry them both to the House of Hospitality, so they led them thither and did his bidding.  Hereupon the twain said to themselves, “Wherefore hath the Sultan made us his guests?  Nor he knoweth us nor we know him and needs must this have a cause.”  But after leaving them the King rode to the gardens where he