"Craig Shaw Gardner - Arabian 3 - The Last Arabian Night" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner Craig Shaw)

On the moment of his return, he had his wife beheaded, for this had
seemed to work well for his younger brother, and treated in a similar
fashion all those forty servants with whom the queen had consorted.
But still could the king not take his ease. His queen was gone, and he
found something missing within his life.

Therefore did Shahryar go to his grand vizier, a stately man known as
Aziz. And he said to his trusted servant, "Go among my people and find
me the most beautiful of women. For I am lonely without my queen and
desire to take a new bride."

Aziz hurried to obey, choosing a beautiful young woman from a family
of substantial prominence within the city. And, upon the vizier's return
to the palace with the new bride, Shahryar declared that he and the girl
would be married that very night, for, since he was king, he could make
short work of all the necessary authorizations. So it was that Aziz made
all the other preparations, and, as the sun removed itself from its watch
over the earth, the king and the young woman were married most
solemnly. After the brief but festive celebration which followed, the king
then took his new bride to his bedchamber so that he might relieve that
burden placed upon his heart.

But, at that moment when he first rested his hand upon the tender skin
of the young woman, a profound change occurred in her appearance.
First did she take on the countenance of his former queen, whom he
had so much loved before that day of deceit. And she smiled sweetly,
as if to say, "Did not I have the most beautiful of heads, before you
deigned to cut it from my body?"

With that, the king called out in fright and turned away as he withdrew
his hand from her perfect young form. And his new queen, who only
wished her new master the greatest of pleasures, asked, "What is the
matter, O King? Is there something about my imperfect form that
displeases you?"

Surely, the king thought, I have had a delusion, for I have been much
strained by the recent passing of events. So he turned back to his
youthful bride again, hoping that his vision of his former queen would
have vanished. And, indeed, when he regarded her again, she no longer
resembled his former bride. Instead, to King Shahryar's extreme
discomfort, she had taken on the countenance of that woman who was
woman no more, but through her union with the djinni had assumed
certain characteristics of that unholy race. Her eyes seemed to be lit by
twin flames, and she threw her head back and laughed as she cried,
"You are such a fine rider. Once I have loved you, you shall never
forget me! Once I have loved you, you will long to love me
forevermore!" And, having said these things, her laughter then
redoubled until it filled the king's ears and seemed like the only sound in
all the world.