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before the palace, that the King may see them and be awed by them; so shall his heart tremble and he shall know that my power is greater than his.’ So Er Raad brought him two hundred Afrits of great stature and strength, in the guise of guards, magnificently armed and equipped, and when the King came and saw these tall and stout troops, his heart feared them. Then he entered the palace, and found Jouder sitting in such state as neither King nor Sultan could match. So he saluted him and made his obeisance to him; yet Jouder rose not to him nor did him honour neither bade him be seated, Night dcxxii.but left him standing, so that fear entered into him and he could neither sit nor go away and said in himself, ‘If he feared me, he would not leave me thus unheeded; belike he will do me a mischief, because of that which I did with his brothers.’ Then said Jouder, ‘O King of the age, it beseems not the like of thee to wrong the folk and take away their goods.’ ‘O my lord,’ replied the King, ‘be not wroth with me, for covetise impelled me to this and the fulfilment of fore-ordained fate; and were there no offence, there would be no forgiving.’ And he went on to excuse himself and sue to him for pardon and indulgence, reciting amongst other things the following verses:
O thou of noble sires and nature frank and free, Reproach me not for what I’ve done to anger thee.
An thou have wrought upright, God pardon thee, quoth I; And if I’ve sinned, do thou on like wise pardon me!
And he ceased not to humble himself before him, till he said, ‘God pardon thee!’ and bade him sit. So he sat down and Jouder invested him with the garments of pardon and bade his brothers spread the table. When they had eaten, he clad the King’s company in robes of honour and gave them largesse; after which he bade the King depart. So he went forth and thereafter came every day to visit Jouder and held not his Divan save in his house: where-
