Then he bade carry
great store of jewellery and apparel and money to Sufiyeh and
charged her to rear the children carefully and educate them well.
After this wise, four years passed by, during which time the King
sent every few days to seek news of Sufiyeh and her children; but
all this while, his son Sherkan knew not that a male child had
been born to his father, having news only of the birth of his
daughter Nuzhet ez Zeman, and they hid the thing from him, until
years and days had passed by, whilst he was busied in contending
with the men of war and tilting against the cavaliers.
One day, as the King was sitting on his throne, there came in to
him his chamberlains, who kissed the earth before him and said,
"O King, there be come ambassadors from the King of the Greeks,
lord of Constantinople the mighty, and they desire to be admitted
to pay their respects to thee: so if the King give them leave to
enter, we will admit them, and if not, there is no appeal from
his decree." He bade admit them, and when they entered, he turned
to them and asked them how they did and the reason of their
coming. They kissed the earth before him and replied, "O
illustrious King and lord of the long arm,[FN#5] know that King
Afridoun, lord of the lands of the Greeks and of the Nazarene
armies, holding the empire of Constantinople, hath sent us to
make known to thee that he is now waging grievous war with a
fierce rebel, the lord of Caesarea; and the cause of this war is
as follows.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25