effective as
I imagined, and could not account for it; I was staring [with surprise]
when he rolled on the ground, and assuming the appearance of a tennis
ball, he flew up to the sky. He ascended so high, that at last he
disappeared; a moment after, flashing like lightning, and vociferating
some meaningless words in his rage, he descended, and gave me such
a kick, that I swooned away, and fell flat on my back, and became as
one lifeless. God knows how long I remained ere I came to my senses;
but when I opened my eyes I saw that I was lying in such a wilderness,
where, except thorns and briars, nothing else was to be seen; at that
moment my understanding was of no avail to fix on what I should do,
or where I should go. In this state of despondence, I gave a sigh,
and followed the first path that offered; if I met any one any where,
I inquired after the name of _Maliki Sadik_; he, thinking me mad,
answered that he had not even heard his name.

One day, having ascended a mountain, I likewise determined to throw
myself [off its summit], and end my existence; just as I was ready to
jump off, the same veiled horseman, the possessor of _Zu-l-fakar_,
[399] appeared and said, "Why do you throw away your life; man is
exposed to every pain and misery; your unhappy days are now over, and
your propitious ones are coming; go quickly to _Rum_--three afflicted
persons like thee are gone there before thee--meet them, and see
the king of that country; the wishes of all five will be fulfilled
in the same place." This is my story which I have just related;
at last, from the happy tidings of our difficulty-solving guardian,
[400] I am come into the presence of your worships, and have also
been kindly received by the king, who is the shadow of Omnipotence;
we ought all now to be comforted."

This conversation was passing between the king _Azad Bakht_ and the
four _Darweshes_, when a eunuch came running from the royal seraglio
and with respectful salutation, wished his majesty joy, and added,
"This moment a prince is born, before whose refulgent beauty the sun
and moon are abashed." The king was surprised, and asked, "No one
was pregnant [401] in appearance; who has brought forth a son?" The
eunuch replied, "_Mahru_, the female slave, who for some time hath
lain under your majesty's displeasure, and lived like an outcast in
a corner [of the seraglio], and no one from fear ever went near her
or asked after her state; on her the grace of God