her would not vouchsafe
to marry with kings' sons and Sultans, except they were his peers in
puissance and rank and noblesse; nay, were they one degree less than he,
he would not give them his daughter."

Alaeddin [329] waited till his mother had made an end of her speech and
said to her, "O my mother, all that thou thinkest I know; marry, I know
full well that I am the son of poor folk, nor may all this thy talk
anywise avail to move me from my purpose; but I beseech thee, an I be
thy very son and thou love me, do me this kindness; else wilt thou lose
me, for death hasteneth upon me, an I attain not my wish of the beloved
of my heart. In any case, O my mother, I am thy son." When his mother
heard his speech, she wept of her concern for him and said to him, "Yes,
O my son, I am thy mother and thou art my son and the darling of my
heart; [330] I have none other than thee and the extreme of my desire is
to rejoice in thee and marry thee. So, an thou wilt, I will seek thee a
bride of our own rank. But suppose [I do this], they [331] [will] ask at
once an thou have craft or land or trade or garden, so thou mayst live,
and what shall I answer them. And if I cannot answer poor folk like
ourselves, how, O my son, shall I dare to seek the King's daughter of
China, who hath none before him and none after him? Wherefore do thou
ponder this matter in thine understanding. And who seeketh her? The son
of a tailor. [332] Indeed, I know that, an I speak of this, it will but
be for the increase of our ill luck, for that this affair will bring us
in great danger with the Sultan and belike there will be death therein
for thee and for me. As for me, how can I adventure upon this danger and
this effrontery? Moreover, O my son, on what wise shall I demand thee
his daughter of the Sultan and how shall I avail to go in to him? Nay,
if they question me, what shall I answer them? Most like they will deem
me a madwoman. And suppose I gain admission to the presence, what shall
I take by way of offering to the Sultan's highness? It [333] is true, O
my son, that the Sultan is clement and rejecteth none that cometh to him
for protection or craveth a boon of him, for that he is bountiful and
beneficent unto all, great and small; [334] but he bestoweth his favours
upon those who are deserving thereof or who have done some feat of arms
before him or have wrought for the service or defence of the realm; and
thou, O my son, tell me, what hast thou done fo