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Alaeddin, and accordingly said to him,[1] “O my lord, all the treasures of the world were not worth a paring of thy daughter Bedrulbudour’s nails; indeed, Thy Highness overrateth this upon her.”[2]
When[3] the Sultan heard the Vizier’s words, he knew that this his speech arose from the excess of his envy; so he turned to Alaeddin’s mother and said to her, “O woman, go to thy son and tell him that I accept of him
- ↑ The whole of the foregoing passage is so confused that I think it well to add here (1) a literal translation, as I read it: “So the Vizier, yea, indeed, he marvelled at the greatness of that wealth more than the Sultan, but envy was killing him and waxed on him more and more when he saw the Sultan that he was satisfied with (or accepted of) the bride-gift and the dowry; however, it was not possible to him that he should gainsay the truth and should say to the Sultan, ‘He is not worthy;’ only, he practised with a device upon the Sultan so he should not let him give his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour to Alaeddin, and this [was] that he said to him, etc.,”—and also (2) the version given by Sir R. F. Burton, who takes a different view of the passage: “Then the Minister (although he marvelled at these riches even more than did the Sultan), whose envy was killing him and growing greater hour by hour, seeing his liege lord satisfied with the moneys and the dower and yet being unable to fight against fact, made answer, ‘’Tis not worthy of her.’ Withal he fell to devising a device against the King, that he might withhold the Lady Badr-al-Budur from Alaeddin, and accordingly he continued, etc.”
- ↑ Or “in comparison with her” (ent hhedsretuk istatsemet hatha aleiha). This is an ambiguous passage and should perhaps be read, “Thou magnifiest this (i.e. the gift) over her.”
- ↑ Night DLX.
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