Thousand & One Nights: Twelfth Night: The King & The Sage

At the nightfall the story tellers were present along with Dinarzad who explained where the story stopped the previous day, and the circumstance that led to the narration of the story of King Yunan and Sage Duban.

The story that the fisherman said to the demon:

Sage Duban came to King Yunan, and asked him to ride to the playground to play ball and mallet.

The king rode out, accompanied by his Chamberlains, princes, viziers, and lords, and eminent men of the realm. The king was seated, sage Duban entered, offered the king the mallet, and said, "O Happy king, take this mallet, hold it in your hand, and as you race on the playground, hold the grip tightly in your fist, and hit the ball. Race until you perspire, and the medicine will ooze from the grip into your perspiring hand, spread to your wrist, and circulate through your entire body. After you perspire, and the medicinr spreds in your entire body, return to your royal palace, take a bath and go to sleep.  You will wake up cured, and that is all there is to it." King Yunan took the mallet from the sage and mounted his horse. The attendants threw the ball before the king, who holding the grip tightly in his first, followed it and struggled excitedly to catch up with it and hit it. He kept galloping after the ball and hitting it until his palm and the rest of the body began to perspire, and the medicine began to ooze from the handle and flow through his entire body. When the sage was certain that oozed and spread through the king's body, he advised him to return to his palace and go immediately to bath. The king went to the bath, washed himself thoroughly. Then he put on his clothes, and returned to his palace.

The sage went home to spend his night. Next morning, he returned to the palace. He kissed the ground before the king, stood up and recited the following verses:

Your virtues are great
The light of your face
Effaces the darkness of
Night. The world we dwell
Is gloomy. Ample grace you 
Rained on us, as clouds on
Thirsty hills, showering your 
Generosity, and attaining the 
Charm and magnificence.
As the sage finished his verses, the king stood up and embraced him. He seated the sage beside him, smiled at him, and conversed with him. The king bestowed on the sage robes of honour, gave him gifts and endowments and granted his wishes. There was a reason for his generosity: In the morning, after his bath, he had found himself cleared of leprosy. The king ate and drank with the sage. The mamluks, Chamberlains, viziers and lords were present and blinking witnessed the scene.

At the crack of dawn Dinarzad dispersed the little crowd of story tellers and their audiences, with a promise that the remaining part would be told the next day.


End of Section 
Notes:-
1.Mamluks: A military caste composed of slaves, who later owned their own Kingdom.





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