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TALE OF NUR AL-DIN ALI AND HIS SON BADR AL-DIN HASAN KNOW, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times o f yore the land of Egypt was ruled  by a Sultan endowed with justice and generosity, one who loved the pious poor and companied with the Ulema and learned men. And he had a Wazir, a wise and an experienced, well versed in affairs and in the art of go vernment. This Minister, who was a very old man, had two sons, as they were two moo ns. Never man saw the like of them for beauty and grace- the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din Ali. But the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and pleasing semblance, so t hat folk heard his fame in far countries and men flocked to Egypt for the purpose o f seeing him. In course of time their father, the Wazir, died and was deeply regretted and mourned by the Sultan, who sent for his two so ns and, investing them with dresses of honor, sai d to t hem, "Let not your hearts be t roubled, for ye shall stand in your father's stead and be joint Ministers of Egypt." At this they rejoiced and k issed the ground before him and perfor med the ceremonial mourning for their father during a full month, a fter which time they entered upo n the wazirate and the power passed into their hands as it had been in the hands of their father, each doing duty for a week at a time. They lived under the same roof and their word was one, and whenever the Sultan desired to travel they too k it by turns to be in attendance o n him. It fortuned one night that the Su ltan purposed setting out on a journey next morning, and the elder, whose turn it was to accompany him, was sitting conversing with his brother and said to him: "O my brother, it is my wish t hat we both marry, I and t hou, two sisters, and go in to our wives on one and the same night." "Do, O my brother, as thou desirest," the younger replied, "for right is thy recking and surely I w ill comply with thee in whatso thou sayest." So they agreed upon this, and quoth Shams al-Din: "If Allah decree that we marry two damsels and go in to them on the same night, and they shall conceive on their bride nights and bear children to us on the same day, and by Allah's will thy wife bear thee a son and my wife bear me a daughter, let us wed them either to ot her, for they will be cousins." Quoth Nur al-Din: "O my brother, Shams al- Din, what dower wilt thou require from my son for thy daughter?" Quoth Shams a l-Din: "I will take three thousand dinars and three pleasure gardens and three farms, and it would not be seemly that the youth make co ntract for less than this." When Nur al-Din heard such demand, he sa id: "What manner of dower is this thou wouldest impose upon my son? Wott est thou not that we are brothers and bot h by Allah's grace Wazirs and equal in office? It behooveth thee to offer thy daughter to my son without marriage settlement, or, if one need be, it should represent a mere nominal value by way o f show to the world. For thou knowest that t he masculine is worthier than the feminine, and my son is a male and our memory will be preserved by him, not by thy d aughter." "But what," said Shams al-Din, "is she to have?" And Nur al-Din continued, "Through her we shall not be remembered among the emirs of the earth, but I see thou wouldest do with me acco rding to the saying, 'An thou

One Arabian Night

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