So he struck upon the drums , and at once summoned an officer who took him to King Quimus . When the king saw how very young the prince looked , and that he was still drinking of the fountain of wonder , he said : ' O youth ! leave aside this fancy which my daughter has conceived in the pride of her beauty . No one can answer er her riddle , and she has done to death many men who had had no pleasure in life nor tasted its charms . God forbid that your spring also should be ravaged by the autumn winds of martyrdom . ' All his urgency , however , had no effect in making the prince withdraw . At length it was settled between them that three days should be given to pleasant hospitality and that then should follow what had to be said and done . Then the prince went to his own quarters and was treated as became his station . King Quimus now sent for his daughter and for her mother , Gulrukh , -LSB- 6 -RSB- and talked to them . He said to Mibrafruz : ` Listen to me , you cruel flirt ! Why do you persist in this folly ? Now there has come to ask your hand a prince of the east , so handsome that the very sun grows modest before the splendour of his face ; he is rich , and he has brought gold and jewels , all for you , if you will marry him . A better husband you will not find . ' But all the arguments of father and mother were wasted , for her only answer was : ' O my father ! I have sworn to myself that I will not marry , even if a thousand years go by , unless someone answers my riddle , and that I will give myself to that man only who does answer it . ' The three days passed ; then the riddle was asked : ` What did the rose do to the cypress ? ' The prince had an eloquent tongue , which could split a hair , and without hesitation he replied to her with a verse : ` Only the Omnipotent has knowledge of secrets ; if any man says , `` I know '' do not believe him . ' Then a servant fetched in the polluted , blue-eyed headsman , who asked : ` Whose sun of life has come near its setting ? ' took the prince by the arm , placed him upon the cloth of execution , and then , all merciless and stony hearted , cut his head from his body and hung it on the battlements . The news of the death of Prince Tahmasp plunged his father into despair and stupefaction .
He mourned for him in black raiment for forty days ; and then , a few days later , his second son , Prince Qamas , extracted from him leave to go too ; and he , also , was put XXXXX death .
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