Quoth the King'Thou sayst trulyO virtuous elder！'Then said the envied man'Send and fetch her，and （God willing） I trust to cure her at once.'The King rejoiced and sent for his daughter；and they brought her bound hand and foot. The envied man made her sit down behind a curtain and taking out the hairsfumigated her with them；whereupon the Afrit that was in her roared out and departed from her. And she was restored to her right mind and veiled her facesaying'What has happened and who brought me hither？'At thisthe Sultan rejoiced beyond measure and kissed her on the eyes and kissed the envied man's hand. Then he turned to his officers and said'How say you？ What reward doth he deserve who cured my daughter？'They answered'He deserves to have her to wife；'and the King'Ye say well.'So he married him to herand the envied man became the King's son-in-law. After awhilethe Vizier diedand the King said'Whom shall we make Vizier in his stead？'Thy son-in-law，'answered the courtiers. So the envied man was made Vizier. Presently the Sultan also diedand the grandees determined to appoint the Vizier King in his place. So they made him Sultanand he became King regnant. One dayas he was riding forth in his royal statesurrounded by his Viziers and Amirs and grandeeshis eyes fell on his old neighbourthe envious man；so he turned to one of his viziers and said to him'Bring me yonder man and frighten him not.'So the Vizier went and returned with the envious man：and the King said'Give him a thousand dinars from my treasury and twenty loads of merchandise and send him under an escort to his own city.'Then he bade him farewell and sent him away and forbore to punish him for what he had done with him SeeO Afrithow the envied man forgave his envierwho had always hated him and borne him malice and had journeyed to him and made shift to throw him into the well：yet did he not requite him his ill-doingbut on the contrary was bountiful to him and forgave him.'Then I wept before him exceeding soreand repeated the following verses：
I pritheepardon mine offence：for men of prudent mind To pardon unto those that sin their sins are still inclined.
If Ialas！contain in me all fashions of offenceLet there in thee forgiveness fair be found in every kind.
For men are bound to pardon those that are beneath their handIf they themselves with those that be above them grace would find.
Quoth the Afrit'I will neither kill thee nor let thee go free，but I will assuredly enchant thee.'Then he tore me from the ground and flew up with me into the airtill I saw the earth as it were a platter midmost the water. Presently he set me down on a mountain and took a little earthover which he muttered some magical wordsthen sprinkled me with itsaying'Quit this shape for that of an ape.'And immediately I became an apea hundred years old. Then he went away and left me；and when I saw myself in this ugly shapeI weptbut resigned myself to the tyranny of fateknowing that fortune is constant to no oneand descended to the foot of the mountainwhere found a wide plain.
I fared on for the space of a month till my course brought me to the shore of the salt sea： where I stood awhile and presently caught sight of a ship in the midst of the seamaking for the land with a fair wind. I hid myself behind a rock on the beach and waited till the ship drew nearwhen I sprang on board. Quoth one of the passengers'Turn this unlucky brute out from amongst us！'And the captain said'Let us kill him.'And a third'I will kill him with this sword.'But I laid hold of the captain's skirts and weptand the tears ran down my face. The captain took pity on me and said'O merchantsthis ape appeals to me for protectionand I will protect him： henceforth he is under my safeguardand none shall molest or annoy him.'Then he entreated me kindly and whatever he said I understood and ministered to all his wants and waited on himso that he loved me. The ship sailed on with a fair wind for the space of fifty daysat the end of which time we cast anchor over against a great citywherein were much peoplenone could tell their number save God. No sooner had we come to an anchorthan we were boarded by officers from the King of the city；who said to the merchants'Our King gives you joy of your safety and sends you this scroll of paperon which each one of you is to write a line. For know that the King's Vizierwho was an excellent penmanis dead and the King has sworn a solemn oath that he will make none Vizier in his stead who cannot write like him.'Then they gave them a scrollten cubits long by one wideand each of the merchantswho could writewrote a line therein： after which I rose and snatched the scroll from their handsand they cried out at me and rated me，fearing that I would tear it or throw it into the sea. But I made signs that I would write；whereat they marvelledsaying'We never saw an ape write！'And the captain said to them'Let him alone；if he scrabblewe will drive him away and kill him；but if he write wellI will adopt him as my sonfor I never saw so intelligent and well-mannered an ape；and would God my son had his sense and good breeding！'So I took the pen and dipping it in the inkhornwrote in an epistolary hand the following verses：
Time hath recorded the virtues of the great： But thine have remained unchronicled till now.
May God not orphan the human race of theeFor sire and mother of all good deeds art thou.
Then I wrote the following in a running hand：
Thou hast a pen whose use confers good gifts on every clime；Upon all creatures of the world its happy favours fall.
What are the bounties of the Nile to thy munificenceWhose fingers five extend to shower thy benefits on all？
And in an engrossing hand the following：
There is no writer but he shall pass away： Yet what he writes shall last for ever and aye.
Writethereforenought but that which shall gladden theeWhen as it meets thine eye on the Judgment Day.
And in a transcribing hand the following：