and did his bidding；so he appointed wet nurses and dry nurses and eunuchs and attendants to serve them；and assigned them rations of sugar and diet drinks and unguents and else beside，beyond the power of tongue to rehearse.Moreover the people of Baghdad，hearing that Allah had blessed their King with issue，decorated the city and made proclamation of the glad tidings with drum and tom tom；and the Emirs and Wazirs and high dignitaries came to the palace and wished King Omar bin al-Nu'uman joy of his son，Zau al-Makan，and of his daughter Nuzhat al-Zaman，wherefore he thanked them and bestowed on them dresses of honour and further favoured them with gifts，and dealt largesse to all，gentle and simple，who were present.After this fashion he did for four days full told，and he lavished upon Sophia raiment and ornaments and great store of wealth；and，every few days he would send a messenger to ask after her and the new-borns.And when four years had gone by，he provided her with the wherewithal to rear the two children carefully and educate them with the best of instructions.All this while his son Sharrkan knew not that a male child had been born to his father，Omar son of Al-Nu'uman，having news only that he had been blessed with the birth of Nuzhat al-Zaman；and they hid the intelligence from him，until days and years had sped by，whilst he was busied in battling with the brave and fighting single handed against the knights.One day，as King Omar was sitting in his palace，his Chamberlains came in to him and，kissing the ground before him，said，'O King there be come Ambassadors from the King of Roum，Lord of Constantinople the Great，and they desire admission to thee and submission to thy decree： if the King commend us to introduce them we will so do；and，if not，there is no disputing his behest.' He bade them enter and，when they came in，he turned to them and，courteously receiving them，asked them of their case，and what was the cause of their coming.They kissed the ground before him and said，'O King glorious and strong！O lord of the arm that is long！ know that he who despatched us to thee is King Afridun，[150] Lord of Ionia land[151] and of the Nazarene armies，the sovereign who is firmly established in the empery of Constantinople，to acquaint thee that he is now waging fierce war and fell with a tyrant and a rebel，the Prince of Casarea；and the cause of this war is as follows.One of the Kings of the Arabs in past time，during certain of his conquests，chanced upon a hoard of the time of Alexander，[152] whence he removed wealth past compute；and，amongst other things，three round jewels，big as ostrich eggs，from a mine of pure white gems whose like was never seen by man.Upon each were graven characts in Ionian characters，and they have many virtues and properties，amongst the rest that if one of these jewels be hung round the neck of a new-born child，no evil shall befal him and he shall neither wail，nor shall fever ail him as long as the jewel remain without fail.[153] When the Arab King laid hands upon them and learned their secrets，he sent to King Afridun presents of certain rarities and amongst them the three jewels afore mentioned；and he equipped for the mission two ships，one bearing the treasure and the other men of might to guard it from any who might offer hindrance on the high seas，albeit well assured that none would dare waylay his vessels，for that he was King of the Arabs，and more by token that their course lay over waters subject to the King of Constantinople and they were bound to his port；nor were there on the shores of that sea any save the subjects of the Great King，Afridun.The two ships set out and voyaged till they drew near our city，when there sallied out on them certain corsairs from that country and amongst them troops from the Prince of Caesarea，who took all the treasures and rarities in the ships，together with the three jewels，and slew the crews.When our King heard of this，he sent an army against them，but they routed it；then he marched a second and a stronger but they put this also to flight，--whereupon the King waxed wroth and swore that he would not go forth[154] against them save in his own person at the head of his whole army；nor would he turn back from them till he had left Caesarea，of Armenia[155] in ruins and had laid waste all the lands and cities over which her Prince held sway.So he sent us to the Lord of the age and the time，Sultan Omar bin al-Nu'uman，King of Baghdad and of Khorasan，desiring that he aid us with an army，so may honour and glory accrue to him；and he hath also forwarded by us somewhat of various kinds of presents，and of the King's grace he beggeth their acceptance and the friendly boon of furtherance.' Then the Ambassadors kissed the ground before him，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-sixth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that，after the Ambassadors and retinue from the Constantinopolitan King had kissed the ground before Omar and had delivered their embassage，they brought out the presents，which were fifty damsels of the choicest from Graecia-land，and fifty Mamelukes in tunics of brocade，belted with girdles of gold and silver，each wearing in his ears hoops of gold with pendants of fine pearls costing a thousand ducats every one.The girls were adorned in like fashion and were clad in stuffs worth a treasury of money.When the King saw them，he rejoiced in them and accepted them；then he bade the Ambassadors be honourably entreated and，summoning his Wazirs，took counsel with them of what he should do.Herewith rose up among them a Wazir，an ancient man，Dandan[156] highs，who kissed the ground before Omar and said，'O King，there is nothing better to do in this matter than equip an army valiant and victorious，and set over it thy son Sharrkan with us as his lieutenants；and this rede commendeth itself to me on two counts；
