Allah guard a folk whose abode was far，
And whose secret I kept in the holiest shrine：
Now Fortune in kindness hath favoured me
Thrown on threshold dust of this love o' mine：
By me bedded I looked on Budur，whose sun
The moon of my fortunes hath made to shine.'
Then，having affixed his sealring to the missive，he wrote these couplets in the place of address，'Ask of my writ what wrote my pen in dole，And hear my tale of misery from this scroll；
My hand is writing while my tears down flow，
And to the paper 'plains my longing soul：
My tears cease not to roll upon this sheet，
And if they stopped I'd cause bloodgouts to roll.'
And at the end he added this other verse，'I've sent the ring from off thy finger bore I when we met，now deign my ring restore！'
Then Kamar alZaman set the Lady Budur's ring inside the letter and sealed it and gave it to the eunuch，who took it and went in with it to his mistress.And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Fifth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Kamar al
Zaman，after setting the sealring inside the epistle，gave it to the eunuch who took it and went in with it to his mistress；and，when the Lady Budur opened it，she found therein her own very ring. Then she read the paper and when she understood its purport and knew that it was from her beloved，and that he in person stood behind the curtain，her reason began to fly and her breast swelled for joy and rose high；and she repeated these couplets，'Long，long have I bewailed the sev'rance of our loves，
With tears that from my lids streamed down like burning rain；
And vowed that，if the days deign reunite us two，
My lips should never speak of severance again：
Joy hath o'erwhelmed me so that，for the very stress
Of that which gladdens me to weeping I am fain.
Tears are become to you a habit，O my eyes，
So that ye weep as well for gladness as for pain.''[301]
And having finished her verse，the Lady Budur stood up forthwith and，firmly setting her feet to the wall，strained with all her might upon the collar of iron，till she brake it from her neck and snapped the chains. Then going forth from behind the curtain she threw herself on Kamar alZaman and kissed him on the mouth，like a pigeon feeding its young.[302] And she embraced him with all the stress of her love and longing and said to him，'O my lord do I wake or sleep and hath the Almighty indeed vouchsafe] us reunion after disunion？ Laud be to Allah who hath our loves repaired，even after we despaired！'Now when the eunuch saw her in this case，he went off running to King Ghayur and，kissing the ground before him，said，'O my lord，know that this Astrologer is indeed the Shaykh of all astrologers，who are fools to him，all of them；for verily he hath cured thy daughter while standing behind the curtain and without going in to her.'Quoth the King，'Look well to it，is this news true？'Answered the eunuch，'O my lord，rise and come and see for thyself how she hath found strength to break the iron chains and is come forth to the Astrologer，kissing and embracing him.'Thereupon the King arose and went in to his daughter who，when she saw him，stood up in haste and covered her head，[303] and recited these two couplets，'The toothstick love I not；for when I say，'Siwak，'[304] I miss thee，for it sounds 'Siwaka'.
The capertree I love；for when I say，
'Arak'[305] it sounds I look on thee，'Araka.'
Thereupon the King was so transported for joy at her recovery that he felt like to fly and kissed her between the eyes，for he loved her with dearest love；then，turning to Kamar alZaman，he asked him who he was，and said，'What countryman art thou？'So the Prince told him his name and rank，and informed him that he was the son of King Shahriman，and presently related to him the whole story from beginning to end；and acquainted him with what happened between himself and the Lady Budur；and how he had taken her sealring from her finger and had placed it on his own；whereat Ghayur marvelled and said，'Verily your story deserveth in books to be chronicled，and when you are dead and gone age after age be read.'Then he summoned Kazis and witnesses forthright and married the Lady Budur to Prince Kamar alZaman；after which he bade decorate the city seven days long. So they spread the tables with all manner of meats，whilst the drums beat and the criers anounced the glad tidings，and all the troops donned their richest clothes；and they illuminated the city and held high festival. Then Kamar alZaman went in to the Lady Budur and the King rejoiced in her recovery and in her marriage；and praised Allah for that He had made her to fall in love with a goodly youth of the sons of Kings. So they unveiled her and displayed the bride before the bridegroom；and both were the living likeness of each other in beauty and comeliness and grace and loveallurement. Then Kamar alZaman lay with her that night and took his will of her，whilst she in like manner fulfilled her desire of him and enjoyed his charms and grace；and they slept in each other's arms till the morning. On the morrow，the King made a weddingfeast to which he gathered all comers from the Islands of the Inner and Outer Seas，and he spread the tables with choicest viands nor ceased the banquetting for a whole month. Now when Kamar alZaman had thus fulfilled his will and attained his inmost desire，and whenas he had tarried awhile with the Princess Budur，he bethought him of his father，King Shahriman，and saw him in a dream，saying，'O my son，is it thus thou dealest with me？'and recited in the vision these two couplets，'Indeed to watch the darknessmoon he blighted me，And to stargaze through longsome night he plighted me：
Easy，my heart！ for haply he'll unite with thee；
And patience，Sprite！ with whatso ills he dight to thee.'
