" Then
said she to Afridoun, "It is my wish that mourning be made for my
son Herdoub and that the girdle be cut and the crosses broken."
"Do what thou wilt," replied Afridoun; "I will not gainsay thee
in aught. And if thou prolong thy mourning, it were a little
thing; for though the Muslims beleaguer us years and years, they
will never compass their will of us nor get aught of us but
trouble and weariness." Then she took ink-horn and paper and
wrote the following letter: "Shewaha Dhat ed Dewahi to the host
of the Muslims. Know that I entered your country and duped your
nobles and slew your king Omar ben Ennuman in the midst of his
palace. Moreover, I slew, in the battle of the mountain pass and
of the grotto, many of your men, and the last I killed were
Sherkan and his servants. And if fortune favour me and Satan obey
me, I will assuredly kill your Sultan and the Vizier Dendan, for
I am she who came to you in the disguise of a recluse and ye were
the dupes of my tricks and devices. Wherefore, if you be minded
to be in safety, depart at once; and if you covet your own
destruction, abide where you are; for though ye abide here years
and years, ye shall not come by your desire of us; and so peace
be on you." Then she devoted three days to mourning for her son
King Herdoub, and on the fourth day, she called a knight and bade
him make the letter fast to an arrow and shoot it into the Muslim
camp; after which she entered the church and gave herself up to
weeping and lamentation for the loss of her son, saying to him
who took the kingship after him, "Nothing will serve me but I
must kill Zoulmekan and all the princes of Islam.
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