So the Wezir arose and sent for his son and asked him concerning all that the Sultan had told him, whether it were true or not. And the youth replied: "O my father the Wezir, God forbid that the Lady Bedr-el-Budur should tell lies! Nay, all she said is true, and these two nights that have passed were the worst of nights, instead of being nights of pleasure and joy to us both. But what befell me was the greater evil, for, instead of sleeping with my bride in the bed, I was put to sleep in a closet, a cursed, dark, and loathsome place smelling horribly, and my ribs almost split with the cold." And the young man told his father all that had happened to him, and added. "O honoured parent, I entreat thee, speak to the Sultan that he release me from this marriage. Truly it is a great honour to me to be the son-in-law of the Sultan, and most of all since the love of the Lady Bedr-el-Budur hath taken possession of my being; but I have not strength to endure another night like the two which are over".

When the Wezir heard his son's words he was exceeding sad and sorry, for he hoped to exalt and magnify his son by making him son-in-law to the Sultan; therefore he considered and pondered over this case, how to remedy it. It was a great hardship to him to break off the marriage, for he had been much congratulated on his success in so high a matter. So he said to his son: "Take patience, my child, till we see what may betide this night, when we set warders to watch over you; and do not reject this great honour, which hath been granted to none save thee alone".

Then the Wezir left him and returned to the Sultan and told him that what the Lady Bedr-el-Budur had said was true. Therefore the Sultan said: "If it be so, we must not delay." And he straightway ordered the rejoicings to cease i»ttd the marriage to be annulled. And the people and folk of the city wondered at this strange affair, and the more so when they saw the Wezir and his son coming forth from the palace in a state of grief and excess of rage; and men began asking what had happened and what the cause might be for annulling the marriage and terminating the espousals. And none knew how it was save 'Ala-ed-Din, the lord of the invocation, who laughed in secret. So the marriage was dissolved, and still the Sultan forgot and recalled not the promise he had made to the mother of 'Ala-ed-Din, nor the Wezir either, and they knew not whence came that which had come.

'Ala-ed-din waited in patience until the three months were over, after which the Sultan had covenanted to wed him to his daughter, the Lady Bedr-el-Budur. Then he instantly despatched his mother to the Sultan to demand of him the fulfilment of his promise. So the mother of 'Ala-ed-Din went to the palace; and when the Sultan came to the hall of audience and saw her standing before him, he remembered his promise-that after three months he would marry his daughter to her son. And turning to the Wezir, he said: "O Wezir, this is tTie woman who gave us the jewels, and to whom we did pledge our word for three months. Bring her to me before anything else." So the Wezir went and brought 'Ala-ed-Din's mother before the Sultan; and when she came up to him she saluted him and prayed for his glory and lasting prosperity. Then the Sultan asked her if she had any suit. Whereto she answered: "O King of the Age, verily the three months are over, for which thou didst covenant with me, after which to marry my son 'Ala-ed-Din to thy daughter the Lady Bedr-el-Budur".

The King was perplexed at this demand, the more when he observed her poor condition and that she was of the meanest of the people. Yet the present she had given him was exceedingly splendid, beyond his power to purchase. Then turning to the Wezir, he said: "What stratagem hast thou? Of a truth I pledged my word; yet it is evident to me that they are poor people, and not of high degree." And the Wezir, since envy was devouring him, and he was beyond everything grieved at what had befallen his son, said within himself: "How shall one like this wed the daughter of the Sultan and my son lose this honour?" So he answered the Sultan: "O my lord, it is an easy thing to be rid of this stranger, for it is not fit that thy Felicity should give thy daughter to a man like this,-one knoweth not who he is." The Sultan replied: "In what way shall we ward off this man from us, when I have pledged my word, and the word of Kings is sacred?" The Wezir answered: "O my lord, my advice is that thou demand of him forty bowls of pure gold full of jewels, such as this woman brought thee that day, and forty maids to carry the bowls, and forty black slaves." And the Sultan said: "By Allah, O Wezir, thou hast said well, for he cannot compass this thing, and thus we shall be freed from him." Then he said to the mother of 'Ala-ed-Din: "Go, tell thy son that I hold to the promise which I made to him, provided he be able to furnish my daughter's dowry, for which I require of him forty bowls of pure gold, each full of jewels, such as thou didst bring me, and forty maids to carry them, and forty black slaves to attend and escort them. If thy son can do this I will marry him to my daughter".

So the mother of 'Ala-ed-Din returned to her house shaking her head and saying: "Whence shall my poor son procure these bowls of jewels? Suppose he return to the Treasury and gather these jewels and bowls from the trees, yet with all this,-and I do not think he can, but say that he acquire them,-whence will he get the maids and slaves ?" And she ceased not to commune with herself until she arrived at her house, where 'Ala-ed-Din was expecting her. And when she came in, she said: "O my son, did I not tell thee not to think that thou couldst attain to the Lady Bedr-el-Budur, and that such a thing was not possible for people like us?" And he said to her: "Explain to me what tidings there be." And she said: "O my son, verily the Sultan received me with all honour, as is his wont, and it is evident to me that his intentions towards us are benevolent But thy enemy is the accursed Wezir; for after I had spoken to the Sultan, according to thy tongue (as thou saidst, 'Verily the time is come for which thou didst covenant'), and after I had said to him, 4 Verily it behoves thy Felicity to order the wedding of thy daughter the Lady Bedr-el-Budur to my son 'Ala-ed-Din/ he turned to the Wezir and spake to him; and he answered him secretly; and afterward the Sultan gave me his answer." Then she told 'Ala-ed-Din what the Sultan required, and said to him: " O my son, verily he requireth of thee an immediate reply, and methinks we have no answer for him".