Of course if he had chosen to turn his ring on his finger and call up the Djinns and the Afrits, they would have magicked all those nine hundred and ninety-nine quarrelsome wives into white mules of the desert or greyhounds or pomegranate seeds; but Suleiman-bin-Daoud thought that that would be showing off. So, when they quarrelled too much, he only walked by himself in one part of the beautiful Palace gardens and wished he had never been born.
One day, when they had quarrelled for three weeks (однажды, когда они ссорились уже три недели) — all nine hundred and ninety-nine wives together (все 999 жен вместе) — Suleiman-bin-Daoud went out for peace and quiet as usual (Сулейман-ибн-Дауд вышел для =
usual ['jHZuql], Egypt ['JGIpt], worry ['wArI]
One day, when they had quarrelled for three weeks — all nine hundred and ninety-nine wives together — Suleiman-bin-Daoud went out for peace and quiet as usual; and among the orange trees he met Balkis the Most Beautiful, very sorrowful because Suleiman-bin-Daoud was so worried. And she said to him, ‘O my Lord and Light of my Eyes, turn the ring upon your finger and show these Queens of Egypt and Mesopotamia and Persia and China that you are the great and terrible King.’ But Suleiman-bin-Daoud shook his head and said, ‘O my Lady and Delight of my Life, remember the Animal that came out of the sea and made me ashamed before all the animals in all the world because I showed off. Now, if I showed off before these Queens of Persia and Egypt and Abyssinia and China, merely because they worry me, I might be made even more ashamed than I have been.’
And Balkis the Most Beautiful said (и Прекраснейшая Балкис сказала), ‘O my Lord and Treasure of my Soul, what will you do (О мой Владыка и Сокровище моей Души, что ты будешь делать)?’