THE ARABIAN NIGHTSby Sir Richard BurtonENTERTAINMENTSTHE ARABIAN NIGHTS'ENTERTAINMENTS(ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH)STORY OF KING SHAHRYAR AND HIS BROTHERIn the Name of Allah,the Compassionating,the Compassionate!PRAISE BE TO ALLAH-THE BENEFICENT KING THE CREATOROF THE UNIVERSE LORD OF THE THREE WORLDS WHO SETUP THE FIRMAMENT WITHOUT PILLARS IN ITS STEAD -ANDWHO STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH EVEN AS A BED ANDGRACE,AND PRAYER-BLESSING BE UPON OUR LORDMOHAMMED LORD OF APOSTOLIC MEN AND UPON HISFAMILY AND COMPANION TRAIN -PRAYER AND BLESSINGSENDURING AND GRACE WHICH UNTO THE DAY OF DOOMSHALL REMAIN -AMEN!-O THOU OF THE THREE WORLDSSOVEREIGN!AND AFTERWARD.Verily the works and words of those gone before ushave become instances and examples to men of our modern day,that folkmay view what admonishing chances befell other folk and may therefromtake warning;and that they may peruse the annals of antique peoples andall that hath betided them,and be thereby ruled and restrained.Praise,therefore,be to Him who hath made the histories of the past anadmonition unto the present!Now of such instances are the tales called"A Thousand Nights and a Night,"together with their far-famed legendsand wonders.Therein it is related (but Allah it is All-knowing of His hidden things andAll-ruling and All-honored and All-giving and All-gracious andAll-merciful!)that in tide of yore and in time long gone before,there wasa King of the Kings of the Banu Sasan in the islands of India and China,aLord of armies and guards and servants and dependents.He left only twosons,one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth,while bothwere knights and braves,albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman thanthe younger.So he succeeded to the empire,when he ruled the land andlorded it is over his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was belovedby all the peoples of his capital and of his kingdom.His name was KingShahryar,and he made his younger brother,Shah Zaman hight,King ofSamarkand in Barbarian land.These two ceased not to abide in theirseveral realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions.Andeach ruled his own kingdom with equity and fair dealing to his subjects,in extreme solace and enjoyment,and this condition continually enduredfor a score of years.But at the end of the twentieth twelvemonth the elder King yearned for asight of his younger brother and felt that he must look upon him oncemore.So he took counsel with his Wazir about visiting him,but theMinister,finding the project unadvisable,recommended that a letter bewritten and a present be sent under his charge to the younger brother,withan invitation to visit the elder.Having accepted this advice,the Kingforthwith bade prepare handsome gifts,such as horses with saddles ofgem-encrusted gold;Mamelukes,or white slaves;beautiful handmaids,high-breasted virgins,and splendid stuffs and costly.He then wrote aletter to Shah Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to see him,ending with these words:"We therefore hope of the favor and affection ofthe beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir himself and turn hisface usward.Furthermore,we have sent our Wazir to make all ordinance