Rejoined the druggist，'O my son，and what art thou minded to do？'Quoth Nur al-Din，'I am minded to return to the land of the Franks[549] and enter the city of France and emperil myself there；come what may，loss of life or gain of life.'Quoth the druggist，'O my son，there is an old saw，'Not always doth the crock escape the shock'；and if they did thee no hurt the first time，belike they will slay thee this time，more by token that they know thee now with full knowledge.'Quoth Nur al-Din，'O my uncle，let me set out and be slain for the love of her straightway and not die of despair for her loss by slow torments.'Now as Fate determined there was then a ship in port ready to sail，for its passengers had made an end of their affairs[550] and the sailors had pulled up the mooring-stakes；when Nur al-Din embarked in her.So they shook out their canvas and relying on the Compassionate，put out to sea and sailed many days，with fair wind and weather，till behold，they fell in with certain of the Frank cruisers，which were scouring those waters and seizing upon all ships they saw，in their fear for the King's daughter from the Moslem corsairs： and as often as they made prize of a Moslem ship，they carried all her people to the King of France，who put them to death in fulfilment of the vow he had vowed on account of his daughter Miriam.So，seeing the ship wherein was Nur al-Din they boarded her and taking him and the rest of the company prisoners，to the number of an hundred Moslems，carried them to the King and set them between his hands.
He bade cut their throats.Accordingly they slaughtered them all forthwith，one after another，till there was none left but Nur al-Din，whom the headsman had left to the last，in pity of his tender age and slender shape.When the King saw him，he knew him right well and said to him，'Art thou not Nur al-Din，who was with us before？'Said he，'I was never with thee： and my name is not Nur al-Din，but Ibrahim.'Rejoined the King；'Thou liest；thou art Nur al-Din，he whom I gave to the ancient dame the Prioress，to help her in the service of the church.'But Nur al-Din replied，'O my lord，my name is Ibrahim.'Quoth the King；'Wait a while，'and bade his knights fetch the old woman forthright，saying，'When she cometh and seeth thee，she will know an thou be Nur al-Din or not.'At this juncture，behold，in came the one-eyed Wazir who had married the Princess and kissing the earth before the King said to him，'Know，O King，that the palace is finished；and thou knowest how I vowed to the Messiah that，when I had made an end of building it，I would cut thirty Moslems' throats before its doors；wherefore I am come to take them of thee，that I may sacrifice them and so fulfil my vow to the Messiah.They shall be at my charge，by way of loan，and whenas there come prisoners to my hands，I will give thee other thirty in lieu of them.'Replied the King，'By the virtue of the Messiah and the Faith which is no liar，I have but this one captive left！'And he pointed to Nur al-Din，saying，'Take him and slaughter him at this very moment and the rest I will send thee when there come to my hands other prisoners of the Moslems.'
Thereupon the one-eyed Wazir arose and took Nur al-Din and carried him to his palace，thinking to slaughter him on the threshold of the gate；but the painters said to him，'O my lord；we have two days' painting yet to do： so bear with us and delay to cut the throat of this captive，till we have made an end of our work；haply by that time the rest of the thirty will come，so thou mayst despatch them all at one bout and accomplish thy vow in a single day.'Thereupon the Wazir bade imprison Nur al-Din.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night； She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when the Wazir bade imprison Nur al-Din，they carried him to the stables and left him there in chains，hungering and thirsting and making moan for himself；for indeed he saw death face to face.Now it fortuned，by the ordinance of Destiny and fore-ordained Fate；that the King had two stallions，own brothers，[551] such as the Chosroe Kings might sigh in vain to possess themselves of one of them；they were called Sabik and Lahik[552] and one of them was pure silvern white while the other was black as the darksome night.And all the Kings of the isles had said，'Whoso stealeth us one of these stallions，we will give him all he seeketh of red gold and pearls and gems；'but none could avail to steal them.
Now one of them fell sick of a jaundice and there came a whiteness over his eyes；[553] whereupon the King gathered together all the farriers in the city to treat him；but they all failed of his cure.Presently the Wazir came into the King；and finding him troubled because of the horse，thought to do away his concern and said to him，'O King，give me the stallion and I will cure him，'The King consented and caused carry the horse to the stable wherein Nur al-Din lay chained；but，when he missed his brother，he cried out with an exceeding great cry and neighed，so that he affrighted all the folk.The Wazir，seeing that he did thus but because he was parted from his brother，went to tell the King，who said，'If this，which is but a beast，cannot brook to be parted from his brother，how should it be with those that have reason？'And he bade his grooms take the other horse and put him with his brother in the Wazir's stables，saying，'Tell the Minister that the two stallions be a gift from me to him，for the sake of my daughter Miriam.'Nur al-Din was lying in the stable；chained and shackled，when they brought in the two stallions and he saw that one of them had a film over his eyes.Now he had some knowledge of horses and of the doctoring of their diseases；so he said to himself，'This by Allah is my opportunity！ I will go to the Wazir and lie to him，saying，'I will heal thee this horse'：
then will I do with him somewhat that shall destroy his eyes，and he will slay me and I shall be at rest from this woe-full life.'
