Presently he rose and went forth from the tent saying in himself，'I will go to Sharrkan and chat with him till morning.'But when he entered into Sharrkan's pavilion，he found the blood running like an aqueduct and saw the servants lying with their throats cut like beasts for food.At this he cried a cry which aroused all who were asleep；the folk hastened to him and，seeing the blood streaming，set up a clamour of weeping and wailing.Then the noise awoke the Sultan，who enquired what was the matter，and it was said to him，'Sharrkan thy brother and his servants are murthered.'So he rose in haste and entered the tent，and found the Wazir Dandan shrieking aloud and he saw his brother's body without a head.Thereat he swooned away and all the troops crowded around him，weeping and crying out，and so remained for a while，till he came to himself，when he looked at Sharrkan and wept with sore weeping，while the Wazir and Rustam and Bahram did the like.But the Chamberlain cried and lamented more than the rest and asked leave to absent himself，such was his alarm.Then said Zau al-Makan，'Know ye who did this deed and how is it I see not the Devotee，him who the things of this world hath put away？'
Quoth the Wazir，'And who should have been the cause of this affliction，save that Devotee，that Satan？By Allah，my heart abhorred him from the first，because I know that all who pretend to be absorbed in practices religious are vile and treacherous！'
And he repeated to the King the tale of how he would have followed the Religious，but he forbade him，whereupon the folk broke out into a tumult of weeping and lamentation and humbled themselves before Him who is ever near，Him who ever answereth prayer，supplicating that He would cause the false Devotee who denied Allah's testimony to fall into their hands.Then they laid Sharrken out and buried him in the mountain aforesaid and mourned over his far-famed virtues.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Fifth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that they laid Sharrkan out and buried him in the mountain aforesaid and mourned over his far-famed virtues.Then they looked for the opening of the city gate；but it opened not and no sign of men appeared to them on the walls；whereat they wondered with exceeding wonder.
But King Zau al-Makan said，'By Allah，I will not turn back from them，though I sit here for years and years，till I take blood revenge for my brother Sharrkan and waste Constantinople and kill the King of the Nazarenes，even if death overcome me and I be at rest from this woeful world！'Then he bade be brought out the treasure taken from the Monastery of Matruhina；and mustered the troops and divided the monies among them，and he left not one of them but he gave him gifts which contented him.Moreover，he assembled in the presence three hundred horse of every division and said to them，'Do ye send supplies to your households，for I am resolved to abide by this city，year after year，till I have taken man bote for my brother Sharrkan，even if I die in this stead.'And when the army heard these words and had received his gifts of money they replied，'To hear is to obey！'Thereupon he summoned couriers and gave them letters and charged them to deliver the same，together with the monies，to the soldiers'families and inform them that all were safe and satisfied，and acquaint them saying，'We are encamped before Constantinople and we will either destroy it or die；and，albeit we be obliged to abide here months and years，we will not depart hence till we take it.'Moreover，he bade the Wazir Dandan write to his sister，Nuzhat al-Zaman，and said to him，'Acquaint her with what hath befallen us，and what be our situation and commend my child to her care since that，when I went out to war，my wife was near her delivery and by this time she must needs have been brought to bed；and if she hath given birth to a boy，as I have heard say，hasten your return and bring me the acceptable news.'Then he gave them somewhat of money，which they pouched and set out at once；and all the people flocked forth to take leave of them and entrust them with the monies and the messages.After they had departed，Zau al-Makan turned to the Wazir Dandan and commanded him to advance with the army against the city walls.So the troops pushed forward，but found none on the ramparts，whereat they marvelled，while Zau al-Makan was troubled at the case，for he deeply mourned the severance from his brother Sharrkan and he was sore perturbed about that traitor the Ascetic.In this condition they abode three days without seeing anyone.