He said, 'I shall alight thee behind the pole of awning on yonder roof,
where are the two bright figures and the dingy one, and the Vizier
Feshnavat and Noorna bin Noorka. A flame will spring up severing thee
from them; but thou'rt secure from it by reason of the powder I gave
thee, all save the hair that's on thee. Thou'lt have another shape than
that which is thine, even that of a slave of Noorna bin Noorka, and say
to her when she asketh thy business with her, “O my mistress, let the
storm gather-in the storm-bird when it would surprise men.” Do this, and
thy part's done, O Kadza!'
Thereupon he swung a circle, and alighted her behind the pole of awning
on the roof, and vanished, and the circle of flame rose up, and Kadza
passed through it slightly scorched, and answered to the question of
Noorna, 'O my mistress, let the storm gather-in the storm-bird when it
would surprise men.' Now, when Noorna beheld her, and heard her voice,
she pierced the disguise, and was ware of the wife of Shagpat, and
glanced her large eyes over Kadza from head to sole till they rested on
the loose loop in her girdle. Seeing that, she rose up, and stretched her
arms, and spread open the palm of her hand, and slapped Kadza on the
cheek and ear a hard slap, so that she heard bells; and ere she ceased to
hear them, another, so that Kadza staggered back and screamed, and
Feshnavat was moved to exclaim, 'What has the girl, thy favourite,
offended in, O my daughter?'
So Noorna continued slapping Kadza, and cried, 'Is she not sluttish? and
where's the point of decency established in her, this Luloo? Shall her
like appear before thee and me with loose girdle!'
Then she pointed to the girdle, and Kadza tightened the loose loop, and
fell upon the ground to avoid the slaps, and Noorna knelt by her, and
clutched at a portion of her dress and examined it, peering intently; and
she caught up another part, and knotted it as if to crush a living
creature, hunting over her, and grasping at her; and so it was that while
she tore strips from the garments of Kadza, Feshnavat jumped suddenly in
wrath, and pinched over his garments, crying, 'Tis unbearable! 'Tis I
know not what other than a flea that persecuteth me:'
Upon that, Noorna ran to him, and while they searched together for the
flea, Baba Mustapha fidgeted and worried in his seat, lurching to the
right and to the left, muttering curses; and it was evident he too was
persecuted, and there was no peace on the roof of that palace, but
pinching and howling and stretching of limbs, and curses snarled in the
throat and imprecations on the head of the tormenting flea. Surely, the
soul of Kadza rejoiced, for she knew the flea was Karaz, whom she had
brought with her in the loose loop of her girdle through the circle of
flame which was a barrier against him. She glistened at the triumph of
the flea, but Noorna strode to her, and took her to the side of the roof,
and pitched her down it, and closed the passage to her. Then ran she to
Karavejis and Veejravoosh, whispering in the ear of each, 'No word of the
Sword?' and afterward aloud, 'What think ye will be the term of the
staying of my betrothed in Aklis, crowned ape?'
They answered, 'O pearl of the morn, crowned ape till such time as
Shagpat be shaved.'
So she beat her breast, crying, 'Oh, utter stagnation, till Shagpat be
shaved! and oh, stoppage in the tide of business, dense cloud upon the
face of beauty, and frost on the river of events, till Shagpat be shaved!
And oh! my betrothed, crowned ape in Aklis till Shagpat be shaved!'
Then she lifted her hands and arms, and said, 'To him where he is, ye
Genii! and away, for he needeth comfort.'
Thereat the glittering spirits dissolved and thinned, and were as taper
gleams of curved light across the water in their ascent of the heavens.
When they were gone Noorna, exclaimed, 'Now for the dish of pomegrante
grain, O Baba Mustapha, and let nothing delay us further.'
Quoth Baba Mustapha, ''Tis ordered, O my princess and fair mistress, from
the confectioner's; and with it the sleepy drug from the seller of
medicaments--accursed flea!'