Now when my son saw that I separated them, he secretly built
this souterrain and furnished it and transported to it victuals,
even as thou seest, and when I had gone out a-sporting, came here with
his sister and hid from me. Then His righteous judgment fell upon
the twain and consumed them with fire from Heaven, and verily the Last
Judgment will deal them durer pains and more enduring!" Then he wept
and I wept with him, and he looked at me and said, "Thou art my son in
his stead." And I bethought me awhile of the world and of its chances,
how the Wazir had slain my father and had taken his place and had
put out my eye, and how my cousin had come to his death by the
strangest chance. And I wept again and my uncle wept with me.
Then we mounted the steps and let down the iron plate and heaped
up the earth over it, and after restoring the tomb to its former
condition, we returned to the palace. But hardly had we sat down ere
we heard the tom-toming of the kettledrum and tantara of trumpets
and clash of cymbals, and the rattling of war men's lances, and the
clamors of assailants and the clanking of bits and the neighing of
steeds, while the world was canopied with dense dust and sand clouds
raised by the horses' hoofs.
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