She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ajib purposed to slay Gharib, the Wazir rose and said, Deal not hastily, for we have always power to kill him! So Ajib bade lay his brother Gharib in irons and chain him up in his own tent and set a thousand stout warriors to guard him. Meanwhile Gharibs host, when they awoke that morning and found not their King, were as sheep sans a shepherd; but Saadan the Ghul cried out at them, saying, O folk, don your war-gear and trust to your Lord to defend you! So Arabs and Ajams mounted horse, after clothing themselves in hauberks of iron and shirting themselves in straight-knit mail, and sallied forth to the field, the Chiefs and the colours moving in van. Then dashed out the Ghul of the Mountain, with a club on his shoulder, two hundred pounds in weight, and wheeled and careered, saying, Ho, worshippers of idols, come ye out and renown it this day, for tis a day of onslaught! Whoso knoweth me hath enough of my mischief and whoso knoweth me not, I will make myself known to him. I am Saadan, servant of King Gharib. Who is for jousting? Who is for fighting? Let no faint-heart come forth to me to-day or weakling. And there rushed upon him a Champion of the Infidels, as he were a flame of fire, and drove at him, but Saadan charged home at him and dealt him with his club a blow which broke his ribs and cast him lifeless to the earth. Then he called out to his sons and slaves, saying, Light the bonfire, and whoso falleth of the Kafirs do ye dress him and roast him well in the flame, then bring him to me that I may break my fast on him! So they kindled a fire midmost the plain and laid thereon the slain, till he was cooked, when they brought him to Saadan, who gnawed his flesh and crunched his bones. When the Miscreants saw the Mountain-Ghul do this deed they were affrighted with sore affright, but Ajib cried out to his men, saying, Out on you! Fall upon the Ogre and hew him in hunks with your scymitars! So twenty thousand men ran at Saadan, whilst the footmen circled round him and rained upon him darts and shafts so that he was wounded in four-and-twenty places, and his blood ran down upon the earth, and he was alone. Then the host of the Moslems drave at the heathenry, calling for help upon the Lord of the three Worlds, and they ceased not from fight and fray till the day came to an end, when they drew apart. But the Infidels had captured Saadan, as he were a drunken man for loss of blood; and they bound him fast and set him by Gharib who, seeing the Ghul a prisoner, said, There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! O Saadan, what case is this? O my lord, replied Saadan, it is Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) who ordaineth joy and annoy and there is no help but this and that betide. And Gharib rejoined, Thou speakest sooth, O Saadan! But Ajib passed the night in joy and he said to his men, Mount ye on the morrow and fall upon the Moslems so shall not one of them be left alive. And they replied, Hearkening and obedience! This is how it fared with them; but as regards the Moslems, they passed the night, dejected and weeping for their King and Saadan; but Sahim said to them, O folk, be not concerned, for the aidance of Almighty Allah is nigh. Then he waited till midnight, when he assumed the garb of a tent-pitcher; and, repairing to Ajibs camp, made his way between the tents and pavilions till he came to the Kings marquee, where he saw him seated on his throne surrounded by his Princes. So he entered and going up to the candles which burnt in the tent, snuffed them and sprinkled levigated henbane on the wicks; after which he withdrew and waited without the marquee, till the smoke of the burning henbane reached Ajib and his Princes and they fell to the ground like dead men. Then he left them and went to the prison tent, where he found Gharib and Saadan, guarded by a thousand braves, who were overcome with sleep. So he cried out at the guards, saying, Woe to you! Sleep not; but watch your prisoners and light the cressets. Presently he filled a cresset with firewood, on which he strewed henbane, and lighting it, went round about the tent with it, till the smoke entered the nostrils of the guards, and they all fell asleep drowned by the drug; when he entered the tent and finding Gharib and Saadan also insensible he aroused them by making them smell and sniff at a sponge full of vinegar he had with him. Thereupon he loosed their bonds and collars, and when they saw him, they blessed him and rejoiced in him. After this they went forth and took all the arms of the guards and Sahim said to them, Go to your own camp; while he re-entered Ajibs pavilion and, wrapping him in his cloak, lifted him up and made for the Moslem encampment. And the Lord, the Compassionate, protected him, so that he reached Gharibs tent in safety and unrolled the cloak before him. Gharib looked at its contents and seeing his brother Ajib bound, cried out, Allaho AkbarGod is Most Great! Aidance! Victory! And he blessed Sahim and bade him arouse Ajib. So he made him smell the vinegar mixed with incense, and he opened his eyes and, finding himself bound and shackled, hung down his head earthwards.And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Fortieth Night,She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that after Sahim had aroused Ajib, whom he had made insensible with henbane and had brought to his brother Gharib, the captive opened his eyes and, feeling himself bound and shackled, hung down his head earthwards. Thereupon cried Sahim, O Accursed, lift thy head! So he raised his eyes and found himself amongst Arabs and Ajams and saw his brother seated on the throne of his estate and the place of his power, wherefore he was silent and spake not. Then Gharib cried out and said, Strip me this hound! So they stripped him and came down upon him with whips, till they weakened his body and subdued his pride, after which Gharib set over him a guard of an hundred knights. And when this fraternal correction had been administered they heard shouts of, There is no God but the God! and God is Most Great! from the camp of the Kafirs. Now the cause of this was that, ten days after his nephew King Al-Damigh, Gharibs uncle, had set out from Al-Jazirah, with twenty thousand horse, and on nearing the field of battle, had despatched one of his scouts to get news. The man was absent a whole day, at the end of which time he returned and told Al-Damigh all that had happened to Gharib with his brother. So he waited till the night, when he fell upon the Infidels, crying out, Allaho Akbar! and put them to the edge of the biting scymitar. When Gharib heard the Takbir,8 he said to Sahim, Go find out the cause of these shouts and war-cries. So Sahim repaired to the field of battle and questioned the slaves and camp followers, who told him that King Al-Damigh had come up with twenty thousand men and had fallen upon the idolaters by night, saying, By the virtue of Abraham the Friend, I will not forsake my brothers son, but will play a brave mans part and beat back the host of Miscreants and please the Omnipotent King! So Sahim returned and told his uncles derring-do to Gharib, who cried out to his men, saying. Don your arms and mount your steeds and let us succour my fathers brother! So they took horse and fell upon the Infidels and put them to the edge of the sharp sword. By the morning they had killed nigh fifty thousand of the Kafirs and made other thirty thousand prisoners, and the rest of Ajibs army dispersed over the length and breadth of earth. Then the Moslems returned in victory and triumph, and Gharib rode out to meet his uncle, whom he saluted and thanked for his help. Quoth Al-Damigh, I wonder if that dog Ajib fell in this days affair. Quoth Gharib, O uncle, be of good cheer and keep thine eyes cool and clear: know that he is with me in chains. When Al-Damigh heard this he rejoiced with exceeding joy and the two kings dismounted and entered the pavilion, but found no Ajib there; whereupon Gharib exclaimed, O glory of Abraham, the Friend (with whom be peace!), adding, Alas, what an ill end is this to a glorious day! and he cried out to the tent-pitchers, saying, Woe to you! Where is my enemy who oweth me so much? Quoth they, When thou mountedst and we went with thee, thou didst not bid us guard him; and Gharib exclaimed, There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! But Al-Damigh said to him, Hasten not nor be concerned, for where can he go, and we in pursuit of him? Now the manner of Ajibs escape was in this wise. His page Sayyar had been ambushed in the camp and when he saw Gharib mount and ride forth, leaving none to guard his enemy Ajib, he could hardly credit his eyes. So he waited awhile and presently crept to the tent and taking Ajib, who was senseless for the pain of the bastinado, on his back, made off with him into the open country and fared on at the top of his speed from early night to the next day, till he came to a spring of water, under an apple tree. There he set down Ajib from his back and washed his face, whereupon he opened his eyes and seeing Sayyar, said to him, O Sayyar, carry me to Cufa that I may recover there and levy horsemen and soldiers wherewith to overthrow my foe: and know, O Sayyar, that I am anhungered. So Sayyar sprang up and going out to the desert caught an ostrich-poult and brought it to his lord. Then he gathered fuel and deftly using the fire-sticks kindled a fire, by which he roasted the bird which he had hallald9 and fed Ajib with its flesh and gave him to drink of the water of the spring, till his strength returned to him, after which he went to one of the Badawi tribal encampments, and stealing thence a steed mounted Ajib upon it and journeyed on with him for many days till they drew near the city of Cufa. The Viceroy of the capital came out to meet and salute the King, whom he found weak with the beating his brother had inflicted upon him; and Ajib entered the city and called his physicians. When they answered his summons, he bade them heal him in less than ten days time: they said, We hear and we obey, and they tended him till he became whole of the sickness that was upon him and of the punishment. Then he commanded his Wazirs to write letters to all his Nabobs and vassals, and he indited one-and-twenty writs and despatched them to the governors, who assembled their troops and set out for Cufa by forced marches.And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.