Then she came up to the two little slave-Then she came up to the two little slave-girls and asked them saying，'Fie upon you！ what is the matter？'；and both answered，'Verily our lord Nur al-Din came in and beat us， so we fled； then he went up to Anis al-Jalis and threw his arms round her and we know not what he did after that； but when we cried out to thee he ran away.'Upon this the lady went to Anis al-Jalis and said to her，'What tidings？''O my lady，'she answered，'as I was sitting here lo！ a handsome young man came in and said to me：--Art thou she my father bought for me？； and I answered Yes； for， by Allah， O mistress mine， I believed that his words were true； and he instantly came in and embraced me.''Did he nought else with thee but this？'quoth the lady， and quoth she，'Indeed he did！But he did it only three times.''He did not leave thee without dishonouring thee！'cried the Wazir's wife and fell to weeping and buffetting her face， she and the girl and all the handmaidens， fearing lest Nur al-Din's father should kill him.[19]Whilst they were thus， in came the Wazir and asked what was the matter， and his wife said to him，'Swear that whatso I tell thee thou wilt attend to it.''I will，'answered he.So she related to him what his son had done， whereat he was much concerned and rent his raiment and smote his face till his nose bled， and plucked out his beard by the handful.'Do not kill thyself，'said his wife，'I will give thee ten thousand dinars， her price， of my own money.'But he raised his head and cried，'Out upon thee！I have no need of her purchase-money： my fear is lest life as well as money go.''O my lord， and how is that？'
'Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al Mu'in bin Sawi who， as soon as he shall hear of this matter， will go up to the Sultan'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Thirty-fifth Night， She continued， It hath reached me， O auspicious King， that the Wazir said to his wife，'Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al-Mu'in bin Sawi who， as soon as he hears of this matter will go up to the Sultan and say to him，'Thy Wazir who， thou wilt have it loveth thee， took from thee ten thousand ducats and bought therewith a slave-girl whose like none ever beheld；
but when he saw her， she pleased him and he said to his son，'Take her： thou art worthier of her than the Sultan.'So he took her and did away with her virginity and she is now in his house.'
The King will say，'Thou liest！'to which he will reply，'With thy leave I will fall upon him unawares and bring her to thee.'
The King will give him warranty for this and he will come down upon the house and will take the girl and present her to the Sultan， who will question her and she will not be able to deny the past.Then mine enemy will say，'O my lord， thou wottest that I give thee the best of counsel； but I have not found favour in thine eyes.'Thereupon the Sultan will make an example of me， and I shall be a gazing-stock to all the people and my life will be lost.'Quoth his wife，'Let none know of this thing which hath happened privily， and commit thy case to Allah and trust in Him to save thee from such strait； for He who knoweth the future shall provide for the future.'With this she brought the Wazir a cup of wine and his heart was quieted， and he ceased to feel wrath and fear.Thus far concerning him； but as regards his son Nur al-Din Ali， fearing the consequence of his misdeed he abode his day long in the flower garden and came back only at night to his mother's apartment where he slept； and， rising before dawn， returned to the gardens.He ceased not to do thus for two whole months without showing his face to his parent， till at last his mother said to his father，'O my lord， shall we lose our boy as well as the girl？If matters continue long in this way he will flee from us.''And what to do？'asked he； and she answered，'Do thou watch this night； and， when he cometh， seize on him and frighten him： I will rescue him from thee and do thou make peace with him and give him the damsel to wife， for she loveth him as he loveth her.And I will pay thee her price.'So the Minister say up that night and， when his son came， he seized him and throwing him down knelt on his breast and showed as thou he would cut his throat； but his mother ran to the youth's succour and asked her husband，'What wouldest thou do with him？'He answered her，'I will split his weasand.'Said the son to the father，'Is my death， then， so light a matter to thee？'； and his father's eyes welled with tears， for natural affection moved him， and he rejoined，'O my son， how light was to thee the loss of my good and my life！'Quoth Nur al-Din，'Hear， O my father， what the poet hath said，'Forgive me！ thee-ward sinned I， but the wise Ne'er to the sinner shall deny his grace：
Thy foe may pardon sue when lieth he In lowest， and thou holdest highest place！''
Thereupon the Wazir rose from off his son's breast saying，'I forgive thee！'； for his heart yearned to him； and the youth kissed the hand of his sire who said，'O my son， were I sure that thou wouldest deal justly by Anis al-Jalis， I would give her to thee.''O my father， what justice am I to do to her？''I enjoin thee， O my son， not to take another wife or concubine to share with her， nor sell her.''O my father！ I swear to thee that verily I will not do her injustice in either way.'Having sworn to that effect Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and abode with her a whole year， whilst Allah Almighty caused the King to forget the matter of the maiden； and Al-Mu'in， though the affair came to his ears， dared not divulge it by reason of the high favour in which his rival stood with the Sultan.At the end of the year Al-Fazl went one day to the public baths； and， as he came out whilst he was still sweating， the air struck him[20] and he caught a cold which turned to a fever； then he took to his bed.
His malady gained ground and restlessness was longsome upon him and weakness bound him like a chain； so he called out，'Hither with my son；'and when Nur al-Din Ali came he said to him，'O my son， know that man's lot and means are distributed and decreed；
