He becomes dissatisfied with his situation, is idle, and falls in love.
Discontented with my present lot, and uncertain as to my future
prospects, my days passed on in total idleness; and, as I had no
inclination to pursue the profession of physic, which many before me had
done on quite as slender a foundation as the one I had acquired, I
cared little for those pursuits which engaged Mirza Ahmak. I should very
probably have left him instantly, if a circumstance had not occurred,
arising from the very state of unprofitableness in which I lived, which
detained me in his house. The feelings to which it gave rise so entirely
absorbed every other consideration, that I became their slave; and so
violent were the emotions which they created, that I verily believe that
Majnoun, in the height of his frenzy, could not have been madder than I.
After this, it is needless to mention that I was in love.
The spring had passed over, and the first heats of summer, which now
began to make themselves felt, had driven most of the inhabitants of the
city to spread their beds and sleep on the house-tops. As I did not like
to pass my night in company of the servants, the carpet-spreaders and
the cook, who generally herded together in a room below, I extended my
bed in a corner of the terrace, which overlooked the inner court of the
doctors house, in which were situated the apartments of the women. This
court was a square, into which the windows of the different chambers
looked, and was planted in the centre with rose-bushes, jessamines, and
poplar-trees. A square wooden platform was erected in the middle, upon
which mattresses were spread, where the inhabitants reposed during the
great heats. I had seen several women seated in different parts of the
court, but had never been particularly struck by the appearance of
any one of them; and indeed had I been so, perhaps I should never have
thought of looking at them again; for as soon as I was discovered,
shouts of abuse were levelled at me, and I was called by every odious
name that they could devise.
One night, however, soon after the sun had set, as I was preparing my
bed, I perchance looked over a part of the wall that was a little broken
down, and on a slip of terrace that was close under it I discovered a
female, who was employed in assorting and spreading out tobacco-leaves.
Her blue veil was negligently thrown over her head, and as she stooped,
the two long tresses which flowed from her forehead hung down in so
tantalizing a manner as nearly to screen all her face, but still left so
much of it visible, that it created an intense desire in me to see the
remainder. Everything that I saw in her announced beauty. Her hands were
small, and dyed with _khena_;[39] her feet were equally small; and her
whole air and form bespoke loveliness and grace. I gazed upon her until
I could no longer contain my passion; I made a slight noise, which
immediately caused her to look up, and before she could cover herself
with her veil, I had had time to see the most enchanting features
that the imagination can conceive, and to receive a look from eyes so
bewitching, that I immediately felt my heart in a blaze. With apparent
displeasure she covered herself; but still I could perceive that she
had managed her veil with so much art, that there was room for a certain
dark and sparkling eye to look at me, and to enjoy my agitation. As I
continued to gaze upon her, she at length said, though still going on
with her work, Why do you look at me? It is criminal.
For the sake of the sainted Hosein, I exclaimed, do not turn from me;
it is no crime to love: your eyes have made roast meat of my heart: by
the mother that bore you, let me look upon your face again.
In a more subdued voice she answered me, Why do you ask me? You know it
is a crime for a woman to let her face be seen; and you are neither my
father, my brother, nor my husband; I do not even know who you are. Have
you no shame, to talk thus to a maid?
At this moment she let her veil fall, as if by chance, and I had time
to look again upon her face, which was even more beautiful than I had
imagined. Her eyes were large and peculiarly black, and fringed by
long lashes, which, aided by the collyrium with which they were tinged,
formed a sort of ambuscade, from which she levelled her shafts. Her
eyebrows were finely arched, and nature had brought them together just
over her nose, in so strong a line, that there was no need of art to
join them together. Her nose was aquiline, her mouth small, and full of
sweet expression; and in the centre of her chin was a dimple which she
kept carefully marked with a blue puncture. Nothing could equal the
beauty of her hair; it was black as jet, and fell in long tresses down
her back. In short, I was wrapped in amazement at her beauty. The sight
of her explained to me many things which I had read in our poets, of
cypress forms, tender fawns, and sugar-eating parrots. It seemed to me
that I could gaze at her for ever, and not be tired; but still I felt
a great desire to leap over the wall and touch her. My passion was
increasing, and I was on the point of approaching her, when I heard the
name of _Zeenab_ repeated several times, with great impatience, by a
loud shrill voice; upon which my fair one left the terrace in haste, and
I remained riveted to the place where I had first seen her. I continued
there for a long time, in the hope that she might return, but to no
purpose. I lent my ear to every noise, but nothing was to be heard
below but the same angry voice, which, by turns, appeared to attack
everything, and everybody, and which could belong to no one but the
doctors wife; a lady, who, as report would have it, was none of the
mildest of her sex, and who kept her good man in great subjection.
The day had now entirely closed in, and I was about retiring to my bed
in despair, when the voice was heard again, exclaiming, Zeenab, where
are you going to? Why do you not retire to bed?
I indistinctly heard the answer of my charmer, but soon guessed what
it had been, when saw her appear on the terrace again. My heart beat
violently, and I was about to leap over the wall, which separated us,
when I was stopped by seeing her taking up a basket, in which she had
gathered her tobacco, and make a hasty retreat; but just as she was
disappearing, she said to me, in a low tone of voice, Be here to-morrow
night. These words thrilled through my whole frame, in a manner that
I had never before felt, and I did not cease to repeat them, and ponder
over them, until, through exhaustion, I fell into a feverish doze, and I
did not awaken on the following morning until the beams of the sun shone
bright in my face.