fSo they both passed that night restfully till dawn；and，as soon as it was day，they mounted and each bore down on other and ceased not to fight till half the day was done.Then the Frank bethought him of a ruse；irst urging his steed with heel and then checking him with the rein，so that he stumbled and fell with his rider；thereupon Sharrkan threw himself on the foe，and would have smitten him with the sword fearing lest the strife be prolonged，when the Frank cried out to him，'O Sharrkan，champions are not wont to do thus！This is the act of a man accustomed to be beaten by a woman.'[216] When Sharrkan heard this，he raised his eyes to the Frank's face and gazing steadfastly at him，recognized in him Princess Abrizah with whom that pleasant adventure had befallen him in the convent；whereupon he cast brand from hand and，kissing the earth before her，asked her，'What moved thee to a deed like this？'and she answered，'I desired to prove thy prowess afield and test thy doughtiness in tilting and jousting.
These that are with me are my handmaids，and they are all clean maids；yet they have vanquished thy horsemen in fair press and stress of plain；and had not my steed stumbled with me，thou shouldst have seen my might and prowess in combat.'Sharrkan smiled at her speech and said，'Praise be to Allah for safety and for my reunion with thee，O Queen of the age！'Then she cried out to her damsels to loose the twenty captives of Sharrkan's troop and dismount.They did as she bade and came and kissed the earth before her and Sharrkan who said to them，'It is the like of you that Kings keep in store for the need hour.'Then he signed to his comrades to salute the Princess；so all alighted and kissed the earth before her，for they knew the story.After this，the whole two hundred took horse，and fared on night and day for six days'space，till they drew near to Baghdad，when they halted and Sharrkan bade Abrizah and her handmaids doff the Frankish garb that was on them，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-first Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Sharrkan bade Princess Abrizah and her damsels doff the garb that was on them and don the garments of daughters of Greece；and thus did they.Then he despatched a company of his companions to Baghdad to acquaint his father Omar bin al-Nu'uman，with his arrival and report that he was accompanied by Princess Abrizah，daughter of King Hardub，Lord of Graecia-land.They halted forthright in the place they had reached，and Sharrkan also halted and all righted there；and when Almighty Allah made morning dawn，Sharrkan and his company and Abrizah and her company took horse and fared on towards the city； when lo！on the way they met the Wazir Dandan，who had come out amongst a thousand horse to honour Abrizah and Sharrkan，by especial commandment of King Omar Son of Al-Nu'uman.When the two drew near，they turned towards them and kissed ground before them； then they mounted again and escorted them into the city and went up with them to the palace.Sharrkan walked in to his father，who rose and embraced him and questioned him of his case.So he told him all that Abrizah had told him，and what had passed between them and said，'She hath parted from her sire and departed from her reign and hath chosen to take part with us and make her abode with us；and indeed，'he said to his father，'the King of Constantinople hath plotted to do us a mischief，because of his daughter Sophia，for that the King of Greece had made known to him her story and the cause of her being given to thee；and he （the Grecian King） not knowing her to be daughter of King Afridun，Lord of Constantinople；and，had he known that，he would not have bestowed her upon thee，but he would have restored her to her parent.And of a verity，'he continued，'we were saved from these perils only by the Lady Abrizah，and never saw we a more valiant than she.'And he went on to tell his father all that had passed from first to last of the wrestling and the single fighting.When King Omar heard the story of Sharrkan，Abrizah was exalted in his eyes，and he longed to see her and question her.Thereupon Sharrkan went out to her and said，'The King calleth for thee；'she replied，'I hear and I obey；'and he took her and brought her in to his father，who was seated on his throne and who，having dismissed his high officers，was attended only by his eunuchs.The Princess entered and kissing the ground between his hands，saluted him in choice terms.He was amazed at her eloquent speech and thanked her for her dealing with his son Sharrkan and bade her be seated.So she sat down and unveiled her face；[217] and，when the King saw her beauty，his reason fled his head and he made her draw near and showed her favour，appointing her an especial palace for herself and her damsels，and assigning them solde and allowances.
Then began he to ask her of the three jewels aforesaid，and she answered，'Here be they with me，O King of the age！'So saying，she rose and going to her lodging，unpacked her baggage and from it brought out a box and from the box a casket of gold.She opened the casket and taking out those three jewels，kissed them and gave them to the King.Then she went away bearing his heart with her.After her going the King sent for his son Sharrkan and gave him one jewel of the three，and when he enquired of the other two replied，'O my son！I mean to give one to thy brother Zau al-Makan，and the other to thy sister Nuzhat al- Zaman.'
