Meanwhile， the news reached Constantinople that King Afridoun had gotten the victory over the Muslims， and Dhat ed Dewahi said， "I know that my son King Herdoub is no runagate and that he has nought to fear from the hosts of Islam， but will bring the whole world to the Nazarene faith." Then she commanded the city to be decorated， and the people held high festival and drank wines，knowing not what God had decreed to them. Whilst they were in the midst of their rejoicings， behold， the raven of affliction croaked against them and up came the twenty ships of fugitives，amongst them the King of Caesarea. King Afridoun met them on the sea-shore， and they told him all that had befallen them， weeping sore and lamenting， whereupon rejoicing was turned into dismay，and King Afridoun was filled with consternation and knew that there was no repairing their mischance. The women gathered together to make moan and lament： and the city was filled with mourning； all hearts failed， whilst the hired mourners cried aloud and weeping and wailing arose on all sides. When King Herdoub met King Afridoun， he told him the truth of the case and how the flight of the Muslims was but a stratagem and said to him， "Look not to see any of the troops， save those that have already reached thee." When Afridoun heard this， he fell down in a swoon with his nose under his feet； and as soon as he revived he exclaimed， "Surely the Messiah was wroth with the army， that he delivered them thus into the hands of the Muslims！" Then came the Arch-Patriarch sadly to King Afridoun who said to him， "O our father， destruction hath overtaken our army and the Messiah hath punished us." "Grieve not nor be concerned，" replied the Patriarch； "for it cannot be but that one of you has sinned against the Messiah， and all have been punished for his sin； but now we will read prayers for you in the churches， that the Mohammedan hosts may be repelled from you." After this， Dhat ed Dewahi came to Afridoun and said to him， "O King， verily the Muslims are many， and we shall never prevail against them， save by wile： wherefore I purpose to work upon them by stratagem and repair to the army of Islam； haply I may be able to carry out my intent against their leader and slay their champion， even as I slew his father. If I succeed， not one of them shall return to his native land， for all their strength lies in him； but I wish to have some Christians of Syria， such as go out from time to time to sell their goods， to help me in carrying out my plan."
"Be it so， whenas thou wilt，" replied the King. So she bade fetch a hundred men， natives of Nejran in Syria， and said to them， "Ye have heard what has befallen the Christians with the Muslims？"
"Yes，" replied they； and the King said， "This woman has devoted herself to the Messiah and purposes to go forth with you，disguised as Mohammedans， to work out a device， which shall profit us and hinder the Muslim host from us： so if ye also are willing to devote yourselves to Christ， I will give you a quintal of gold. Those of you who escape shall have the money， and those of you who are slain Christ will reward." "O King，" replied they，"we devote ourselves to the Messiah， and we will be thy sacrifice." Then the old woman took drugs and simples and boiled them in water， till the black essence of them was extracted. She waited till it was cold， then dipped the end of a handkerchief therein and coloured her face therewith. Moreover she put on，over her clothes， a long gaberdine with an embroidered border and taking in her hand a rosary， went in to King Afridoun， who knew her not nor did any of his companions know her， till she discovered herself to them， when they all praised her for her cunning and her son rejoiced and said， "May the Messiah never fail thee！"Then she took with her the Syrian Christians， and set out for the army of Baghdad. Now this accursed old woman was a witch of the witches， past mistress in sorcery and deception，knavish， crafty， debauched and perfidious， with foul breath， red eyelids， sallow cheeks， pale face， bleared eyes， mangy body，grizzled hair， humped back， withered complexion and running nostrils. She had studied the scriptures of Islam and made the pilgrimage to the Holy House of God，[FN#100] to come to the knowledge of the Mohammedan ordinances and the doctrines of the Koran； and she had professed Judaism in Jerusalem two years"
space， that she might perfect herself in the magical arts of men and Jinn； so that she was a plague of plagues and a calamity of calamities， utterly depraved and having no religion. Now the chief reason of her sojourn with her son， King Herdoub， was on account of the maidens at his court： for she was given to tribadism and could not exist without it： so if any damsel pleased her， she was wont to teach her the art and rub saffron on her， till she fainted away for excess of pleasure. Whoso obeyed her， she used to favour and spake interest for her with her son；
and whoso repelled her， she would contrive to destroy. This was known to Merjaneh and Rihaneh and Utriyeh， the handmaids of Abrizeh， and the princess loathed the old woman and abhorred to lie with her because of the ill smell from her armpits and the stench of her wind， more fetid than carrion， and the roughness of her body， coarser than palm fibre. She was wont to bribe those who served her desires with jewels and instruction； but Abrizeh held aloof from her and sought refuge with the All-Wise， the Omniscient； for well does the poet say：
O thou that abasest thyself to those that are rich and great And lordest it with disdain o"er those of low estate，Thou that thinkest to gild thy baseness by gathering gold， The scenting of aught that"s foul skills not its stench to abate！
