'I have a friend with a beard which God hath made to grow to a
useless length,
It is like unto one of the nights of winter long and dark and
cold.'"
With this the broker took her and turned away with her, and she
asked, "Whither goest thou with me?" He answered, "Back to thy
master the Persian; it sufficeth me what hath befallen me because
of thee this day; for thou hast been the means of spoiling both
my trade and his by thine ill manners." Then she looked about the
market right and left, front and rear till, by the decree of the
Decreer her eyes fell on Ali Nur al-Din the Cairene. So she gazed
at him and saw him[FN#469] to be a comely youth of straight slim
form and smooth of face, fourteen years old, rare in beauty and
loveliness and elegance and amorous grace like the full moon on
the fourteenth night with forehead flower-white, and cheeks rosy
red, neck like alabaster and teeth than jewels finer and dews of lips
sweeter than sugar, even as saith of him one of his describers,
"Came to match him in beauty and loveliness rare * Full moons and
gazelles but quoth I, 'Soft fare!
Fare softly, gazelles, nor yourselves compare * With him and, O
Moons, all your pains forbear!'"
And how well saith another bard,
"Slim-waisted loveling, from his hair and brow * Men wake a-morn
in night and light renewed.
Blame not the mole that dwelleth on his cheek * For Nu'uman's
bloom aye shows spot negro-hued."
When the slave-girl beheld Nur al-Din he interposed between her
and her wits; she fell in love to him with a great and sudden
fall and her heart was taken with affection for him;--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventy-third Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
slave-girl beheld Nur al-Din, her heart was taken with affection
for him; so she turned to the broker and said to him, "Will not
yonder young merchant who is sitting among the traders in the
gown of striped broadcloth bid somewhat more for me?" The broker
replied, "O lady of fair ones, yonder young man is a stranger
from Cairo, where his father is chief of the trader-guild and
surpasseth all the merchants and notables of the place. He is but
lately come to this our city and lodgeth with one of his father's
friends; but he hath made no bid for thee nor more nor less."
When the girl heard the broker's words, she drew from her finger
a costly signet-ring of ruby and said to the man, "Carry me to
yonder youth, and if he buy me, this ring shall be thine, in
requital of thy travail with me this day." The broker rejoiced at
this and brought her up to Nur al-Din, and she considered him
straitly and found him like the full moon, perfect in loveliness
and a model of fine stature and symmetric grace, even as saith of
him one of his describers.
"Waters of beauty o'er his cheeks flow bright, * And rain his
glances shafts that sorely smite:
Choked are his lovers an he deal disdain's * Bitterest draught
denaying love-delight.
His forehead and his stature and my love * Are perfect perfected
perfection-dight;
His raiment folds enfold a lovely neck * As crescent moon in
collar buttoned tight:
His eyne and twinnèd moles and tears of me * Are night that
nighteth to the nightliest night.
His eyebrows and his features and my frame[FN#470] * Crescents on
crescents are as crescents slight:
His pupils pass the wine-cup to his friends * Which, albe sweet,
tastes bitter to my sprite;
And to my thirsty throat pure drink he dealt * From smiling lips
what day we were unite:
Then is my blood to him, my death to him * His right and rightful
and most righteous right."
The girl gazed at Nur al-Din and said, "O my lord, Allah upon
thee, am I not beautiful?"; and he replied, "O Princess of fair
ones, is there in the world a comelier than thou?" She rejoined,
"Then why seest thou all the other merchants bid high for me and
art silent nor sayest a word neither addest one dinar to my
price? 'Twould seem I please thee not, O my lord!" Quoth he, "O
my lady, were I in my own land, I had bought thee with all that
my hand possesseth of monies;" and quoth she, "O my lord, I said
not, 'Buy me against thy will,' yet, didst thou but add somewhat
to my price, it would hearten my heart, though thou buy me not,
so the merchants may say, 'Were not this girl handsome, yonder
merchant of Cairo had not bidden for her, for the Cairenes are
connoisseurs in slave-girls.'" These words abashed Nur al-Din and
he blushed and said to the broker, "How high are the biddings for
her?" He replied, "Her price hath reached nine hundred and sixty
dinars,[FN#471] besides brokerage, as for the Sultan's dues, they
fall on the seller." Quoth Nur al-Din, "Let me have her for a
thousand dinars, brokerage and price." And the damsel hastening
to the fore and leaving the broker, said, "I sell myself to this
handsome young man for a thousand dinars." But Nur al-Din held
his peace. Quoth one, "We sell to him;" and another, "He
deserveth her;" and a third, "Accursed, son of accursed, is he
who biddeth and doth not buy!"; and a fourth, "By Allah, they
befit each other!" Then, before Nur al-Din could think, the
broker fetched Kazis and witnesses, who wrote out a contract of
sale and purchase; and the broker handed the paper to Nur al-Din,
saying, "Take thy slave-girl and Allah bless thee in her for she
beseemeth none but thee and none but thou beseemeth her." And he
recited these two couplets,
"Boon Fortune sought him in humblest way[FN#472] * And came to
him draggle-tailed, all a-stir:
And none is fittest for him but she * And none is fittest but he
for her."
Hereat Nur al-Din was abashed before the merchants; so he arose
without stay or delay and weighed out the thousand dinars which
he had left as a deposit with his father's friend the druggist,
and taking the girl, carried her to the house wherein the Shaykh
had lodged him. When she entered and saw nothing but ragged
patched carpets and worn out rugs, she said to him, "O my lord,
have I no value to thee and am I not worthy that thou shouldst
bear me to thine own house and home wherein are thy goods, that
thou bringest me into thy servant's lodging? Why dost thou not
carry me to thy father's dwelling?" He replied, "By Allah, O
Princess of fair ones, this is my house wherein I dwell; but it
belongeth to an old man, a druggist of this city, who hath set it
apart for me and lodged me therein. I told thee that I was a
stranger and that I am of the sons of Cairo city." She rejoined,
"O my lord, the least of houses sufficeth till thy return to thy
native place; but, Allah upon thee, O my lord, go now and fetch
us somewhat of roast meat and wine and dried fruit and dessert."
Quoth Nur al-Din, "By Allah, O Princess of fair ones, I had no
money with me but the thousand dinars I paid down to thy price
nor possess I any other good. The few dirhams I owned were spent
by me yesterday." Quoth she, "Hast thou no friend in the town, of
whom thou mayst borrow fifty dirhams and bring them to me, that I
may tell thee what thou shalt do therewith?" And he said, "I have
no intimate but the druggist." Then he betook himself forthright
to the druggist and said to him, "Peace be with thee, O uncle!"
He returned his salam and said to him, "O my son, what hast thou
bought for a thousand dinars this day?" Nur al-Din replied, "I
have bought a slave-girl;" and the oldster rejoined, "O my son,
art thou mad that thou givest a thousand dinars for one
slave-girl? Would I knew what kind of slave-girl she is?" Said
Nur al-Din, "She is a damsel of the children of the Franks;"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nur
al-Din said to the ancient druggist, "The damsel is of the
children of the Franks;" and the Shaykh said, "O my son, the best
of the girls of the Franks are to be had in this our town for an
hundred dinars, and by Allah, O my son, they have cheated thee in
the matter of this damsel! However, an thou have taken a fancy to
her, lie with her this night and do thy will of her and to-morrow
morning go down with her to the market and sell her, though thou
lose by her two hundred dinars, and reckon that thou hast lost
them by shipwreck or hast been robbed of them on the road." Nur
al-Din replied, "Right is thy rede, O uncle, but thou knowest
that I had but the thousand dinars wherewith I purchased the
damsel, and now I have not a single dirham left to spend; so I
desire of thy favour and bounty that thou lend me fifty dirhams,
to provide me withal, till to-morrow, when I will sell her and
repay thee out of her price." Said the old man, "Willingly, O my
son," and counted out to him the fifty dirhams. Then he said to
him, "O my son, thou art but young in years and the damsel is
fair, so belike thy heart will be taken with her and it will be
grievous to thee to vend her. Now thou hast nothing to live on
and these fifty dirhams will readily be spent and thou wilt come
to me and I shall lend thee once and twice and thrice, and so on
up to ten times; but, an thou come to me after this, I will not
return thy salam[FN#473] and our friendship with thy father will
end ill." Nur al-Din took the fifty dirhams and returned with
them to the damsel, who said to him, "O my lord, wend thee at
once to the market and fetch me twenty dirhams' worth of stained
silk of five colours and with the other thirty buy meat and bread
and fruit and wine and flowers." So he went to the market and
purchasing for her all she sought, brought it to her, whereupon
she rose and tucking up her sleeves, cooked food after the most
skilful fashion, and set it before him. He ate and she ate with
him, till they had enough, after which she set on the wine, and
she drank and he drank, and she ceased not to ply him with drink
and entertain him with discourse, till he became drunken and fell
asleep. Thereupon she arose without stay or delay and taking out
of her bundle a budget of Táifí leather,[FN#474] opened it and
drew forth a pair of knitting needles, wherewith she fell to work
and stinted not till she had made a beautiful zone, which she
folded up in a wrapper after cleaning it and ironing it, and laid
it under her pillow. Then she doffed her dress till she was
mother-naked and lying down beside Nur al-Din shampoo'd him till
he awoke from his heavy sleep. He found by his side a maiden like
virgin silver, softer than silk and delicater than a tail of
fatted sheep, than standard more conspicuous and goodlier than
the red camel,[FN#475] in height five feet tall with breasts firm
and full, brows like bended bows, eyes like gazelles' eyes and
cheeks like blood-red anemones, a slender waist with dimples
laced and a navel holding an ounce of the unguent benzoin, thighs
like bolsters stuffed with ostrich-down, and between them what
the tongue fails to set forth and at mention whereof the tears
jet forth. Brief it was as it were she to whom the poet alluded
in these two couplets,
"From her hair is Night, from her forehead Noon * From her
side-face Rose; from her lip wine boon:
From her Union Heaven, her Severance Hell: * Pearls from her
teeth; from her front full Moon."