Then they sat and ceased not eating and drinking （and Bahadur waiting upon them） till midnight when，being weary with service and beating，he fell asleep in the midst of the hall and snored and snorted；whereupon the damsel，who was drunken with wine，said to Amjad，'Arise，take the sword hanging yonder and cut me off this slave's head；and，if thou do it not，I will be the death of thee！''What possesseth thee to slay my slave？'asked Amjad；and she answered，'Our joyaunce will not be complete but by his death. If thou wilt not kill him，I will do it myself.'Quoth Amjad，'By Allah's rights to thee，do not this thing！'Quoth she，'It must perforce be；'and，taking down the sword，drew it and made at Bahadur to kill him；but Amjad said in his mind，'This man hath entreated us courteously and sheltered us and done us kindness and made himself my slave： shall we requite him by slaughtering him？ This shall never be！'Then he said to the woman，'If my Mameluke must be killed，better I should kill him than thou.'So saying，he took the sword from her and，raising his hand，smote her on the neck and made her head fly from her body. It fell upon Bahadur who awoke and sat up and opened his eyes，when he saw Amjad standing by him and in his hand the sword dyed with blood，and the damsel lying dead. He enquired what had passed，and Amjad told him all she had said，adding，'Nothing would satisfy her but she must slay thee；and this is her reward.'Then Bahadur rose and，kissing the Prince's hand，said to him，'Would to Heaven thou hadst spared her！ but now there is nothing for it but to rid us of her without stay or delay，before the daybreak.'Then he girded his loins and took the body，wrapped it in an Abacloak and，laying it in a large basket of palmleaves，he shouldered it saying，'Thou art a stranger here and knowest no one： so sit thou in this place and await my return till daybreak. If I come back to thee，I will assuredly do thee great good service and use my endeavours to have news of thy brother；but if by sunrise I return not，know that all is over with me；and peace be on thee，and the house and all it containeth of stuffs and money are shine.'Then he fared forth from the saloon bearing the basket；and，threading the streets，he made for the salt sea，thinking to throw it therein： but as he drew near the shore，he turned and saw that the Chief of Police and his officers had ranged themselves around him；and，on recognising him，they wondered and opened the basket，wherein they found the slain woman. So they seized him and laid him in bilboes all that night till the morning，when they carried him and the basket，as it was，to the King and reported the case. The King was sore enraged when he looked upon the slain and said to Bahadur，'Woe to thee！ Thou art always so doing；thou killest folk and castest them into the sea and takest their goods. How many murders hast thou done ere this？'Thereupon Bahadur hung his head.And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Thirtythird Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Bahadur hung down his head groundwards before the King，who cried out at him，saying，'Woe to thee！ Who killed this girl？'He replied，'O
my lord！ I killed her，and there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！'[391] So the King in his anger，commanded to hang him；and the hangman went down with him by the King's commandment，and the Chief of Police accompanied him with a crier who called upon all the folk to witness the execution of Bahadur，the King's Master of the Horse；and on this wise they paraded him through the main streets and the marketstreets. This is how it fared with Bahadur；but as regards Amjad，he awaited his host's return till the day broke and the sun rose，and when he saw that he came not，he exclaimed，'There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！ Would I knew what is become of him？'And，as he sat musing behold，he heard the crier proclaiming Bahadur's sentence and bidding the people to see the spectacle of his hanging at midday；whereat he wept and exclaimed，'Verily，we are Allah's and to Him we are returning！ He meaneth to sacrifice himself unjustly for my sake，when I it was who slew her. By Allah，this shall never be！'Then he went from the saloon and，shutting the door after him，hurriedly threaded the streets till he overtook Bahadur，when he stood before the Chief of Police and said to him，'O my lord，put not Bahadur to death，for he is innocent. By Allah，none killed her but I.'Now when the Captain of Police heard these words，he took them both and，carrying them before the King，acquainted him with what Amjad had said；whereupon he looked at the Prince and asked him，'Didst thou kill the damsel？'He answered，'Yes'and the King said，'Tell me why thou killedst her，and speak the truth.'Replied Amjad，'O King，it is indeed a marvellous event and a wondrous matter that hath befallen me： were it graven with needles on the eyecorners，it would serve as a warner to whoso would be warned！'Then he told him his whole story and informed him of all that had befallen him and his brother，first and last；whereat the King was much startled and surprised and said to him，'Know that now I find thee to be excusable；but list，O youth！ Wilt thou be my Wazir？'
