of wedlock thou dreamedst that a handsome young lady embraced thee and didst fancy thou sawest her when awake.  But all this, O my son, is but an imbroglio of dreams.”  Replied Kamar al-Zaman, “Leave this talk and swear to me by Allah, the All creator, the Omniscient; the Humbler of the tyrant Caesars and the Destroyer of the Chosroes, that thou knowest naught of the young lady nor of her woning-place.”  Quoth the King, “By the Might of Allah Almighty, the God of Moses and Abraham, I know naught of all this and never even heard of it; it is assuredly a delusion of dreams thou hast seen in sleep.’  Then the Prince replied to his sire, “I will give thee a self evident proof that it happened to me when on wake.”—­And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

      When it was the One Hundred and Ninety-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al Zamar said to his sire, “I will give thee a self-evident proof that this happened to me when on wake.  Now let me ask thee, did it ever befal any man to dream that he was battling a sore battle and after to awake from sleep and find in his hand a sword-blade besmeared with blood?  Answered the King, “No, by Allah, O my son, this hath never been.”  Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman, “I will tell thee what happened to me and it was this.  Meseemed I awoke from sleep in the middle of the past night and found a girl lying by my side, whose form was like mine and whose favour was as mine.  I embraced her and turned her about with my hand and took her seal-ring, which I put on my finger, and she pulled off my ring and put it on hers.  Then I went to sleep by her side, but refrained from her for shame of thee, deeming that thou hadst sent her to me, intending to tempt me with her and incline me to marriage, and suspecting thee to be hidden somewhere whence thou couldst see what I did with her.  And I was ashamed even to kiss her on the mouth for thy account, thinking over this temptation to wedlock; and, when I awoke at point of day, I found no trace of her, nor could I come at any news of her, and there befel me what thou knowest of with the eunuch and with the Wazir.  How then can this case have been a dream and a delusion, when the ring is a reality?  Save for her ring on my finger I should indeed have deemed it a dream; but here is the ring on my little finger:  look at it, O King, and see what is its worth.”  So saying he handed the ring to his father, who examined it and turned it over, then looked to his son and said, “Verily, there is in this ring some mighty mystery and some strange secret.  What befel thee last night with the girl is indeed a hard nut to crack, and I know not how intruded upon us this intruder.  None is the cause of all this posher save the Wazir; but, Allah upon thee, O my son, take patience, so haply the Lord may turn to gladness this thy grief and to thy sadness bring complete relief:  as quoth one of the poets,