To return to Dhat ed Dewahi. As soon as she had slain Sherkan，she hastened to the walls of Constantinople and called out in the Greek tongue to the guards， to throw her down a rope. Quoth they，"Who art thou？" and she said， "I am the princess Dhat ed Dewahi."
They knew her and threw her down a rope， to which she tied herself， and they drew her up into the city. Then she went in to King Afridoun and said to him， "What is this I hear from the Muslims？ They say that my son King Herdoub is slain." He answered， "It is true；" and when she heard this， she shrieked out and wept so grievously， that she made Afridoun and all who were present weep also. Then she told the King how she had slain Sherkan and thirty of his servants， whereat he rejoiced and thanked her and kissed her hands and exhorted her to resignation for the loss of her son. "By the Messiah，" said she， "I will not rest content with killing one of the Muslim dogs in revenge for my son， a king of the kings of the age！ But I will assuredly make shift to kill the Sultan Zoulmekan and the Vizier Dendan and the Chamberlain and Rustem and Behram and ten thousand cavaliers of the army of Islam to boot； for it shall never be that my son"s head be paid with the blood-wit of Sherkan"s head only." Then said she to Afridoun， "It is my wish that mourning be made for my son Herdoub and that the girdle be cut and the crosses broken."
"Do what thou wilt，" replied Afridoun； "I will not gainsay thee in aught. And if thou prolong thy mourning， it were a little thing； for though the Muslims beleaguer us years and years， they will never compass their will of us nor get aught of us but trouble and weariness." Then she took ink-horn and paper and wrote the following letter： "Shewaha Dhat ed Dewahi to the host of the Muslims. Know that I entered your country and duped your nobles and slew your king Omar ben Ennuman in the midst of his palace. Moreover， I slew， in the battle of the mountain pass and of the grotto， many of your men， and the last I killed were Sherkan and his servants. And if fortune favour me and Satan obey me， I will assuredly kill your Sultan and the Vizier Dendan， for I am she who came to you in the disguise of a recluse and ye were the dupes of my tricks and devices. Wherefore， if you be minded to be in safety， depart at once； and if you covet your own destruction， abide where you are； for though ye abide here years and years， ye shall not come by your desire of us； and so peace be on you." Then she devoted three days to mourning for her son King Herdoub， and on the fourth day， she called a knight and bade him make the letter fast to an arrow and shoot it into the Muslim camp； after which she entered the church and gave herself up to weeping and lamentation for the loss of her son， saying to him who took the kingship after him， "Nothing will serve me but I must kill Zoulmekan and all the princes of Islam."
Meanwhile， the Muslims passed three days in concern and anxiety，and on the fourth day， they saw a knight on the wall， holding a bow and about to shoot an arrow to which was fastened a letter.
So they waited till he had shot， and the King bade the Vizier Dendan take the letter and read it. He did so， and when Zoulmekan heard its purport， his eyes filled with tears and he shrieked for anguish at the old woman"s perfidy， and Dendan said， "By Allah，my heart shrank from her！" "How could this traitress impose upon us twice？" exclaimed Zoulmekan. "By Allah， I will not depart hence till I fill her kaze with molten lead and set her in a cage， as men do birds， then bind her with her hair and crucify her at the gate of Constantinople." Then he addressed himself again to the leaguer of the city， promising his men that， if it should be taken， he would divide its treasures equally among them. After this， he bethought him of his brother and wept sore；
and his tears ceased not to flow， till his body was wasted with grief， as it were a bodkin. But the Vizier Dendan came in to him and said， "Take comfort and be consoled； thy brother died not but because his hour was come， and there is no profit in this mourning. How well says the poet：
That which is not to be shall by no means be brought To pass， and that which is to be shall come， unsought，Even at the time ordained： but he that knoweth not The truth is still deceived and finds his hopes grown nought.
Wherefore do thou leave this weeping and lamentation and strengthen thy heart to bear arms." "O Vizier，" replied Zoulmekan， "my heart is heavy for the death of my brother and father and our absence from our native land， and my mind is concerned for my subjects." Thereupon the Vizier and the bystanders wept； but they ceased not from the leaguer of Constantinople， till， after awhile， news arrived from Baghdad， by one of the Amirs， that the Sultan"s wife had given birth to a son and that the princess Nuzhet ez Zeman had named him Kanmakan.
Moreover， his sister wrote to him that the boy bid fair to be a prodigy and that she had commanded the priests and preachers to pray for them from the pulpits； also， that they were all well and had been blessed with abundant rains and that his comrade the stoker was in the enjoyment of all prosperity， with slaves and servants to attend upon him； but that he was still ignorant of what had befallen him. Zoulmekan rejoiced greatly at this news and said to the Vizier Dendan， "Now is my hope fulfilled and my back strengthened， in that I have been vouchsafed a son.
Wherefore I am minded to leave mourning and let make recitations of the Koran over my brother"s tomb and do almsdeeds on his account." Quoth the Vizier， "It is well." Then he caused tents to be pitched over his brother"s tomb and they gathered together such of the troops as could repeat the Koran. Some fell to reciting the Koran， whilst others chanted the litanies of the praise of God， and thus they did till the morning， when Zoulmekan went up to the tomb of his brother Sherkan and shedding copious tears， repeated the following verses：
