Accordingly they held aloof and， when Nur al-Din had made an end of thrashing the Wazir， he took his handmaid and fared homewards.
Al-Mu'in also went his ways at once， with his raiment dyed of three colours， black with mud， red with blood and ash coloured with brick-clay. When he saw himself in this state， he bound a bit of matting[35] round his neck and， taking in hand two bundles of coarse Halfah-grass，[36] went up to the palace and standing under the Sultan's windows cried aloud，'O King of the age， I am a wronged man！ I am foully wronged！'So they brought him before the King who looked at him； and behold， it was the chief Minister； whereupon he said，'O Wazir who did this deed by thee？'Al-Mu'in wept and sobbed and repeated these lines，'Shall the World oppress me when thou art in't？ In the lion's presence shall wolves devour？
Shall the dry all drink of thy tanks and I Under rain-cloud thirst for the cooling shower？'
'O my lord，'cried he，'the like will befal every one who loveth and serveth thee well.''Be quick with thee，'quoth the Sultan，'and tell me how this came to pass and who did this deed by one whose honour is part of my honour.'Quoth the Wazir，'Know， O my lord， that I went out this day to the slave-market to buy me a cookmaid， when I saw there a damsel， never in my life long saw I a fairer； and I designed to buy her for our lord the Sultan； so I asked the broker of her and of her owner， and he answered，'She belongeth to Ali son of Al-Fazl bin Khakan.Some time ago our lord the Sultan gave his father ten thousand dinars wherewith to buy him a handsome slave-girl， and he bought this maiden who pleased him； so he grudged her to our lord the Sultan and gave her to his own son. When the father died， the son sold all he had of houses and gardens and household gear， and squandered the price till he was penniless.Then he brought the girl to the market that he might sell her， and he handed her over to the broker to cry and the merchants bid higher and higher on her， until the price reached four thousand dinars； whereupon quoth I to myself，'I will buy this damsel for our lord the Sultan， whose money was paid for her.'So I said to Nur al-Din，'O my son， sell her to me for four thousand dinars.'When he heard my words he looked at me and cried，'O ill-omened oldster， I will sell her to a Jew or to a Nazarene， but I will not sell her to thee！''I do not buy her for myself，'said I，'I buy her for our lord and benefactor the Sultan.'Hearing my words he was filled with rage； and， dragging me off my horse （and I a very old man）， beat me unmercifully with his fists and buffeted me with his palms till he left me as thou seest， and all this hath befallen me only because I thought to buy this damsel for thee！'Then the Wazir threw himself on the ground and lay there weeping and shivering.
When the Sultan saw his condition and heard his story， the vein of rage started out between his eyes[37] and he turned to his body-guard who stood before him， forty white slaves， smiters with the sword， and said to them，'Go down forthright to the house built by the son of Khakan and sack it and raze it and bring to me his son Nur al-Din with the damsel； and drag them both on their faces with their arms pinioned behind them.'They replied，'To hear is to obey；'and， arming themselves， they set out for the house of Nur al-Din Ali.Now about the Sultan was a Chamerlain， Alam[38] al-Din Sanjar hight， who had aforetime been Mameluke to Al-Fazl； but he had risen in the world and the Sultan had advanced him to be one of his Chamberlains.When he heard the King's command and saw the enemies make them ready to slay his old master's son， it was grievous to him： so he went out from before the Sultan and， mounting his beast， rode to Nur al-Din's house and knocked at the door.Nur al-Din came out and knowing him would have saluted him： but he said，'O my master this is no time for greeting or treating.Listen to what the poet said，'Fly， fly with thy life if by ill overtaken！
Let thy house speak thy death by its builder forsaken！
For a land else than this land thou may'st reach， my brother， But thy life tho'lt ne'er find in this world another.'[39]
'O Alam al-Din what cheer？'asked Nur al-Din， and he answered，'Rise quickly and fly for thy life， thou and the damsel； for Al-Mu'in hath set a snare for you both； and， if you fall into his hands， he will slay you.The Sultan hath despatched forty sworders against you and I counsel you to flee ere harm can hurt you.'Then Sanjar put his hand to his purse and finding there forty gold pieces took them and gave them to Nur al-Din， saying，'O my lord receive these and journey with them.Had I more I
would give them to thee， but this is not the time to take exception.'Thereupon Nur al-Din went in to the damsel and told her what had happened， at which she wrung her hands.Then they fared forth at once from the city， and Allah spread over them His veil of protection， so that they reached the river-bank where they found a vessel ready for sea.Her skipper was standing amidships and crying，'Whoso hath aught to do， whether in the way of provisioning or taking leave of his people； or whoso hath forgotten any needful thing， let him do it at once and return， for we are about to sail'； and all of them saying，'There is naught left to be done by us， O captain！'， he cried to his crew，'Hallo there！ cast off the cable and pull up the mooring-
pole！'[FN#40] Quoth Nur al-Din，'Whither bound， O captain？'and quoth he，'To the House of Peace， Baghdad，'-And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Thirty-sixth Night，She said， It hath reached me， O auspicious King， that when the skipper answered，'To the House of Peace， Baghdad，'Nur al-Din Ali and the damsel went on board， and they launched the craft and shook out the sails， and the ship sped forth as though she were a bird on wing； even as said one of them and said right well，'Watch some tall ship， she'll joy the sight of thee，The breeze outstripping in her haste to flee；
