trustier [FN#328] than thyself? Wherefore my intent is that thou
shalt make this request for me." "O my son," quoth she, "God
deliver me from this! What, have I lost my wits like thee? Put
away this thought from thy mind and bethink thee who thou art, O
my son,--the son of a tailor, the poorest and least of the
tailors in this city, and I also am thy mother and my folk are
exceeding poor; so how wilt thou dare to demand the Sultan's
daughter, whom her father would not vouchsafe to marry with
kings' sons and Sultans, except they were his peers in puissance
and rank and noblesse; nay, were they one degree less than he, he
would not give them his daughter."

Alaeddin [FN#329] waited till his mother had made an end of her
speech and said to her, "O my mother, all that thou thinkest I
know; marry, I know full well that I am the son of poor folk, nor
may all this thy talk anywise avail to move me from my purpose;
but I beseech thee, an I be thy very son and thou love me, do me
this kindness; else wilt thou lose me, for death hasteneth upon
me, an I attain not my wish of the beloved of my heart. In any
case, O my mother, I am thy son." When his mother heard his
speech, she wept of her concern for him and said to him, "Yes, O
my son, I am thy mother and thou art my son and the darling of my
heart; [FN#330] I have none other than thee and the extreme of my
desire is to rejoice in thee and marry thee. So, an thou wilt, I
will seek thee a bride of our own rank. But suppose [I do this],
they [FN#331] [will] ask at once an thou have craft or land or
trade or garden, so thou mayst live, and what shall I answer them
" And if I cannot answer poor folk like ourselves, how, O my son,
shall I dare to seek the King's daughter of China, who hath none
before him and none after him? Wherefore do thou ponder this