第56章 KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.(18)
Wilt thou be harsh to a lover，whos never unmindful of thee，And wilt thou now cast him away to whom thou wast fain heretofore？
May I forfeit the favour of God，if I ever was false to thy love！
Abandonment punish my crime，if Ive broken the vows that I swore！
But no，Ive committed no crime，that calleth for rigour from thee；Or，if in good sooth Im at fault，I bring thee repentance therefor.
Of the marvels of Fortune it is that thou shouldst abandon me thus；But Fortune to bring to the light fresh marvels will never give oer.
When he had made an end of these verses，Merzewan said to him，See，yonder are King Gha？ours Islands.'Whereat Kemerezzeman rejoiced with an exceeding joy and thanked him for what he had done and strained him to his bosom and kissed him between the eyes.They entered the city and took up their lodging at a khan，where they rested three days from the fatigues of the journey；
after which Merzewan carried Kemerezzeman to the bath and clothing him in a merchants habit，provided him with a geomantic tablet of gold，a set of astrological instruments and an astrolabe of silver，plated with gold.Then he said to him，Go，O my lord，stand before the Kings palace and cry out，'I am the mathematician，I am the scribe，I am he that knows the Sought and the Seeker，I am the skilled physician，I am the accomplished astrologer.Where then is he that seeketh？'When the King hears this，he will send after thee and carry thee in to his daughter the princess Budour，thy mistress： but do thou say to him，'Grant me three days delay，and if she recover，give her to me to wife，and if not，deal with me as with those who came before me.'If he agree to this，as soon as thou art alone with her，discover thyself to her；and when she knows thee，her madness will cease from her and she will be made whole in one night.Then do thou give her to eat and drink，and her father，rejoicing in her recovery，will marry thee to her and share his kingdom with thee，according to the condition he hath imposed on himself： and so peace be on thee.'May I never lack thine excellence！'replied Kemerezzeman，and taking the instruments aforesaid，sallied forth of the khan and took up his station before King Gha？ours palace，where he began to cry out，saying，I am the scribe，I am the mathematician，he that knows the Sought and the Seeker，I am he who makes calculations for marriage contracts，who draws horoscopes，interprets dreams and traces the magical characters by which hidden treasures are discovered！Where then is the seeker？When the people of the city heard this，they flocked to him，for it was long since they had seen a scribe or an astrologer，and stood round him，wondering at his beauty and grace and perfect symmetry.Presently one of them accosted him and said，God on thee，O fair youth with the eloquent tongue，cast not thyself into perdition，in thy desire to marry the princess Budour！Do but look on yonder heads hung up；they are all those of men who have lost their lives in this same venture.'
He paid no heed to them，but cried out at the top of his voice，saying，I am the doctor，the scribe！I am the astrologer，the mathematician！'And all the townsfolk forbade him from this，but he heeded them not，saying in himself，None knoweth desire save he who suffereth it.'Then he began again to cry his loudest，saying，I am the scribe，I am the mathematician，I am the astrologer！'till all the townsfolk were wroth with him and said to him，Thou art but a silly self-willed boy！Have pity on thine own youth and tender years and beauty and grace.'But he cried all the more，I am the astrologer，I am the mathematician！
Is there any one that seeketh？As he was thus crying and the people remonstrating with him，King Gha？our heard his voice and the clamour of the folk and said to his Vizier，Go down and bring me yon astrologer.'So the Vizier went down and taking Kemerezzeman from the midst of the crowd，carried him up to the King，before whom he kissed the earth，repeating the following verses：
Eight elements of high renown are all comprised in thee；By them may Fortune never cease thy bounder slave to be！
Munificence and knowledge sure，glory and piety，Fair fluent speech and eloquence and might and victory.
When the King saw him，he made him sit down by his side and said to him，By Allah，O my son，an thou be not an astrologer，venture not thy life nor submit thyself to my condition；for I have bound myself to strike off the head of whoso goeth in to my daughter and healeth her not of her disorder；but him who healeth her I will marry to her.So let not thy beauty and grace delude thee；for，by Allah，if thou cure her not，I will assuredly cut off thy head！'I knew of this condition before I came hither，
answered Kemerezzeman，and am ready to abide by it.'Then King Gha？our took the Cadis to witness against him and delivered him to an eunuch，saying，Carry this fellow to the lady Budour.'So the eunuch took him by the hand and led him along the gallery；
but Kemerezzeman out-went him and pushed on before，whilst the eunuch ran after him，saying，Out on thee！Hasten not to destroy thyself.By Allah，never yet saw I astrologer so eager for his own destruction： thou knowest not the calamities that await thee.'But Kemerezzeman turned away his face and repeated the following verses：
A learnéd man，Im ignorant before thy beauties bright；Indeed，I know not what I say，confounded at thy sight.
If I compare thee to the sun，thou passest not away，Whilst the sun setteth from the sky and fails anon of light.
Perfect，indeed，thy beauties are；they stupefy the wise Nor evn the eloquent avail to praise thy charms aright.