Then the maiden set food before her brother and he bade me eat with him，whereat I rejoiced and felt assured that I should not be slain.And when he had ended eating，she brought him a flagon of pure wine and he applied him to it till the fumes of the drink mounted to his head and his face flushed red.Then he turned to me and said，'Woe to thee，O Hammad！ dost thou know me or not？'
Replied I，'By thy life，I am rich in naught save ignorance！'
Quoth he，'O Hammad，I am 'Abbad bin Tamim bin Sa'labah and indeed Allah giveth thee thy liberty and leadeth thee to a happy bride and spareth thee confusion.'Then he drank to my long life and gave me a cup of wine and I drank it off；and presently he filled me a second and a third and a fourth，and I drained them all；while he made merry with me and swore me never to betray him.So I sware to him one thousand five hundred oaths that I would never deal perfidiously with him at any time，but that I
would be a friend and a helper to him.Thereupon he bade his sister bring me ten suits of silk，so she brought them and laid them on my person，and this dress I have on my body is one of them.Moreover，he made bring one of the best of his she
dromedaries[126] carrying stuffs and provaunt，he bade her also bring a sorrel horse，and when they were brought he gave the whole of them to me.I abode with them three days，eating and drinking，and what he gave me of gifts is with me to this present.At the end of the three days he said to me，'O Hammad，O my brother，I would sleep awhile and take my rest and verily I trust my life to thee；but，if thou see horsemen making hither，fear not，for know that they are of the Banu Sa'labah，seeking to wage war on me.'Then he laid his sword under his headpillow and slept；and when he was drowned in slumber Iblis tempted me to slay him；so I arose in haste，and drawing the sword from under his head，dealt him a blow that made his head fall from his body.
But his sister knew what I had done，and rushing out from within the tent，threw herself on his corpse，rending her raiment and repeating these couplets，'To kith and kin bear thou sad tidings of our plight；
From doom th' Allwise decreed shall none of men take flight：
Low art thou laid，O brother！ strewn upon the stones，
With face that mirrors moon when shining brightest bright！
Good sooth，it is a day accurst，thy slaughterday
Shivering thy spear that won the day in many a fight！
Now thou be slain no rider shall delight in steed，
Nor man child shall the breeding woman bring to light.
This morn Hammad uprose and foully murthered thee，
Falsing his oath and troth with foulest perjury.'
When she had ended her verse she said to me，'O thou of accursed forefathers，wherefore didst thou play my brother false and slay him when he purposed returning thee to thy native land with provisions；and it was his intent also to marry thee to me at the first of the month？'Then she drew a sword she had with her，and planting the hilt in the earth，with the point set to her breast，she bent over it and threw herself thereon till the blade issued from her back and she fell to the ground，dead.I mourned for her and wept and repented when repentance availed me naught.
Then I arose in haste and went to the tent and，taking whatever was light of load and weighty of worth，went my way；but in my haste and horror I took no heed of my dead comrades，nor did I bury the maiden and the youth.And this my tale is still more wondrous than the story of the servinggirl I kidnapped from the Holy City，Jerusalem.But when Nuzhat alZaman heard these words from the Badawi，the light was changed in her eyes to night.And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Fortyfifth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Nuzhat alZaman heard these words from the Badawi，the light was changed in her eyes to night，and she rose and drawing the sword，smote Hammad the Arab between the shoulderblades so that the point issued from the apple of his throat.[127] And when all present asked her，'Why hast thou made haste to slay him；'she answered，'Praised be Allah who hath granted me in my life tide to avenge myself with mine own hand！'And she bade the slaves drag the body out by the feet and cast it to the dogs.Thereupon they turned to the two prisoners who remained of the three；and one of them was a black slave，so they said to him，What is thy name，fellow？Tell us the truth of thy case.'He replied，'As for me my name is AlGhazban，'and acquainted them what had passed between himself and Queen Abrizah，daughter of King Hardub，Lord of Greece，and how he had slain her and fled.
Hardly had the negro made an end of his story，when King Rumzan struck off his head with his scymitar，saying，Praise to Allah who gave me life！ I have avenged my mother with my own hand.'
