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The Prince Ahubal, rising with the earliest dawn of the morning, went forward to the front of his troops, and there, at a small distance, saw the hideous features of the enchanter Tasnar already blackening in the sun. Fear immediately took possession of his soul; and he ran, with tears in his eyes, and hid himself, till the sun went down, in his pavilion.
"Kind slave," said the enchanter, "you have already served us much; there is one thing more that we require: let the slaves fit the bow-string to thy neck, and let thy last breath be sent forth in praise of thy lord Ahubal."
And now the adverse elephants made the sandy plains shake as they advanced, and from the turrets on their backs ten thousand hostile arrows were discharged. The loud hollow cymbals sounded the alarm. The troops of the Sultan advanced with confidence, and the rebellious supporters of Ahubal rushed forward with resolute despair. Innumerable scimitars blazed fearfully over the heads of the warlike.
The armies of Ahubal continued to increase, and Cambaya acknowledged him for its Sultan. In a short time he arrived with his forces at Narvar, and encamped within seven leagues of the army of Misnar the Sultan.
To him who brought the head of Ibrac also he gave five purses of like value; and then again issued his commands that the whole army should fall prostrate and adore the mercy of Allah, who had so soon delivered into their hands the chief of their enemies. In the meantime, two only of the troops of Ibrac and Happuck escaped; and, returning to Ahubal, they acquainted him with their defeat.
"Oh, let not the displeasure of the Sultan visit his slaves, who, in obedience to thy royal word, journeyed toward the castle of Aboulfaken, and, as they passed along through the deserts, a party of five thousand horse appeared, who, setting upon us, ordered us either to deliver up the Prince Ahubal, or defend him with our lives. Thy slaves would willingly have chosen the latter fate.
But, O sages, though your numbers are reduced, your integrity is more tried and approved; therefore let your Sultan partake of the sweetness of your counsels, and learn from aged experience the wisdom of the sons of earth. Say, then, what doth the peace and security of my throne require from me concerning my brother Ahubal, the issue of the mighty Dabulcombar?"
The brother of Misnar fixed his eye for some time on that part of the castle which was shaded by the rest, for the front was too dazzling to behold, and, in a few moments, he perceived a small wicket open, and a dwarf come forth. Ahubal soon lost sight of the dwarf behind the rocks; but he resolved to wait there to see whether he could find any passage into the valley.
A friend of Ahubal's had proposed that Prince to succeed my royal master, and orders were given to proclaim him when I arrived in the divan. "Being acquainted with the resolutions of the Viziers and Emirs, I proclaimed aloud that my royal master Misnar was alive, and that he had destroyed the enchantress Ulin, who had espoused the cause of Ahubal.
In an instant he seized on the fear-shaken Ahubal, as the eagle shuts within her bloody talons the body of the affrighted trembling hare; and, lifting him high in the air, he dashed the wretched Prince against the rugged face of the mountains. The blood of Ahubal ran down from the mountain's side, and his mangled limbs, crushed by the fall, hung quivering on the pointed rocks.
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