Taj al-Muluk wondered with great wonder at his verse，and could not comprehend the cause.But when the youth snatched up the bit of linen and placed it under thigh，he asked him，'What is that piece of linen？''O my Lord，' answered the merchant，'thou hast no concern with this piece.' Quoth the King's son，'Show it me；'and quoth the merchant，'O my lord，I refused to show thee my goods on account of this piece of linen；for I cannot let thee look upon it.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say，When it was the One Hundred and Twelfth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the young merchant said to Taj al-Muluk，'I did not refuse to show thee my goods save on this account，for I cannot let thee look upon it.'
Whereupon Taj al Muluk retorted，'Perforce I must and will see it；' and insisted and became angry.So the youth drew it out from under his thigh，and wept and moaned and redoubled his sighs and groans，and repeated these verses，'Now blame him not；for blame brings only irk and pain！Indeed，I spake him sooth but ne'er his ear could gain：
May Allah guard my moon which riseth in the vale Beside our camp，from loosed robe like skyey plain：[479]
I left him but had Love vouchsafed to leave for me Some peace in life such leave of him I ne'er had ta'en：
How long he pleaded for my sake on parting morn，While down his cheeks and mine tears ran in railing rain：
Allah belie me not： the garb of mine excuse This parting rent，but I will Mend that garb again！
No couch is easy to my side，nor on such wise Aught easeth him，when all alone without me lain：
Time with ill omened hand hath wrought between us two，And made my waxing joys to wane and his to wane，And poured mere grief and woe，what time Time fain had crowned The bowl he made me drink and gave for him to drain.'
When he ended his recitation，quoth Taj al-Muluk，'I see thy conduct without consequence；tell me then why weepest thou at the sight of this rag！' When the young merchant heard speak of the piece of linen，he sighed and answered，'O my lord，my story is a strange and my case out of range，with regard to this piece of linen and to her from whom I brought it and to her who wrought on it these figures and emblems.' Hereupon，he spread out the piece of linen，and behold，thereon was the figure of a gazelle wrought in silk and worked with red gold，and facing it was another gazelle traced in silver with a neck ring of red gold and three bugles[480] of chrysolite upon the ring.When Taj al-Muluk saw the beauty of these figures，he exclaimed，'Glory be to Allah who teacheth man that which he knoweth not！'[481]And his heart yearned to hear the youth's story；so he said to him，'Tell me thy story with her who owned these gazelles.' Replied the young man：'Hear，O my Lord，the Tale of Aziz and Azizah.[482]
My father was a wealthy merchant and Allah had vouchsafed him no other child than myself；but I had a cousin，Azizah highs，daughter of my paternal uncle and we twain were brought up in one house；for her father was dead and before his death，he had agreed with my father that I should marry her.So when I reached man's estate and she reached womanhood，they did not separate her from me or me from her，till at last my father spoke to my mother and said，'This very year we will draw up the contract of marriage between Aziz and Azizah.' So having agreed upon this he betook himself to preparing provision for the wedding feast.
Still we ceased not to sleep on the same carpet knowing naught of the case，albeit she was more thoughtful，more intelligent and quicker witted than I.Now when my father had made an end of his preparations，and naught remained for him but to write out the contract and for me but to consummate the marriage with my cousin，he appointed the wedding for a certain Friday，after public prayers；and，going round to his intimates among the mer chants and others，he acquainted them with that，whilst my mother went forth and invited her women friends and summoned her kith and kin.When the Friday came，they cleaned the saloon and prepared for the guests and washed the marble floor；then they spread tapestry about our house and set out thereon what was needful，after they had hung its walls with cloth of gold.Now the folk had agreed to come to us after the Friday prayers；so my father went out and bade them make sweetmeats and sugared dishes，and there remained nothing to do but to draw up the contract.
Then my mother sent me to the bath and sent after me a suit of new clothes of the richest；and，when I came out of the Hammam，I donned those habits which were so perfumed that as I went along，there exhaled from them a delicious fragrance scenting the wayside.I had designed to repair to the Cathedral mosque when I bethought me of one of my friends and returned in quest of him that he might be present at the writing of the contract；and quoth I to myself，'This matter will occupy me till near the time of congregational prayer.'
