Section 6. Volume 3 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night. Translated by Richard Burton. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Filippo Joaquin. The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night. Volume 3. Section 6. When it was the 137th night, she said, It hath reached me, O auspicious king, that when Shah Sulaiman drew near his capital, the folk decorated the city for him and for his son. So they entered in state, and the king, sitting on his throne, with his son by his side, gave alms and largesse and loosed all who were in his jails. Then he held a second bridle for his son, and the sound of the singing women and players upon instruments was never silent for a whole month. And the tired woman stinted not to adorn the Lady Dunia and display her in various dresses. And she tired not of the displaying, nor did the women wary of gazing on her. Then Taj al-Muluk, after having foregathered a while with his father and mother, took up his sojourn with his wife, and they abode in all joys of life and in fairest fortune, till there came to them the destroyer of all the lights. Now when Wazir Dundan had ended the tale of Taj al-Muluk and the Lady Dunia, Zawal Makhan said to him, of a truth it is the like of thee who lightened the mourner's heart and who deserved to be the born companion of kings and to guide their policy in the right way. All these befell, and they were still be signing Constantinople, where they lay four whole years till they yearned after their native land, and the troops murmured, being wary of vigil and besieging and endurance of fray and foray by night and by day. Then King Zawal Makhan summoned Rustam and Bahram and Tarkash, and when they were in presence bespoke them thus. Know that we have lain here all these years, and we have not won to our wish. Nay, we have but gained increase of care and concern. For indeed we came, thinking to make our men both for King Omar bin Al-Numan, and in so doing my brother Sharkan was laying. So is our sorrow grown to sorrow twain and our affliction to affliction's twain. All these came of the old woman Zat al-Dawahi, for it was she who slew the sultan in his kingdom and carried off his wife, the Queen Sophia. Nor did this suffice her, but she must put another cheat on us and cut the throat of my brother Sharkan, and indeed I have bound myself and sworn by the solemnest oaths that there is no help but I take blood with from her. What say, ponder my address and answer me? Then they bowed their heads and answered, it is for the wazir dandan to opine. So the minister came forward and said, No, O king of the age, it booteth us not to tarry here, and tease my council that we strike camp and return to our own country, there to abide for a certain time, and after that we should return for erasiyah upon the worshippers of idols. Reply the king, this read is right, for indeed this folk is weary for a sight of their families, and I am another who is also troubled with yearning after my son Kanmakan and my brother's daughter Kuzia Fakan. For she is a Damascus, and I know not how is her case. When the troops heard this report, they rejoiced and blessed the wazir dandan. Then the king, bed the crier, called the retreat after three days. They fell to prepare him for the march, and on the fourth day they beat the big drums and unfurled the banners, and the army sat forth. The wazir dandan in the van, and the king riding in the mid-battle, with a grand chamberlain by his side. An old journeyed without seizing, night and day, till they reached Baghdad city. The folk rejoiced in their return, and care and fear seized from them whilst they stay at homes, met the absentees, and each emir betook him to his own house. As for Zawal Makan, he marched up to the palace and went into his son, Kanmakan, who had now reached the age of seven, and who used to go down to the weapon plane and ride. As soon as the king was rested of his journey, he entered the hamam with his son, and returning, seated himself on his sofa-state, whilst the wazir dandan took up his station before him, and the emirs and lords of the realm presented themselves and stood in attendance upon him. Then Zawal Makan called for his comrade, the fireman, who had befriended him in his wanderings. And when he came into the presence, the king rose to do him honour, and seated him by his side.  Moreover, he was grown dull of wit, for that he had never stirred from his palace, so at first he knew not the king by his aspect. But Zawal Makan came up to him, smiling in his face, and greeted him after the friendliest fashion, saying, How soon has Zaw forgotten me? With this, the fireman roused himself and looked instead fastily at Zawal Makan, made sure that he knew him, whereupon he sprang hastily to his feet and exclaimed, O my friend, who hath made thee sultan? Then Zawal Makan laughed at him, and the wazir, coming up to him, expounded the whole story to him, and said, In good sooth he was thy brother and thy friend, and now he is king of the land, and nits must thou get great good of him. So I charged thee, if he say, Ask a boon of me. Ask not, but for some great thing, for thou art very dear to him. Quote the fireman, I fear lest, if I ask of him ought, he may not choose to give it, or may not be able to grant it. Quote the wazir, have no care, whatsoever thou askest, he will give thee. Rejoined the stalker, by Allah, I must at once ask of him a thing that is in my thought. Every night I dream of it, and implore mighty Allah to vouchsafe it to me. Said the wazir, take heart, by Allah, if thou ask of him the government of Damascus, in place of his brother, he would surely give it thee, and make thee governor. With this the stalker rose to his feet, and Zawal Makan signed to him to sit.  Answered the sultan, not so, they endure even now. Thou, West, in very deed, the cause that I am at present alive, and by Allah, whatever thing most desire thou requires of me, I will give that same to thee. But ask thou, first of Allah, and then of me. He said, O my Lord, I fear, fear not, quad the sultan. He continued, I fear to ask out, and that thou shouldst refuse it to me. And it is only at this the king laughed, and replied, if thou require of me the half of my kingdom, I would share it with thee. So ask what thou wilt, and leave talking. Repeated the fireman, I fear, don't fear, quad the king. He went on, I fear lest I ask a thing, and thou be not able to grant it. Upon this the sultan waxed wroth, and cried, ask what thou wilt. Then said he, I ask, first of Allah, and then of thee, that thou write me a patent of syndicate over all the firemen of the baths in the holy city, Jerusalem. The sultan and old present laughed, and Zawah Makhan said, ask something more than this. He replied, O my Lord, said I not, I fear that thou wilt not choose to give me what I should ask, or that thou be not able to grant it. Therewith the wazir signed him with his foot once and twice and thrice, and every time he began, I ask of thee, quad the sultan, ask and be speedy. So he said, I ask thee to make me chief of the scavengers in the holy city of Jerusalem, or in Damascus town. Then all those who were present fell on their backs with laughter, and the wazir beat him. Whereupon he turned to the minister and said to him, what are thou that thou shouldst meet me? It is no fault of mine, this thou not thyself beat me, ask some important thing? And he added, let me go to my own land. With this the sultan knew that he was gesting and took patience with him awhile. Then turned to him and said, O my brother, ask of me some important thing befitting our dignity. So the stalker said, O king of the age, I ask first of Allah and then of thee, that thou make me vizroy of Damascus in the place of thy brother. And the king replied, Allah granteth thee this. Thereupon the fireman kissed ground before him, and he bad sat him at share in his rank, and vasted him with a vizroy's habit. Then he wrote him a patent, and sealed it with his own seal, and said to the wazir done done, none shall go with you but thou. And when thou makest the return journey, do thou bring with thee my brother's daughter, Kuzia Fakan. Harkening and obedience answered the minister. And taking the fireman went down with him and made ready for the march. Then the king appointed for the stalker servants and suit, and gave him a new litter and a princely ekipage, and said to the emirs, whoso loveth me, let him honor this man and offer him a handsome present. So each and every of the emirs brought him his gift according to his competence. And the king named him Ziblakan and conferred on him the honorable surname of Al Mujahid. As soon as the gear was ready, he went up with the wazir done done to the king, that he might take leave of him and ask his permission to depart. The king rose to him and embraced him and charged him to do justice between his subjects, and bade him make ready for fight against the infidels after two years. Then they took leave of each other, and the king, the fighter for the faith, Haiz Ziblakan, having been again exhorted by Zawal Makhan to deal fairly with his subjects, set out on his journey. After the emirs had brought him Mamluks and Unuks, even to 5,000 in number, who rode after him. The Grand Chamberlain also took horse, as did Baran, the captain of the Delamites, and Rustam, captain of the Persians, and Tarkash, captain of the Arabs, who attended to do him service. And they seized not riding with him three days journey by way of honor. Then, taking their leave of him, they returned to Baghdad, and the Sultan Ziblakan and the Wazir Dandan fared on with their suit and troops, till they drew near Damascus. Now news was come upon the wings of birds, to the notables of Damascus, that king Zawal Makhan had made Sultan over Damascus, a king named Ziblakan, and surnamed Al Mujahid. So when he reached the city, he found it dressed in his honor, and everyone in the place came out to gaze on him. The new Sultan entered Damascus in splendid progress, and went up to the citadel, where he sat down upon his chair of state, whilst the Wazir Dandan stood in attendance on him, to acquaint him with the ranks of the Amirs and their stations. Then the grandees came in to him and kissed hands and called down blessings on him. The new king Ziblakan received them graciously, and bestowed on them dresses of honor and various presents and bounties, after which he opened at the treasuries and gave largesse to the troops, great and small. Then he governed and did justice and proceeded to equip the Lady Kuziafakan, daughter of King Sharkan, appointing her a litter of silken stuff. Moreover, he furnished the Wazir Dandan equally well for the return journey and offered him a gift of coin, but he refused, saying, thou art near the time appointed by the king, and happily thou wilt have need of money, or after this he may send to seek of thee funds for the holy war or what not. Now when the Wazir was ready to march, Sultan al-Mujahid mounted to bid the minister farewell and brought Kuziafakan to him and made her enter the litter and sent with her ten damsels to do her service. Thereupon they set forward, whilst King, fighter for the faith, returned to his government that he might order affairs and get ready his munitions of war, awaiting such time as King Zawal Makhan should send a requisition to him. Such was the case with Sultan Ziblakan, but as regards the Wazir Dandan, he seized not faring forward and finishing off the stages, in company with Kuziafakan, till they came to Rubah after a month's travel and then pushed on till they drew near Baghdad. Then he sent to announce his arrival to King Zawal Makhan, who when he heard this, took horse and rode out to meet him. The Wazir Dandan would have dismounted, but the king conjured him not to do so and urged his steed till he came up to his side. Then he questioned him of Ziblakan, high as Al Mujahid, where to the Wazir replied that he was well and that he had brought with him Kuziafakan, the daughter of his brother. At this the king rejoiced and said to Dandan, down with thee and rest thee from the fatigue of the journey for three days after which come to me again. Reply the Wazir with joy and gratitude and betook himself to his own house, whilst the king rode up to his palace and went in to his brother's daughter, Kuziafakan, a girl of eight years old. When he saw her he rejoiced in her and sorrowed for her sire. Then he bed make for her clothes and gave her splendid jewelry and ornaments and ordered she be lodged with his son, Khan Makhan, in one place. So they both grew up the brightest of the people, of their time and the bravest. But Kuziafakan became a maiden of good sense and understanding and knowledge of the issues of events, whilst Khan Makhan approved him a generous youth and free-handed, taking no care in the issue of art. And so they continued till each of them attained the age of twelve. Now Kuziafakan used to ride a horseback and fear forth with her cousin into the open plain and push forward and range at large with him in the war. And they both learned to smite with swords and spike with spears. But when they had reached the age of twelve, King Zawa Makhan, having completed his preparations and provisions and munitions for holy war, summoned the wazir dandan and said to him, Know that I have set mind on a thing which I will discover to thee and I want an opinion thereon. So do thou with speed return me a reply? Asked the wazir, what is that of king of the age? And the other answered, I am resolved to make my son Khan Makhan Sultan and rejoicing him in my lifetime and do battle before him till death overtake me. What racketh thou of this the wazir kissed the ground before the king and replied, Know, O king and Sultan mine, Lord of the age and the time, that which is in thy mind is indeed good, save that it is now no tide to carry it out for two reasons. The first, the thy son Khan Makhan is yet of tender age and the second, that it often befalleth him who maketh his son king in his lifetime to live but a little while thereafterward. And this is my reply. Rejoined the king, Know, O wazir, that we will make the Grand Chamberlain guardian over him for he is now one of the family and he married my sister so that he is to me as a brother. Quote the wazir, do what seemeth good to thee we have only to obey thine orders. Then the king sent for the Grand Chamberlain whom they brought into the presence together with the lords of the realm and he said to them, Ye know that this my son, Khan Makhan, is the first Cavalier of the age and that he hath no peer in striking with a sword and longing with the lands and now I appoint him to be Sultan over you and I make the Grand Chamberlain, his uncle, guardian over him. Reply the Chamberlain, I am but a tree and thy bounty hath planted and Zawa Makhan said, O Chamberlain, verily this my son, Khan Makhan and my niece, Kuzya Fakan, are brother's children so I hereby marry her to him and I call those present to witness thereof. Then he made over to his son such treasures as no tongue can describe and going into his sister, Nuzhat Al-Zaman told her what he had done where hath she was a glad woman and said, verily the twain are my children Allah preserve thee to them and keep thy life for them many a year. Replied he, O my sister, I have accomplished in this world all my heart desired and I have no fear for my son yet it were well thou have an eye on him and an eye on his mother as he charged the Chamberlain and Nuzhat Al-Zaman with the care of his son and niece and wife and this he continued to do nights and days till he fell sick and deemed surely that he was about to drink the cup of death so he took to his bed while his Chamberlain busied himself with ordering the fork and realm at the end of the year the king summoned his son Khan Makhan and the wazir done done and said O my son, after my death this wazir is thy sire for know that I am about to leave this house of life transitory for the house of eternity and indeed I have fulfilled my will of this world yet there remaineth in my heart one regret which may Allah dispel through and by thy hands asked his son what regret is that, O my father answered Zawal Makhan O my son, this all regret of me is that I die without having avenged thy grandfather Omar bin Al-Numan and dine uncle Sharqan on an old woman whom they call Zat Al-Dawahi but if Allah grant thee aid sleep not till thou take thy wreck on her and so wipe out of shame we have suffered at the infidels hands and beware of the old hags while and do what the wazir done done shall advise thee because he from all time had been the pillar of our realm and his son assented to what he said then the king's eyes ran over with tears and his sickness redoubled on him whereupon his brother-in-law, the chamberlain took charge over the country and being a capable man he judged and bade and forbade for the whole of that year while Zawal Makhan was occupied with his malady and his sickness was sore upon him for four years during which the chief chamberlain sat in his stead and gave full satisfaction to the commons and the nobles and all the country blessed his rule such was the case with Zawal Makhan and the chamberlain but as regards the king's son he busied himself only with riding and longing with lens and shooting with shaft and thus also did the daughter of his ankle, Khuzia Fakan for he and she were wont to fare forth at the first of the day and return a nightfall when she would go into her mother and he would go into his mother whom he ever found sitting in tears by the head of his father's couch then he would tend his father all night long till daybreak when he would go forth again with his cousin according to their wont now Zawal Makhan's pains and sufferings were lonesome upon him and he wept and began versifying with these couplets gone is my strength, told is my tale of days and lucky I am left as thou dost see in honor's day most honored want to be and win the race from all my company would haven't before my death I might behold my son is seat of empire's seat for me and rush upon his foes to take his rack with sway of swords and lens longed gallantly in this world and the next I am undone except the lord watch safe me clemency when he had ended repeating these verses he laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes and slept then saw he in his sleep one who said to him rejoice for thy son shall fill the land with justice sway and he shall rule them and him shall the legis obey then he awoke from his dream gladdened by the good tidings he had seen and after a few days death smote him and because of his dying great grief fell on the people of Baghdad and simple and gentle mourned for him but time passed over him as though he had never been and Khan Makhan's estate was changed for the people of Baghdad set him aside and put him and his family in a place apart now when his mother saw this she fell into the sorriest of plights and said there is no help but that I go to the grand chamberlain and I must hope for the aidence of the subtle the old wise then she rose from her place and betook herself to the house of the chamberlain who was now become sultan and she found him sitting upon his carpet so she went into his wife Nuzhat al-Zaman and wept with sore weeping and said unto her verily the dead hath no friend may Allah never bring you to what as long as your age the years endure and may you cease not to rule justly over rich and poor thine ears have heard and thine eyes have seen all that was ours of kinship and honor and dignity and wealth and fair fortune of life and condition and now time hath turned upon us and fate and the world hath betrayed us and brought in all style way with us wherefore I come to thee, craving thy favors I from whom favors were craved for when a man dies women and maidens are brought to this basil and she repeated these couplets suffice thee death such marvels can enhance and severed lives make lasting severance men's days are marvels and their stations are but water pits of misery and mischance not rings my heart save loss of noble friends girth around my rings of heart harsh circumstance when Nusat al-Zaman heard these words she remembered her brother Zawal Makhan and his son Khan Makhan and making her draw near to her and showing her honor she said verily at this moment by Allah I am grown rich and thou art poor now by the Lord we did not cease to seek thee out but we feared to wound thy heart lest thou shouldest fancy our gifts to thee and alms gift with all what so will we now enjoy is from thee and thy husband so our house is thy house and our place thy place and thine is all our wealth the goods we have belong to thee then she robbed her in some chose robes and set apart for her a place in the palace adjoining her own and they abode therein she and her son in all delight of life and Nusat al-Zaman clothed him also in King's reignment and gave to them both special handmaids for their service after a little she related to her husband the sad case of the widow of her brother Zawal Makhan where at his eyes filled with tears and he said vudest thou see the word after thee look thou upon the word after other than thyself then entreat her honorably and enrich her poverty and Sharazad perceived the dawn of day and seized to say her permitted say End of Section 6 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night Volume 3 Recording by Filippo Joachim Section 7 Volume 3 of the Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night translated by Richard Burton This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Filippo Joachim The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night Volume 3 Section 7 When it was the 138th night she said it hath reached me of a specious king that when Nuzhat al-Zaman related to her husband the sad case of the widow of her brother Zawal Makhan the chamberlain said treat her honorably and enrich her poverty Thus far concerning Nuzhat al-Zaman and her consort and the relict of Zawal Makhan but as regards Kan Makhan and his cousin Kuzia Fakan they grew up and flourished till they waxed like unto two fruit-laden boughs or two shining moons and they reached the age of 15 and she was indeed the fairest of maids who are modestly wailed loosely faced with smooth cheeks graced and slender waist on heavy hips-based and her shape was the shaft's thin line and her lips were sweeter than old wine and the nectar of her mouth as it were the fountain Salsabil even as safe the poet in these two couplets describing one like her as dope tisane of wine on her lips, honeydew dropped from the ripened grapes her mouth in cluster grew and when her frame thou dabblest and lo bends her vine praise her creators might no creature ever knew of a truth Allah had united in her every charm her shape would shame the branch of waving tree and the rose before her cheeks craved the lenity and the honeydew of her lips of wine made jeer however old and clear and she gladdened heart and beholder with joyous cheer even as safe of her the poet goodly of gifts is she and charm those perfect eyes with lashes shaming cold and all the fair one cold and from those eyeing the glances pierce the lover's heart like sword in mir al-muminina al-is-hold and the relator continueth as for Khan Makan he became unique in loveliness an excelling imperfection no less none could even him in qualities as in simliness and in the sheen of valor between his eyes was a spider testifying for him while against him it never testified the hardest hearts inclined to his side his eyelids bore lashes black as by coal and he was of surpassing worth in body and soul and when the down of lips and cheeks began to sprout bars and poet sang for him far and near appear not my excuse till hair had clothed his cheek and gloom over crept that side face side to stagger a fawn when eyes would baton on his charms each glance deals trusts like point of kanjar dagger and saith another his lover's soul have drawn upon his cheek an ant that perfected its rosy light a marvel at such martyrs lies append who yet with greeny robes of heaven are died now it chanced one holiday that Kuzea Fakan paired forth to make festival with certain kindred of the court and she went surrounded by her handmaids and indeed beauty encompassed her the roses of her cheeks dealt envy to their mole from out her smiling lips Levy flashed white gleaming like the chamomile and Kanmakan began to turn about her and devour her with his sight for she was the moon of resplendent light then he took heart and giving his tongue a start and began to improvise one shalt disappointed heart be healed of severance and lips of union smile at seizing of our heart mischance would have an anew shalt come some night and with it surely bring meeting with friend who like myself endureth sufferance when Kuzea Fakan heard these couplets she showed vexation and disapproval and putting on a hotty and angry air said to him does thou name me in diverse to shame me amongst folk by Allah if thou turn not from this talk I will assuredly complain of thee to the grain chamberlain, sultan of Korasan and Baghdad and lord of justice and equity that this grace and punishment may befall thee Kanmakan made no reply for anger but he returned to Baghdad and Kuzea Fakan also returned to her palace and complained of her cousin to her mother who said to her, oh my daughter happily he meant thee no harm and is he ought but an orphan with all he said not of reproach to thee so beware thou tell none of this lest perchance it come to the sultan's ears and he cut short his life and blot out his name and make it even as yesterday whose memory hath passed away however Kanmakan's love for Kuzea Fakan spread abroad in Baghdad so that the women talked of it moreover his breast became straightened and his patient waned and he knew not what to do yet he could not hide his condition from the world then longed he to give vent to the pangs he endured by reason of the love of separation but he feared her rebuke and her wrath so he began improvising now is my dread to incur reproaches which disturb her temper and her mind obscure patient I'll bear them even a generous youth his case to cure beareth the burn of brand his case to cure and Sharazad perceived the dawn of day and seized saying her permitted say when it was the 139th night she said, it hath reached me of a specious king that when the grand chamberlain became sultan they named him King Sasan and after he had assumed the throne he governed the people in righteous way now as he was giving audience one day Kanmakan's verses came to his knowledge thereupon he repented him of the past and going into his wife Nusat al-Zaman said to her verily, to joy halfa grass and fire is the greatest of risks and man may not be trusted with woman so long as I glances and I lead quivereth now thy brother's son Kanmakan it's come to man's estate and it beloved us to forbid him access to the room where enclets trickle and it is yet more needful to forbid thy daughter the company of man for the like of her should be kept in a harem replied she thou sayest sooth of wise king next day came Kanmakan according to his want and going into his aunt saluted her she returned his salutation and said to him oh my son I'd have somewhat to say to thee which I would feign leave unsaid yet I must tell it thee despite my inclination quote he speak and quote she know then that thy sire the chamberlain the father of Qusiyah Fakan hath heard of the verses thou madeest and end here and hath ordered that she be kept in the harem and out of thy reach if therefore oh my son thou want anything from us I will send it to thee from behind the door and thou shall not look upon Qusiyah Fakan nor shall thou return hither from this day forth when he heard this he arose and withdrew without speaking a single word and betaking himself to his mother related what his aunt has said she observed these all cometh of thine over talking thou knowest that the news of thy passion for Qusiyah Fakan is noise the broad and the tattle hath spread everywhere how thou eatest their food and thereafter thou courtest their daughter rejoin he and who should have her but I she is the daughter of my father's brother and I have the best of rights to her retorted his mother these are idle words be silent last happily thy talk come to the king Sasan's ears and it prove the cause of thy losing her and the reason of thy ruin and increase of thine affliction they have not sent us any supper tonight and we shall die and hungered and where we in any land but this we were already dead of famine or of shame for begging our bread when Qanmakan heard these words from his mother his regrets redoubled his eyes ran over with tears and he complained and began improvising meanish this blame I ever bear from you my heart loves her to whom all love is due ask not from me of patience jot or little divorce of patience by God's house I rue what blamers preach of patience I unheed here am I love path firmly to pursue indeed they bar me access to my love here am I by God's truth no ill I sue good sooth my bones when as they hear thy name quail as birds quailed when Naisus over them flew ah say to them who blame my love that I will love that face fair cousin till I die and when he had ended his verses he said to his mother I have no longer a place in my aunt's house nor among these people but I will go forth from the palace and abide in the corners of the city so he and his mother left the court and having sought an abode in the neighborhood of the poorer sort there settled but she used to go from time to time to King Sasan's palace and then take daily bread for herself and her son as these went on Kuzia Fakan took her aside one day and said to her alas oh my nanti how is it with thy son replied she oh my daughter sooth to say he is tearful eyed and heavy hearted being fallen into the net of thy love and she repeated to her the couplets he had made whereupon Kuzia Fakan wept and said by Allah I rebuked him not for his words nor for ill will to him but because I feared for him the malice of foes indeed my passion for him is double that he feeleth for me my tongue may not describe my yearning for him and where not for the extravagant willfulness of his words and the wanderings of his wit my father had not cut off from him favors that besit nor had decreed unto him exclusion and prohibition as fit however men's days bring not but change and patience in all case is most becoming for adventure he who ordained our severance will bout save us reunion and she began versifying in these two couplets oh son of mine uncle say him sorrow I bear and suffer the like of thy carc and thy care yet hide I from men that I suffer for pine hide it too and such secret to men never bear when his mother heard this from her she thanked her and blessed her then she left her and acquainted his son with what she had said whereupon his desire for her increased and he took heart being ease of his despair and the turmoil of his love and care and he said by Allah I desire none but her and he began improvising leave this blame I will list to no flout of my foe I divulged my secret was told to me keep he is lost to my sight for whose union I yearn and I watch all the while he can slumber and sleep so the days and nights went by whilst Khan Makhan lay tossing upon coals of fire till he reached the age of 17 and his beauty had waxed perfect and his wits were at their brightest one night as he lay awake he communed with himself and said why should I keep silence till I waste away and see not my lover fault have I none save poverty so by Allah I am resolved to remove me from this region and wander over the wild of the world for my position in this city is a torture and I have no friend nor lover therein to comfort me wherefore I am determined to distract myself by absence from my native land till I die and take my rest after this shame and tribulation and he began to improvise and recite these couplets I'll bathe my vitals quiver beneath this ban before the fall myself I'll never man so pardon me my vitals are a wreath whose superscription are my tears that ran hey ho my cousin Seymeth Horryway came down to earth by reason of Rizwan scraped not the dreadful sword long overlooked who dares the glancing of those eyeing to scan over a last widespread world I roam and roam and from such exile win what bread I can yes over broad earth I'll roam and save my soul all but her absence bearing like a man with gladsome heart I'll haunt the field of fight and meet the bravest brave in battle vion Solkhamma Khan fared forth from the palace barefoot and he walked in a short sleeved gown wearing on his head a skull cap of felt seven years old and carrying a scone three days stale and in the deep gloom of night he took himself to the portal of Al-Arish of Baghdad here he waited for the gate being opened and when it was opened he was the first to pass through it and he went out at random and wondered about the wastes night and day when the dark hours came his mother saw him but found him not whereupon the world waxed straight upon her for all that it was great and white and she took no delight in aught of wheel it supplied she looked for him a first day and a second day and a third day till ten days were passed but no news of him reached her then her breast became contracted and she shrieked and shriiled saying oh my son oh my darling thou hast revived my regrets suffice not what endured but thou must depart from my home after thee I care not for food nor joy in sleep and not but tears and mourning are left me oh my son from what land shall I call thee and what town had given thee refuge then her sobs burst out and she began repeating these couplets well learned we since you left are grief and sorrow to sustain while boughs of severance shot their shafts in many a railing rain they left me after girding on their cells of cordwaying to fight the very pants of death while spanned their sandy plain mysterious through the nightly gloom there came the moan of dove a ring dove and replied I seized thy plain how dost's complain if by my life her heart like mine were full of pain and pine she had not tax her neck with ring nor soul with ruddy stain flat is mine own familiar friend bequeathing me a store of parting pang and absence ache to suffer evermore then she abstained from food and drink and gave herself up to excessive tears shedding and lamentation her grief became public property far and wide and all the people of the town and countryside wept with her and cried where is thine eye ozaw al-makan and they bewailed the rigors of time saying would heaven we knew what hath befallen kan makan that he fled his native town and chased himself from the place where his father used to feel all in hungry case and do justice and grace and his mother redoubled her weeping and wailing till the news of kan makan's departure came to king sasaan and charazade perceived the dawn of day and seized saying her permitted say end of section seven of the book of a thousand nights and a night volume three recording by filipo joaquin section eight volume three of the book of a thousand nights and a night translated by richard burton this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by filipo joaquin the book of a thousand nights and a night volume three section eight when it was the 140th night she said it hath reached me of auspicious king that came to king sasaan the tidings of the departure of kan makan through the chief emirs who said to him verily he is the son of our sovereign and the seed of king omar bin al numan and it hath reached us that he hath exiled himself from the land when king sasaan heard these words he was wroth with them and ordered one of them to be hanged by way of silencing him where at the fear of him fell upon the hearts of all the other grandees and they dare not speak one word then he called to mind all the kindness that zawa makan had done him and how he had charged him with the care of his son wherefore he grieved for kan makan and said needs must I have searched made for him in all countries so he summoned tarkash and bade him choose a hundred horse and went 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 out of him upon this king sasaan 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 kan makan when he left Baghdad he went forth perplexed about his case and knowing not whether he should go so he fared on alone through the desert for three days and so neither footmen nor horsemen with all his leap 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 siested under its trees at hours of noontide heat till he turned from that road to another way and following it other three days came on the fourth to a land of green leaves died with the hues of plants and trees and with sloping valley sides made to please abounding with the fruits of the earth that drunken of the cups of the cloud to the sound of thunder's rolling loud and the song of the turtle dove gently soft till its hills sloped were brightly verdant and its fields were sweetly fragrant then kan makan recalled his father's city Baghdad and for excess of emotion he broke out into verse I roam and roam in hope I to return yet of returning see not how or when I went for love of one I could not win nor way of scaping eels that pressed could ken when he ended his recital he wept but presently he wiped away his tears and ate of the fruits of the earth enough for his present need then he made the wuzhu ablution and prayed the ordained prayers which he had neglected all this time and he sat resting in that place through the live long day when night came he slept and seized not sleeping till midnight when he awoke and heard a human voice declaiming these couplets what's life to me unless I see the pearlish sheen of teeth I love inside the glorious mine pray for her bishops who in coven train vying to bow before that heavenly queen and death is lighter than the loved one's wrath whose phantom haunts me seen in every scene o joy of cup companions when they meet and loved and lovers over each other lean even more in time of spring the lord of flowers when fragrant is the world with bloom and green drainer of vine juice up with thee for now earth is a heaven where sweet waters flow what Kanmakan heard is this stitch his sorrows surged up his tears ran down his cheeks like freshets and flames of fire darted into his heart so he rose to see who it was that spake these words but so none for the thickness of the gloom whereupon passion increased on him and he was frightened and restlessness possessed him he descended from his place to the soul of the valley and walked along the banks of the stream till he heard the same voice sighing heavy sighs and reciting these couplets though his die won't to hide their love perforce yet whip on day of parting and divorce tweaked me and my dear love were plighted wows pledge of reunion, thunder intercourse with joy inspires my heart and deals it rest Zephyr whose coolness doth desire enforce Osada thinks of me that anklet wear or parting brook she throught without remorse and say shall night for gather us and we of suffered hardships tell in soft discourse could she dour doth for us and fey quoth I saying thee how many a friend has turned to course if taste mine eyes sweeps leap while she's away a law will loss of her dine eyes occurs O wounds in vital mine for cure they lack, union and dewy lips sweet theriac when Kanmakan heard this verse again spoken by the same voice yet so no one he knew that the speaker was a lover like unto himself the bard from union with her who loved him and he said to himself to her fitting that this man should lay his head to my head and become my comrade in this my strangerhood then he hailed the speaker and cried out to him saying O thou who fairest in somber night draw near to me and tell me thy tale haply thou shalt find me one who will succour thee in thy sufferings and when the owner of the voice heard these words he cried out O thou that respondest to my complaint and wouldest hear my story who are thou amongst the knights are thou human or genie answer me speedily ere thy death draw near for I have wandered in this desert some twenty days and have seen no one nor heard any voice but thy voice at these words Kanmakan said to himself this one's case is like my case for I even I have wandered twenty days nor during my wayfair have I seen man or heard voice and he added I will make him no answer till day arise so he was silent and the voice again called out to him saying O thou that callest if thou be of the gin fair in peace and if thou be man stay awhile till the day breaks dark and the night flees with the dark the speaker abode in his place and Kanmakan did likewise and the twain in reciting verses never failed and wept tears that railed till the light of day began loom and the night departed with its gloom then Kanmakan looked at the other and found him to be of the Badawi Arabs a youth in the flower of his age clad in worn clothes and bearing in Baldrick a rusty sword which he kept shithead and the signs of love longing were apparent on him he went up to him and accosted him and saluted him and the Badawi returned the salute and greeted him with courteous wishes for his long life but somewhat despised him seeing his tender years and his condition which was that of a pauper so he said to him O youth of what tribe are thou to whom are thou keen among the Arabs and what is thy history that thou goest by night after the fashion of nights indeed thou spakest to me in the dark words such as are spoken of none but doughty cavaliers and lion-like warriors and now I hold thy life in hand but I have compassion on thee by reason of thy green ears so I will make thee my companion and thou shalt go with me to do me service when Khan Makhan heard him speak these unseemly words after showing him such skill in verse he knew that he despised him and would presume with him therefore he answered him with soft and well chosen speech saying O chief of the Arabs leave my tenderness of age and tell me why thou wanderest by night in the desert reciting verses thou talkest I see of my serving thee who then are thou and what move thee to talk this wise answered he Hark ye boy I am Saba son of Rama bin Humam my people are of the Arabs of Syria and I have a cousin Nijma Haiz who to all that look on her brings delight and when my father died I was brought up in the house of his brother the father on Ajma but as soon as I grew up and my uncle's daughter became a woman they secluded her from me and me from her seeing that I was poor without money in pouch then the chief of the Arabs and the heads of the tribes rebuked her sire and he was abashed before them and consented to give me my cousin but upon condition that I should bring him a third hour fifty head of horses and fifty dromedaries which travel ten days without a halt and fifty camels with wheat and a like number laden with barley together with ten black slaves and ten handmaids thus the weight he set upon me was beyond my power to bear for he exacted more than the marriage settlement as by law established so here am I traveling from Syria to Iraq and I have passed twenty days without seeing other than myself yet I mean to go to Baghdad that I may ascertain what merchant men of wealth and importance start thence then will I fear forth in their track and loot their goods and I will slay their escort and drive off their camels with their loads but what manner of man are thou replied kanmakan thy case is like unto my case save that my evil is more grievous than thine ill for my cousin is a king's daughter and the dowry of which thou hast spoken would not content her people nor would they be satisfied with the like of that from me quote Saba surely thou art a fool or thy wits for excess of passion are gathering wool how can thy cousin be a king's daughter thou hast no sign of royal rank on thee for thou art baramendicant rejoined kanmakan O chief of the Arabs let not this my case seem strange to thee for what happened happened and if thou desire proof of me then kanmakan son of king Zau almakan son of king Omar bin al-Numan lord of Baghdad and the realm Khorasan and fortune bended me with her tyrant man for my father died and my sultanate was taken by king Sassan so I fled forth from Baghdad secretly lest I be seen of any man and have wandered 20 days without any but thyself to scan so now I have discovered to thee my case and my story is as thy story and my need as thy need when Saba heard this he cried out oh my joy I have attained my desire I will have no loot this day but thyself for since thou art of the seed of kings and haste come out in beggars garb there is no help but thy people will seek thee and if they find thee in any ones power they will ransom thee with monies galore so show me thy back o my lad and walk before me and Swerdkanmakan oh brother of the Arabs act not on this wise for my people will not buy me silver nor with gold not even with a copper dihem and I am a poor man having with me neither much nor little so seize then to be upon this track and take me to thy comrade fear we forth for the land of Iraq and wander over the world so happily we may wind dower and marriage portion and we may seek our cousins kisses and embraces when we come back hearing this Saba waxed angry his arrogance and fury redoubled and he said bow to thee thus thou bend the words with me o vilest of dogs that be turn thee thy back or I will come down on thee with clock Kanmakan smiled and answered why should I turn my back for thee is there no justice in thee thus thou not fear to bring blame upon the Arab man by driving a man like myself captive in shame and disdain before thou has proved him on the plane to know if he be a warrior or of cowardly strain upon this Saba laughed and replied by Allah a wonder thou art a boy in years told but in talk thou art old these words should come from none but a champion dotty and bold what wantest thou of justice quoth Kanmakan if thou wilt have me thy captive to wind with thee and serve thee throw down thine arms and put off thine outer gear and come on and wrestle with me and whichever of us throw his opponent shall have his will of him and make him his boy then Saba laughed and said I think this waste of breath denoted the nearness of thy death then he arose and threw down his weapon and tucking up his skirt drew near unto Kanmakan who also drew near and gripped each other but the Badawi found that the other had the better of him and weighed him down as the quintal down weighs the diner and he looked at his legs firmly planted on the ground and saw that they were as two minarets strongly based or two tent poles in earth encased or two mountains which may not be displaced so he acknowledged himself to be a failure and repented of having come to wrestle with him saying to himself would I had slain him with my weapon then Kanmakan took hold of him and mastering him shook him till the Badawi thought his bowels would burst in his belly and he broke out hold thy hand oh boy he heeded not his words but shook him again and lifting him from the ground made with him towards the stream that he might throw him therein where upon the Badawi roared out saying oh thou valiant man what will thou do with me quote he I mean to throw thee into the stream it will bear thee to the Tigris the Tigris will bring thee to the river Issa and the Issa will carry thee to the Euphrates and the Euphrates will land thee in thine own country so thy tribe shall see thee and know thy manly cheer and how thy passion be sincere then Saba cried aloud and said oh champion of the desert lair do not with me the wicked dare but let me go by the life of thy cousin the jewel of the fear hearing this Khan Makhan set him on the ground but when he found himself at liberty he ran to his sword and targe and taking them up stood plotting in himself treachery and sudden assault on his adversary the prince canned his intent on his eye and said to him I con what is in thy heart now thou hast hold of thy sword and thy targe thou hast neither length of hand nor trick of wrestling but thou thinkest that were thou on thy mare and couldst wheel about the plain and ply me with thy skin I had long ago but I will give thee thy requite so there may be left in thy heart no despite nor give me the targe and fall on me with thy winger either thou shall kill me or I shall kill thee here it is and Sursaba and throwing him the targe bared his brand and rushed at him sword in hand Khan Makhan hand the buckler in his right and began to fend himself with it while Sursaba struck at him saying at each stroke this is the finishing blow but he fell harmlessly now for Khan Makhan took all of his buckler and it was waste work though he did not reply lacking the wear with all to strike and Sursaba seized not to smite at him with the sabre till his arm was weary when his opponent saw this he rushed upon him and hugging him in his arm shook him and threw him to the ground then he turned him over on his face and pinioned his elbows behind him with the baldrick of his sword and began to drag him by the feet and to make for the river thereupon cried Saba what will thou do with me o youth and cavalier of the age and brave of the plain were battle rage answered he did I not tell thee that it was my intent to send thee by the river to thy kin and to thy tribe that thy heart be not troubled for then be troubled for thee and lest thou miss thy cousins bride fist at this Saba shrieked aloud and wept and screaming said do not thus o champion of the times brave let me go and make me one of thy slaves and he wept and wailed and began reciting these verses I'm a strange pro my folk and estrangements long shall I die am I at strangers ah would that I can't I die nor my kinsmen shall know where I am slain die in exile nor see the dear face of my friend thereupon Khan Makhan had compassion on him and said make with me a covenant true and swear me an oath to be a comrade as due and to bear me company wherever I may go she's well reply Saba and soar accordingly then Khan Makhan lost him and he rose and would have kissed the prince's hand but he forbade him that then the Badawi opened his script and taking out three barley scones laid them before Khan Makhan and they both sat down on the bank of the stream to eat when they had done eating together they made the lesser ablution and prayed after which they sat talking of what had befallen each of them from his people and from the shifts of time presently said Khan Makhan whether thus thou now intend replied Saba I purposed to repair to Baghdad the inactive town and repair until Allah vouchsafed me the marriage portion rejoined the other up then and to the road I tarry here so the Badawi farewelled him and took the way for Baghdad whilst Khan Makhan remained behind saying to himself oh my soul with what face shall I return pauper, poor now by Allah back empty-handed and if the Almighty please I will assuredly work my deliverance then he went to the stream and made the wussu washing and when prostrating he laid his brow in the dust and prayed to the Lord saying oh Allah, thou who sendest down the dew and feedest the warm that homes in the stone which save me my livelihood of thine onipotence and the grace of thy benevolence then he pronounced the salutation which closes prayer yet every road appeared close to him and while he sat turning right and left, behold he aspired a horseman making towards him with bent back and reigned slack up right and after a time reached the prince and the stranger was at the last grasp and made sure of death for he was grievously wounded when he came up the tears streamed down his cheeks like water from the mouth of skins and he said to Khan Makhan oh chief of the Arabs take me to thy friendship as long as I live for thou will not find my life and give me a little water though the drinking of water be harmful to one wounded especially whilst the blood is flowing and the life with it and if I live I will give thee what shall heal thy penury and thy poverty and if I die mayst thou be blessed for thy good intent now under that horseman was a stallion so noble a rabbit the tongue fails to describe him and as Khan Makhan looked at his legs like marble shafts he was seized with a longing and said to himself verily the one of this stallion is not to be found in our time then he helped the rider to a light and entreated him in friendly guise and gave him a little water to swallow after which he waited till he had taken rest and addressed him saying who hath dealt thus with thee quote the rider I will tell thee the truth of the case I am a horse thief and I have busied myself snatching horses all my life night and day and my name is Gassan the plug of every stable and stallion I heard the tell of this horse that he was in the land of Ruhm with King Afridun where they had named him Al-Kathu and surname him Al-Majnun so I turned to Constantinople for his sake and watched my opportunity and whilst I was thus waiting there came out an old woman one highly honored among the Greeks and whose word with them is law by name Zatt al-Dawahi a past mistress in all manner of trickery she had with her this steed and ten slaves no more to attend on her and the horse and she was bound for Baghdad and Khorasan there to seek King Sassan and to sue for peace and pardon from Ben so I went out in their track longing to get the horse and seized not to follow them but was unable to come by the stallion because of the strict guard kept by the slaves till they reached this country and I feared last they enter the city of Baghdad as I was casting about to steal the stallion law a great cloud of dust arose on them and walled the horizon presently it opened and disclosed 50 horsemen gather together to wailay merchants on the highway and their captain by name Kardash was a lion in Dairin and Dash a furious lion who laid knights flat as carpets in battle crash and Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and seized to say her permitted say end of section 8 of the book of a thousand nights and a night volume 3 recording by Filippo Joaquin section 9 book of a thousand nights and a night translated by Richard Burton this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Ellie the book of a thousand nights and a night volume 3, section 9 when it was the 141st night she said it has reached me oh special king how did riders speak thus to come again then came out the same Kardash and fell on the old woman and her men and bore down upon them bashing them nor was it long before they bound her and the ten slaves were off their captives and the horse rejoicing when I saw this I said to myself my pains were in vain nor did I attain my gain however I waited to see how the affair would fare and when the old woman found herself in bonds she wept and said to the captain Kardash without the champion and furious night what worked out to be an old woman and slaves now that Tau has the well of the horse and she beguiled him with soft words and she swear that she would send him horses and cattle till he released her and her slaves then he went his way he and his comrades and I followed them till they reached this country and I watched them till at last I found an opportunity of stealing the horse whereupon I mounted him and throwing a whip from a wallet and struck him with it when the robbers heard this they came out on me and surrounded me on all sides and shot arrows and cast spears at me whilst I stuck fast on his back and defended me with hooves and forehand till at last he bolted out with me from amongst them like an earring shaft or shooting star but in the stress I got sentry grievous wounds and sore and since that time I've passed on his back three days without tasting food or sleeping odd so that my strength is down brought what has become to me is not but Tao has dealt kindly with me and has shown rules on me and I see the naked, stark and sorrow has set on tea its mark yet I assign the first and gentle breeding many fest on tea so tell me what and when are Tao and with her are Tao pond I answered the prince my name is Kim Mekken son of Soul Mekken son of King Omobin and Newman when my father died and an awful lot was my fate a baseman seized his throne the king over small and great then he told him all his past from first to last and the horse he said to him for he pitied him by Allah Tao had won of high degree and exceeding nobility and Tao shall surely attain a state supply and become the first carrier of that time if Tao can lift me on horseback and mount tea behind me and bring me to my own land Tao shall have honor in this world and a reward on the day of band calling to band for I have no strength left to study myself and if this be my last day the steed is time all way for Tao are versier of him than any other cause Kim Mekken by Allah if I could carry tea on my shoulders or share my days with tea I would do this deed without the steed for I am of a breeded love is to do good and to secure those in need and one kindly action almighty Allah's honor a worthy 70 calamities from his door so make ready to set out and put tight rest in the subtle the all wise and he would have lifted him on to the horse and fared forward trusting in Allah aider of those who seek aid but the horse thief said wait for me a while then he closed his eyes and opening his hands said attestify that there is no God but the God and attestify that Mohammed is the apostle of God and he added O glorious one pardon me my mortal sin for none can pardon mortal sins save the immortal and he made ready for death I decided these couplets I have wronged mankind and have ranged like wind over the world and in the wine cups my life has passed I have swam touring course to pure of the horse and my guile's high places on plain have cast much I've tried to win and over much my sin and cattle of my winnings is most and last I had hoped of this deed to gain wish and need but vain was the end of this journey's vast I have stolen through life and my death and was doomed by the Lord who does all forecast and I've told these tools to the fatal end for an orphan, a pauper so kiss and friend and when he finished his verses he closed his eyes and opened his mouth then with a single death's rattling he left his world there upon came Macon Rose and Darker Grave and laid him in the dust after which he went up to the steed and kissed him and wiped his face and joyed with exceeding joy saying none has the fellow of this delian, no not even King Celsen but such was the case with Macon as regards King Celsen presently news came to him that Vesedenden had thrown off his allegiance and with him half the army who swore that they would have no king but came Macon and the minister bound the troops by a solemn covenant and had gone with them to the islands of India and to Borba Island and to Black Island where he had left armies from far and near like unto the swollen sea from fear and none could tell the hosts when from its rear and the minister was resolved to make for Bagdad and take the kingdom in vat and slay every soul who dared it hard having sworn not to return the sword of war to its chief till he had made King Macon when these news came to Celsen he was drowned in the sea of appeal knowing that the whole state would turn against him great and small and his trouble redoubled and his care became despair so he opened his treasures and distributed his monies among his officers and he prayed for King Macon's return that he might draw his heart to him with fair usage and bounty and make him commander of those troops which sees not being faithful to him so might he quench the spark's ear they became a flame now when the news of this reach came Macon by the merchants he returned in haste to Bagdad on the back of a four-set stallion and as King Celsen said perplexed upon his throne he heard of the coming of King Macon whereupon he dispatched all the troops and headmen of the city to meet him so all who were in Bagdad fared for us made the prince and escorted him to the palace and kissed the thresholds whilst the demons and eunuchs went on to his mother and gave her the fared holdings of his return she came to him and kissed him between their eyes but he said to her oh mother mine let me go to my uncle King Celsen who has overwhelmed me with will and boon and while he so did all the palace people and headmen saw the beauty of the stallion and said no king is like unto this man so King Macon went into the king Celsen and saluted him as he rose to receive him and kissing his hands and feet offered him the horse as the present the king greeted him saying welcome and welcome to my son Macon by Allah the world has been straightened on me by reason of time absence but praise be Allah for thy safety and King Macon called down blessings on him then the king looked at the stallion and looked at all highs and knew him for the very horse he had seen in such and such a year whilst beleaguering the cross worshippers of Constantinople with King Macon's sire Suel Macon that time they saw his uncle Sherkin so he said to the prince if thy father could have come by this cursor he would have bought it with a thousand blood horses but now let the honor return to the honorable we accept this deed and we give him back to thee as a gift for to him now is more right than any wit being nightliest of nightliest the king says in bait bring force for him dresses of honor and let horses in the point to him the chief flodging in the palace and showed him the utmost affection and honor because he feared the issue of the vice-identin's doings at this King Macon rejoiced and shame and humiliation ceased from him then he went to his horse and going to his mother asked oh my mother how is it with the daughter of my uncle answered she by Allah oh my son my concern for thine absence has distracted me from any other even from thy beloved especially as she was the cause of thy strangerhood and thy separation from me then he complained to her of his case saying oh my mother go to her and speak with her her pleasure will vouchsive me her sight to see and dispel from me this despondency replied his mother I will desire a basement's necks so put away from thee this sword that can only wax for I will not vent to her nor go into her with such message now when he heard his mother's words he told her what said the horse if concerning said al-Dawahi how the old woman was standing there land-purposing to make back that and added it was she who stole my uncle and my grandfather and needs must I avenge them the man bought that our reproach be wiped out then he left her and repaired to an old woman evicted her a spiniculous battle by name of Sedanna and complained of his case and of what he suffered for love of his cousin Cousy Afecan and begged her to go on to her and win her favor for him I hear and I obey answered the old hag and leaving him betook herself to Cousy Afecan's palace that she might intercede with her on his behalf then she returned to him and said of the truth Cousy Afecan salutes Tid and promises to visit Tid this night about midnight and Jahara said perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say End of section 9 of the book of a thousand nights in the night volume 3, recording by Ellie September 2009


Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. Hope everybody had a good weekend. So we got S&P up 10. NASDAQ up 61. Russell is pretty much unchanged. Dow up 26. I did. I did have a good weekend. Did a little farming. Did a little little tractoring around. Work meeting. Elliott, come on. You got to tell them what to do on that. Scheduling.  It's... This weekend was hot. 100 degrees. 110 with heat index. The next... You know it's hot when your weather app shows a picture of a cactus for the next six days. Especially when you're not in Arizona. All right, so this morning, Rick is out of play. Ducks are out of play. So I'm just doing the AM ratio. So my first order of biz is to buy the longs. Then I will sell the shorts with my OCO. I've also got a 3.5 DTE double calendar that I will be closing out near the open. So I'm going to get filled in my AM ratio first and then I'll address the double calendar. And assuming things stay fairly stable, I'll get into a quiet lunch trade later this morning. Red round lunchtime that is. Saw that coming, huh, Mauro? Yeah, it's just... It's all kind of fresh in my mind. So I thought it was a good time to... Plus, I've been slacking on my... Keeping up with my podcast. So I need to get back into the swing of things. I think my last one before that was the Dick K episode. Good morning, Clazz. So I just posted, if you didn't see, in the trade plans channel. Clazz shared his kind of trade results and trade plans. So I posted those in there for anyone to check those out. Good stuff. 20 seconds till the bell. There it is. So I'm going to try to buy my longs first. 35 wide. So I'm going to get filled at... Filled at 23.20. Actually, I should have been on the 43.60 on the put side, but I'm in the 4,400 calls. 43.65 puts. Looks like my 3.5 DTE double calendar might be a...  It looks like it's down about $140, $100 somewhere in there. I am loving my new computer setup here. All kinds of real estate to play with. With the new monitors. Trying to get filled on my 3.5 at 18.30. To adjust that down. Closer to 18.15 or 18. Let's try 18.20. No fill at 18.20. No fill at 18.10. Just posted in the calendar channel. Getting a little decay coming in already on the zero DTE trade. If you're new, on this one I've got... I'll take half off it once I get to 50% of credit, and then I'll let the last one ride till 80% if we get there. By the way, if you are new here this morning, the best place to start to get up to speed is... Well, a couple places. We've got the zero DTE course channel. There's a lot of good stuff, a lot of foundational stuff around zero DTE. In there, we've got just kind of zero DTE iron condors. That's a little bit older of a strategy that I don't necessarily trade anymore using deltas, but it will give you a good foundation for kind of a lot of the concepts. We've got reverse iron condor. We've got zero DTE trading decisions. Just kind of a short video on that. Here's a recording of a zero DTE live stream. By the way, all zero DTE live streams are recorded. If you go to in the live stream channel, navigationtrading.com slash archive, you'll find all the recordings there. Also in the zero DTE course, there's some position size and trade plan stuff, how to use OCO orders with spreadsheets, and how to use OCO order templates. I've got some examples that I give there. We've got obviously the zero DTE channel, which is a lot of posting just zero DTE related. The channel we're in now chatting zero live chat. That would be for all the while we're streaming live. That's the channel we use. Then the zero DTE trade plans. Every month, this is where I will be posting my trade plan for the next month. We've also got some awesome presentations of their trade plans from Tim Weiss, Dick Kay, and the one I just posted myself, and then the one I just posted Krish from last week, and then the one I just posted this morning from Claas is in there as well. Those are the best places to start. The idea is to take ideas from these trade plans from others and then build your own based on your account size, your risk tolerance, all that fun stuff. During the live streams here like today, as you can see, I got in the trade. There's not actually a whole lot else I'm going to be doing from an active trading perspective. We use these live streams to help fill in the gaps and answer any questions you have as well. Feel free to post if you have anything in the Zero Live chat channel. S&P is now up 20. NASDAQ up 130. Russell slightly green. Dow up 50. Gold and silver. Silver is up a couple percent. Gold is just slightly green. Notes and bonds are lower. Ten-year yield pushing up above 4.3. Oil up almost 1 percent. Natty gas up 3 percent. Soybeans up. Wheat down. Corn up. Hero in the pound. Pretty flat and Bitcoin flat. VIX up 1 percent. VIX futures down two and a half. Monday morning VIX pop, but VIX futures. Volatile is really contracting. Let's see. I got to get my little chart set up a little bit better here. So let's see. Expected move at the beginning of the day was close to 20. A little over 23. So about 44.03 on the upside. V7 on the downside. All right. My friends, what else we got today? I'm going to be putting on... It's looking at both a 1, 2 and a 1, 3. DTE double calendar. I may do both. Let me pull up the... Let me look again. I was looking last night. Let's double check this. So here's the economic news today for the week. So today, absolutely nothing. Tomorrow we get the BRICS summit. Existing home sales. Got some FOMC members speaking. Wednesday, right after the market opens, we've got Flash PMI. BRICS summit still going. Thursday, BRICS summit still going. Unemployment claims. I need to change this to my time zone. So Thursday pre-market unemployment claims. And then Friday, we've got some more FOMC speakers. Consumer sentiment and Jackson Hole with Mr. Powell speaking. So that's probably going to shake some stuff up on Friday. It's like he starts speaking about 35 minutes after the market opens. Jackson Hole symposium continues on to Saturday. So all that being said, I will be... So I've got a 6-7 on right now. 3-4s do test really well putting those on Monday morning. So today, it's going to be a pretty much an overlap of my 6-7. Sorry, I've already got a 6-7 on. So I'm not going to do it. You can test 3-4s, which should do well. I'm going to do... I think what I'll do is I'm going to do a 1-3 BNB today and then I'm also going to do a 2-4. That way I get some more long options on Friday. Does anyone have a 2-4 back test that they currently trade? They wouldn't mind sharing. I've got a... The one that I've got here, I haven't really traded much and I haven't really dug into specific times of day. Looks like it's been pretty choppy for the last 4, 5, 6 months or so. 2-4. Thanks, Marl. The main thing is just trying to figure out optimal entry and exit times on this thing. I had 3... I had later in the day previously. Dick K, are you on here? Doesn't look like Dick's on this morning. I know Dick K trades a 2-4. Looks like a little bit later in the day, entry is better. Marl, you're using a 30 delta. Krish, I see good slump in premiums. Yeah, I've found entering at 11 a.m. my time works best. Let's see here. Got a 2-4. It's been pretty flat here to date, hasn't it? I'm really just... I'm really doing this more... I mean, I want to follow a back test, but I also just want my longs on the Friday Jackson Whole Day is a big reason for doing the 2-4 here today as well. 20 delta looks like... a little bit better actually. Looks kind of like later in the day. Test better for the 2-4. I'm going to stick with my original 3-30. All right, that'll work. Also got the 10-25 Dick K special we could trade today. Russell and Dow are now red. A.m. ratio is back to center. Excuse me. Yep. It is a delta-based entry. So that is this one here. So 45 delta on the puts. 25 delta on the calls. 55 points wide. Thank you, rules. So I think I will... I'll go ahead and enter this. This one at 9.25 my time. So here in about 30 minutes. So we'll stick around.  Just talking about you, Dick. We're plotting and planning for the Dick K special here in about 30 minutes. Something is tickling my throat right now. Hey, Dick K, when you get a chance, do you have a 2-4 DTE double calendar that you're currently trading? Yeah, no rush. Whenever you get a second. Meach, what are you doing here? I thought you had a new fancy job that you couldn't really grace us with your presence very much anymore. Okay, thanks, Dick. Yeah, they've been a little choppy year to date. I liked it today just because of the Jackson Hole thing on Friday. So I was trying to add some more calendars with the lungs on Friday. That one. Yours is pretty similar to mine. SPX pushing up to new highs on the day. VIX is now basically unchanged, slightly higher. I'll grab myself a cup of coffee. I'll be back in just a minute. No, I'm not. I'm not doing the two DTEs anymore. Just because I'm going to be doing a lot of the time flies and they're, you know, they can be a little bit correlated. I do like it, but I just, it's, you know, just capacity issue. Am ratio still looking good. Speaking of time flies, let's check out our current one here. So if price pushes up and kind of holds above 4,400, that's where I would look to add a calendar adjustment to our time fly. But if it pushes it down a little bit, we would hit our profit target. NASDAQ up 1.2%. Tech being a little strong today. Got a NASDAQ hedgehog with 11 DTE. So we'll take that off towards the end of the week. Now I got SPX pushing. Oh, that's NASDAQ. I need to take my link off that one. NASDAQ is strong. What do we got moving here in stocks today? Nikola down 12%. AMC down 10%. Moderna up 6%. After a couple of big moves in Moderna lately. Tesla up 6%. NVIDIA 4, wow.  NVIDIA has got earnings on 8.23. So that's Wednesday. Microsoft up 1.5, Meta up 1.5. AMD up 1.5. Amazon up 1.25. Google up almost 1. Netflix up 1.5%. Where's Apple? Apple's up 1.5%. In the different sectors, we've got real estate week. Regional banks week. Financials pretty flat. Strongest semiconductors in tech. Energy is a little bit green. Retail slightly green. Yeah, we need a little bounce in the Euro to get us back to center there. Our VXX trades are working. The first one we put on is almost back to a scratch. The other one's up a few hundred. We painted the top of volatility with that one at this point. So that was nice. I want to get 50% of max profit there. So I'm looking for about 650. So it's going to need to get down closer to 24 under 24 and VXX before I start peeling any of that off. So Kelvin, you'll see it on my trade plan sheet. I trade Tuesday and Wednesday. I trade a PM iron condor. But I think I took some stuff from the P2H. But I do a 3-2 ratio and you can check those tests to see what I do there. But just on Tuesday and Wednesday, I believe. All right, getting a little reversal coming down in SPX. Got some nice decay coming in. Nice and centered. Our TGIF is pretty unchanged, it looks like. My 6-7 is up a couple hundred SPX heading back towards the open. Got about seven minutes before the Dick K special goes into effect. SPX, nice and choppy today so far. Just like we like it after we get into a premium selling position. S&P now up 14. NASDAQ up 1%. Russell's down a third of a percent. Dow down a quarter percent. So 25 delta on the call side is going to be the same strike as my AM ratio. 4,400. 4,380 would be the put strike.  SPX pushing down towards the open. All right, so I'd be looking at the 4,400. 4,455. 4,380. It's coming down. Coming down. Still coming down. New lows on the day. Yes, I'm going 4,395. 4,450. 4,375. 4,320. Still coming down. One more strike. Filled at 11,50. I'm on the 4,390. 4,370. So my first profit target is going to be at 10,10. VIX back up to 17.77. Still not quite as high as where the VIX opened, but just about. SPX coming down towards Friday's close. If we can get a little bit of a bounce and some premium suckage, I'd be able to hit a quick profit in this one. 618, strongest of all the fibs. TikTok hit its low of the day.  TikTok, fib clock. That's where you draw the line. But don't the ticks move with price action? Can't you just look at price action? Coming down towards 4,370, which is near Friday's close. Looks like it closes it just below 4,370 on Friday. AM ratio needs a little bounce now. Right, but that's kind of like using an RSI to indicate overbought or oversold, right? I mean, it can stay overbought or oversold and it just follows price. Seen a little bounce come in, but the ticks are derived from what price does, aren't they? Price moves up, ticks move up.  Looks like it's up about 5 or 600 now. Let's see. Got into the 6,7 at 775. It's currently trading at about 840. Let's start peeling some of the 6,7 off if we get up to like 930. 20% SPX, taking a little pause at least. Wouldn't call it a bounce necessarily. Coming back down. All right, my friends, I am going to jump off here. The AM ratio, looking for 50% to take half off and reduce stop. BitK special looking for 15% to start peeling off and reducing stop.  So we'll be back for power hour. The last hour of the day. Looking forward to seeing you then. Have a good day.