which I shall counsel thee." Quoth the King, "Let me hear what
thou hast to advise;" and quoth the Prince, "What I have to
propose to thee is this: either do thou meet me in combat
singular, I and thou; and he who slayeth his adversary shall be
held the worthier and having a better title to the kingdom; or
else, let me be this night and, whenas dawns the morn, draw out
against me thy horsemen and footmen and servants; but first tell
me their number." Said the King, "They are forty thousand horse,
beside my own slaves and their followers,[FN#18] who are the like
of them in number." Thereupon said the Prince, "When the day
shall break, do thou array them against me and say to them"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-first Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth
the Prince, "When day shall break, do thou array them against me
and say to them: 'This man is a suitor to me for my daughter's
hand, on condition that he shall do battle single-handed against
you all; for he pretendeth that he will overcome you and put you
to the rout, and indeed that ye cannot prevail against him.'
After which, leave me to do battle with them: if they slay me,
then is thy secret surer guarded and thine honour the better
warded; and if I overcome them and see their backs, then is it
the like of me a King should covet to his son-in-law." So the
King approved of his opinion and accepted his proposition,
despite his awe at the boldness of his speech and amaze at the
pretensions of the Prince to meet in fight his whole host, such
as he had described to him, being at heart assured that he would