THE TEN WAZIRS: OR THE HISTORY OF KING
AZADBAKHT AND HIS SON.[FN#130]



There was once, of old days, a king of the kings, whose name was
Azadbakht; his capital was hight Kunaym Madud[FN#131] and his
kingdom extended to the confines of Sistan[FN#132] and from the
confines of Hindostan to the Indian Ocean. He had ten Wazirs, who
ordered his kingship and his dominion, and he was possessed of
judgment and exceeding wisdom. One day he went forth with certain
of his guards to the chase and fell in with an Eunuch riding a
mare and hending in hand the halter of a she-mule, which he led
along. On the mule's back was a domed litter of brocade purfled
with gold and girded with an embroidered band set with pearls and
gems, and about it was a company of Knights. When King Azadbakht
saw this, he separated himself from his suite and, making for the
horsemen and that mule, questioned them, saying, "To whom
belongeth this litter and what is therein?" The Eunuch answered
(for he knew not that the speaker was King Azadbakht), saying,
"This litter belongeth to Isfahand, Wazir to King Azadbakht, and
therein is his daughter, whom he is minded to marry to the King
hight Zad Shah."

As the Eunuch was speaking with the king, behold, the maiden
raised a corner of the curtain that shut in the litter, so she
might look upon the speaker, and saw the king. When Azadbakht
beheld her and noted her fashion and her loveliness (and indeed
never did seer[FN#133] espy her like), his soul inclined to her