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So they loosed the sails and departing, fared on without ceasing many days and nights; and every other day, Behram took out Asaad and gave him a little bread and water, till they drew near the Mountain of Fire, when there came out on them a contrary wind and the sea rose against them, so that they were driven out of their course into strange waters and came in sight of a city builded upon the shore, with a citadel whose windows overlooked the sea.
Quoth she, 'What is the lading of thy ship and whom hast thou with thee? 'O queen of the age, answered he, 'I have with me a merchant who deals in slaves. And she said, 'Bring him to me; whereupon Behram came ashore to her, followed by Asaad in a slave's habit, and kissed the earth before her.
After having martyred that faithful witness Asaad Shidiak, caused the Bible often to be burned, had missionaries insulted and stoned, and boasted that he had at last left no spot open for them to enter the mountains, he finds himself stripped of all his power; missionaries established permanently in the midst of his flock, and his own favorite bishop constrained to give orders for their protection; his people once and again ravaged and ruined in wars, which his own measures have hastened, if they have not originated; and finally he sinks himself under his disappointment and dies.
Verily, we are His and unto Him we return. And Asaad embraced his brother, sobbing and repeating the following verses: O Thou to whom the sad complain, to whom the fearful flee, Thou that art evermore prepared for all that is to be, Lord, there is left me no resource but at Thy door to knock; Yea, at whose portal shall I knock, if Thou be deaf to me?
Asaad said, that three things were before him; either to be regarded as mad, or to commit sin, or to offer up his life; but he was ready, he said, to go to prison, or to death. He was engaged in daily controversy with the Patriarch, the Bishop, and others.
Next morning, prince Asaad went out in his turn to rule the folk in his father's stead and sat in the audience-chamber, judging and administering justice, appointing and deposing, ordering and forbidding, giving and bestowing, till near the time of afternoon-prayer, when Queen Budour sent for a crafty old woman and discovering to her what was in her heart, wrote a letter to prince Asaad, complaining of the excess of her love and longing for him, as follows: 'From her who perisheth for passion and love-longing to the goodliest of mankind in form and nature, him who is conceited of his own loveliness and glories in his amorous grace, who turneth away from those that seek to enjoy him and refuseth to show favour unto the lowly and the self-abasing, him who is cruel and disdainful; from the despairing lover to prince Asaad, lord of surpassing beauty and excelling grace, of the moon-bright face and the flower-white brow and dazzling splendour.
Meanwhile, Amjed and Asaad fared on into the desert a whole month's journey, eating of the fruits of the earth and drinking of the rain-pools, till their travel brought them to a mountain of black stone, where the road divided in two, one skirting the foot of the mountain and the other leading to its summit.
If he find him with you, well and good; but if he find him not, there will be war between him and you, and he will lay waste your city. 'That shall he not, rejoined Kemerezzeman; 'but how is thy master called in the land of the Persians? 'He is called King Shehriman, lord of the Khalidan Islands, answered the envoy; 'and he hath levied these troops in the lands traversed by him, whilst seeking his son. When Kemerezzeman heard his father's name, he gave a great cry and fell down in a swoon; then, presently coming to himself, he wept sore and said to Amjed and Asaad, 'Go, O my sons, with the messenger: salute your grandfather, King Shehriman, and give him glad tidings of me, for he mourns my loss and even now wears black for my sake. Then he told the other Kings all that had befallen him in his youth, at which they all wondered and mounting with him, repaired to his father, whom he saluted, and they embraced and fell down in a swoon, for excess of joy.
Presently, it lifted and discovered an army, in numbers like the swollen sea, armed cap-a-pie, who, making for the city with naked swords, encompassed it as the ring encompasses the little finger. When Amjed and Asaad saw this, they exclaimed, 'We are God's and to Him we return. What is this great army?
When Amjed saw this, he took the sword and running to the lion, smote him between the eyes and laid him dead on the ground. The Amir arose, marvelling at this, and seeing Amjed and Asaad his lord's sons, standing there, cast himself at their feet and exclaimed, 'By Allah, O my lords, it were foul wrong in me to put you to death! May the man never be who would kill you!
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