after which rising abruptly，she made the minor ablution and betook herself to her devotions；nor did she leave praying till Hayat alNufus fell asleep，when she slips into bed and lay with her back to her till morning. And when day had broke the King and Queen came in to their daughter and asked her how she did.
whereupon she told them what she had seen，and repeated to them the verses she had heard. Thus far concerning Hayat alNufus and her father；but as regards Queen Budur she went forth and seated herself upon the royal throne and all the Emirs and Captains and Officers of state came up to her and wished her joy of the kingship，kissing the earth before her and calling down blessings upon her. And she accosted them with smiling face and clad them in robes of honour，augmenting the fiefs of the high officials and giving largesse to the levies；wherefore all the people loved her and offered up prayers for the long endurance of her reign，doubting not but that she was a man. And she ceased not sitting all day in the hall of audience，bidding and forbidding；dispensing justice，releasing prisoners and remitting the customsdues，till nightfall，when she withdrew to the apartment prepared for her. Here she found Hayat alNufus seated，so she sat down by her side and，clapping her on the back，coaxed and caressed her and kissed her between the eyes，and fell to versifying in these couplets，'What secret kept I these my tears have told，And my waste body must my love unfold：
Though hid my pine，my plight on parting day
To every envious eye my secret sold：
O ye who broke up camp，you've left behind
My spirit wearied and my heart acold：
In my hearts core ye dwell，and now these eyne
Roll blooddrops with the tears they whilome rolled：
The absent will I ransom with my soul；
All can my yearning for their sight behold：
I have an eye whose babe，[314] for love of thee，
Rejected sleep nor hath its tears controlled.
The foeman bids me patient bear his loss，
Ne'er may mine ears accept the ruth he doled！
I tricks their deme of me，and won my wish
Of Kamar alZaman's joys manifold：
He joins all perfect gifts like none before，
Boasted such might and main no King of old：
Seeing his gifts，Bin Za'idah's[315] largesse
Forget we，and Mu'awiyah mildestsoul'd：[316]
Were verse not feeble and o'er short the time
I had in laud of him used all of rhyme.'
Then Queen Budur stood up and wiped away her tears and，making the lesser ablution，[317] applied her to pray： nor did she give over praying till drowsiness overcame the Lady Hayat al Nufus and she slept，whereupon the Lady Budur came and lay by her till the morning. At daybreak，she arose and prayed the dawn prayer；and presently seated herself on the royal throne and passed the day in ordering and counter ordering and giving laws and administering justice. This is how it fared with her；but as regards King Armanus he went in to his daughter and asked her how she did；so she told him all that had befallen her and repeated to him the verses which Queen Budur had recited，adding，'O my father，never saw I one more abounding in sound sense and modesty than my husband，save that he cloth nothing but weep and sigh.'
He answered，'O my daughter，have patience with him yet this third night，and if he go not in unto thee and do away thy maidenhead，we shall know how to proceed with him and oust him from the throne and banish him the country.'And on this wise he agreed with his daughter what course he would take.And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Tenth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when King Armanus had agreed with his daughter on this wise and had determined what course he would take and night came on，Queen Budur arose from the throne of her kingdom and betaking herself to the palace，entered the apartment prepared for her. There she found the waxcandles lighted and the Princess Hayat alNufus seated and awaiting her；whereupon she bethought her of her husband and what had betided them both of sorrow and severance in so short a space；she wept and sighed and groaned groan upon groan，and began improvising these couplets，'News of my love fill all the land，I swear，As suns on Ghaza[318]wold rain heat and glare：
Speaketh his geste but hard its sense to say；
Thus never cease to grow my cark and care：
I hate fair Patience since I loved thee；
E'er sawest lover hate for love to bear？
A glance that dealt lovesickness dealt me death，
Glances are deadliest things with torments rare：
He shook his love locks down and bared his chin，
Whereby I spied his beauties dark and fair：
My care，my cure are in his hands；and he
Who caused their dolour can their dole repair：
His belt went daft for softness of his waist；
His hips，for envy，to uprise forbear：
His brow curldiademed is murky night；
Unveil 't and lo！ bright Morn shows brightest light.'
When she had finished her versifying，she would have risen to pray，but，lo and behold！ Hayat alNufus caught her by the skirt and clung to her saying，'O my lord，art thou not ashamed before my father，after all his favour，to neglect me at such a time as this？'When Queen Budur heard her words，she sat down in the same place and said，'O my beloved，what is this thou sayest？'She replied，'What I say is that I never saw any so proud of himself as thou. Is every fair one so disdainful？ I say not this to incline thee to me；I say it only of my fear for thee from King Armanus；because he purposeth，unless thou go in unto me this very night，and do away my maidenhead，to strip thee of the kingship on the morrow and banish thee his kingdom；and peradventure his excessive anger may lead him to slay thee. But I，O my lord，have ruth on thee and give thee fair warning；and it is thy right to reck.'[319] Now when Queen Budur heard her speak these words，she bowed her head groundwards awhile in sore perplexity and said in herself，'If I refuse I'm lost；and if I obey I'm shamed.
