hath been such,
that she hath borne a son like the moon."

The king was so rejoiced, that he nearly expired from excessive joy;
the four _Darweshes_ also blessed him, and said, "May thy house be
ever happy, and may thy son prosper; and may he grow up under thy
shadow." The king replied, "This is owing to your propitious arrival,
for otherwise I had no idea of such an event; if you give me leave,
I will go and see him." The _Darweshes_ answered, "In the name of God,
go." The king went to the seraglio, and took the young prince in his
lap, and thanked God; his mind became easy; pressing the infant to
his bosom, he brought it and laid it at the _Darweshes'_ feet; they
blessed it, and exorcised all evil spirits from approaching it. The
king commanded the preparations of a festival to be made [on the
happy occasion], and the royal music struck up, and the door of the
treasury was opened; with princely donations he made the poor [402]
rich; on all the officers of state he bestowed a two-fold increase
of lands and higher titles, and to the army he gave five years' pay
as a present; to the learned and holy he gave pensions and lands;
and the wallets of the beggars were filled with pieces of gold and
silver; and the _ryots_ [403] were excused from paying any revenue
for three years, and that whatever they cultivated during this period,
they should keep for themselves.

Throughout the whole city, in the houses of the high and the low,
wherever one looked, there were merry dances; in their joy, every
one, small and great, felt himself a prince. In the midst of these
rejoicings, the sounds of lamentation and weeping issued suddenly
from the seraglio; the female servants, of all descriptions, and
the eunuchs, ran out, scattering dust upon their heads, and said to
the king, "When we had washed and bathed the prince, and delivered
him to the bosom of the nurse, a cloud descended from the sky and
enveloped the nurse; a moment after, we saw the nurse prostrate and
senseless, and the little prince gone; what a dreadful calamity has
occurred!" The king was thunderstruck on hearing this wonderful
occurrence; and the whole country mourned [for the sad event];
for two days no one dressed any victuals, but fed on their grief,
and drank their own blood, for the prince's loss.

In short, they began to despair of their lives, living in this manner;
on the third day the same cloud appeared, and a cradle studded with
jewels, and with a coverin