They tare off a strip of his skirt and binding his eyes therewith，led him to the rug of blood and were about to smite his neck，when behold，an ancient dame came up to the King at that very moment and said，'O my lord，thou didst vow to bestow upon each and every church five Moslem captives，to held us in the service thereof，so Allah would restore thee thy daughter the Princess Miriam；and now she is restored to thee，so do thou fulfil thy vow.'The King replied，'O my mother，by the virtue of the Messiah and the Veritable Faith，there remaineth to me of the prisoners but this one captive，whom they are about to put to death： so take him with thee to help in the service of the church，till there come to me more prisoners of the Moslems，when I will send thee other four.Hadst thou come earlier，before they hewed off the heads of these，I had given thee as many as thou wouldest have.'The old woman thanked the King for his boon and wished him continuance of life，glory and prosperity.Then without loss of time she went up to Nur al-Din，whom she raised from the rug of blood；and，looking narrowly at him saw a comely youth and a dainty，with a delicate skin and a face like the moon at her full；whereupon she carried him to the church and said to him，'O my son，doff these clothes which are upon thee，for they are fit only for the service of the Sultan.'[515] So saying the ancient dame brought him a gown and hood of black wool and a broad girdle，[516] in which she clad and cowled him；and；after binding on his belt，bade him do the service of the church.
Accordingly，he served the church seven days，at the end of which time behold，the old woman came up to him and said，'O Moslem；don thy silken dress and take these ten dirhams and go out forthright and divert thyself abroad this day，and tarry not here a single moment，lest thou lose thy life.'Quoth he，'What is to do，O my mother？'；and quoth she，'Know，O my son，that the King's daughter，the Princess Miriam the Girdle-girl，hath a mind to visit the church this day，to seek a blessing by pilgrimage and to make oblation thereto，a douceur[517] of thank-offering for her deliverance from the land of the Moslems and in fulfilment of the vows she vowed to the Messiah，so he would save her.With her are four hundred damsels，not one of whom but is perfect in beauty and loveliness and all of them are daughters of Wazirs and Emirs and Grandees： they will be here during this very hour and if their eyes fall on thee in this church，they will hew thee in pieces with swords.'Thereupon Nur al-Din took the ten dirhams from the ancient dame，and donning his own dress，went out to the bazar and walked about the city and took his pleasure therein，till he knew its highways and gates，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.