Volume Seven-第26章

When it was the One Hundred and Fortieth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that came to King Sasan the tidings of the departure of Kanmakan，through the Chief Emirs who said to him，'Verily he is the son of our Sovran and the seed of King Omar bin alNu'uman and it hath reached us that he hath exiled himself from the land.'When King Sasan heard these words，he was wroth with them and ordered one of them to be hanged by way of silencing him，whereat the fear of him fell upon the hearts of all the other Grandees and they dared not speak one word.Then he called to mind all the kindness that Zau alMakan had done him，and how he had charged him with the care of his son；wherefore he grieved for Kanmakan and said，'Needs must I have search made for him in all countries.'So he summoned Tarkash and bade him choose an hundred horse and wend with them in quest of the Prince.Accordingly he went out and was absent ten days，after which he returned and said，'I can learn no tidings of him and have hit on no trace of him，nor can any tell me aught of him.'Upon this King Sasan repented him of that which he had done by the Prince；whilst his mother abode in unrest continual nor would patience come at her call： and thus passed over her twenty days in heaviness all.This is how it fared with these；but as regards Kanmakan，when he left Baghdad，he went forth perplexed about his case and knowing not whither he should go： so he fared on alone through the desert for three days and saw neither footman nor horseman；withal，his sleep fled and his wakefulness redoubled，for he pined after his people and his homestead.He ate of the herbs of the earth and drank of its flowing waters and siesta'd under its trees at hours of noontide heats，till he turned from that road to another way and，following it other three days，came on the fourth to a land of green leas，dyed with the hues of plants and trees and with sloping valley sides made to please，abounding with the fruits of the earth.It had drunken of the cups of the cloud，to the sound of thunders rolling loud and the song of the turtledove gently sough'd，till its hill slopes were brightly verdant and its fields were sweetly fragrant.Then Kanmakan recalled his father's city Baghdad，and for excess of emotion he broke out into verse，'I roam，and roaming hope I to return；Yet of returning see not how or when：