第10章

Said she，'His name is As'ad and my name is Marjanah，and this slave came to my town in company of Bahram，a Magian，who refused to sell him to me； so I took him by force，but his master fell upon him by night and bore him away by stealth and he is of such and such a favour.' When Amjad heard that，he knew it was indeed his brother As'ad whom she sought and said to her，'O Queen of the age，Alhamdolillah，praised be Allah，who hath brought us relief！ Verily this slave whom thou seekest is my brother.' Then he told her their story and all that had befallen them in the land of exile，and acquainted her with the cause of their departure from the Islands of Ebony，whereat she marvelled and rejoiced to have found As'ad.So she bestowed a dress of honour upon Amjad and he returned forthright to the King and told him what had passed，at which they all rejoiced and the King went forth with Amjad and As'ad to meet Queen Marjanah.When they were admitted to her presence and sat down to converse with her and were thus pleasantly engaged，behold，a dust cloud rose and flew and grew，till it walled the view.And after a while it lifted and showed beneath it an army dight for victory，in numbers like the swelling sea，armed and armoured cap-a-pie who，making for the city，encompassed it around as the ring encompasseth the little finger；[21] and a bared brand was in every hand.When Amjad and As'ad saw this，they exclaimed，'Verily to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return！ What is this mighty host？

Doubtless，these are enemies，and except we agree with this Queen Marjanah to fight them，they will take the town from us and slay us.There is no resource for us but to go out to them and see who they are.' So Amjad arose and took horse and passed through the city gate to Queen Marjanah's camp； but when he reached the approaching army he found it to be that of his grand sire，King Ghayur，father of his mother Queen Budur.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Forty-eighth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Amjad reached the approaching host，he found it to be that of his grandsire，Lord of the Isles and the Seas and the Seven Castles；