And you, cadi, why do you act so? My father gave you a charge. He sent you a
letter which commanded you to protect the country and all who dwelt in his
palace. Why do you conduct yourself in this fashion toward me?"
The cadi, hearing these words of the Princess Djouher-Manikam, felt a great
confusion in his heart. He went out of the palace and returned home full of
trouble and emotion. When it was day, the cadi sent a letter to the King Haroun-
er-Raschid at Mecca. It was thus conceived: "Your Majesty left me to be
guardian of his kingdom, his palace, and his daughter. Now, the Princess
Djouher-Manikam desires to marry me. This is the reason why I send this letter
to your Majesty." Thus spake the cadi in his letter.
When it reached the prince and he had read it, he immediately summoned his
son Minbah-Chahaz. He came in haste, and the King gave him a cutlass and
said, "Return to Bagdad and slay your sister, because she will bring shame upon
the family by marrying now."
Minbah-Chahaz bowed before his father. Then he set out to return to his own
country.
Arriving at the end of his journey, he entered the city, and went up to the palace
of the Princess Djouher-Manikam. She was filled with joy and said, "Welcome,
O my brother!"
Minbah-Chahaz answered, "O my little sister, our parents will remain for the
great pilgrimage."
The brother and sister thus chatting together, the Princess Djouher-
Manikam said, "O my brother, I wish to sleep."
"It is well, my sister," answered Minbah-Chahaz; "sleep while your brother
combs his little sister's hair." And the princess Djouher- Manikam slept.
Her brother then took a cushion, which he slipped under the head of the young
virgin his sister; then he thought in his heart: "If I do not execute the commands
of my father, I shall be a traitor to him. But, alas, if I kill my sister, I shall not
have a sister any more. If I do not kill her, I shall certainly commit a crime
against the most high, because I shall not have obeyed the order of my father. I
will fulfil then my father's will. It is a duty obligatory on all children. What good
are these subterfuges?" His resolution thus confirmed, he bound his handkerchief