lady asked Zat al-Dawahi, "By the truth of the Messiah, wilt wrestle
with me or dost jest?", and she answered, "Yea, I will wrestle with thee
in very deed" (Sharrkan looking on the while), the damsel cried, "Rise
up for the fall an thou have spunk so to do." When the old woman heard
this, she raged with exceeding rage, and her body-hair stood on end like
the bristles of a fretful hedgehog.[164] Then she sprang to her feet,
whilst the damsel stood up to her, and said, "Now by the truth of the
Messiah, I will not wrestle with thee unless I be naked, Mistress
whore!"[165] So she loosed her petticoat-trousers and, putting her hand
under her clothes, tore them off her body; then twisted up a silken
kerchief into cord-shape, girt it round her middle and became as she
were a scald-head Ifritah or a spotted snake. With this she inclined
towards the damsel and said, "Do thou as I have done." All this time,
Sharrkan was gazing at the twain, and laughing at the beldam's loathly
semblance. So the damsel leisurely rose and, taking a sash of Yamani
stuff, passed it twice round her waist, then she tucked up her trousers
and displayed two calves of alabaster carrying a mound of crystal,
smooth and rounded, and a stomach which exhaled musk from its dimples,
as it were a bed of Nu'uman's anemones; and breasts like double
pomegranates. Then the old woman leant towards her, and the two laid
hold either of each, while Sharrkan raised his head Heavenwards and
prayed Allah that the belle might beat the beldam. Presently the young
woman gat beneath the old woman; and, gripping her waist-cloth with the
left and circling her neck with the right hand, hoisted her off the
ground with both; whereupon the old woman strove to free herself and, in
so doing fell on her back arsiversy, with her legs high in air and her
hairy bush between them showed manifest in the moonshine; furthermore
she let fly two great farts[166] one of which blew up the dust from the
earth's face and the other steamed up to the gate of Heaven. Sharrkan
laughed till he fell back upon the ground. Then he arose and, baring his
brand looked right and left, but he saw no one save the old woman
sprawling on her back, and said to himself, "He lied not who named thee
Lady of Calamities! Verily thou knewest her prowess by her performance
upon the others." So he drew near them to hear what should pass between
them. Then the young lady went up to the old one and, throwing a wrapper
of thin silk upon her nakedness, helped her to don her clothes and made
excuses saying, "O my lady Zat al-Dawahi, I intended only to throw thee
and not all this, but thou triedst to twist out of my hands; so laud to
Allah for safety!" She returned her no answer, but rose in her shame and
walked away till out of sight, leaving the handmaids prostrate and
pinioned, with the fair damsel standing amongst them. Quoth Sharrkan to
himself, "Every luck hath its cause. Sleep did not fall upon me nor the
war-horse bear me hither save for my good fortune; for doubtless this
maid and what is with her shall become booty to me." So he made towards
his steed and mounted and heeled[167] him on, when he sped as the shaft
speeds from the bow, and in his hand he still hent his brand bare of
sheath, which he brandished shouting the while his war-cry, "Allah is
All-mighty[168]!" When the damsel saw him she sprang to her feet and,
taking firm stand on the bank of the stream, whose breadth was six ells,
the normal cubits, made one bound and landed clear on the farther
side,[169] where she turned and cried out with a loud voice, "Who art
thou, O thou fellow, that breakest in upon our privacy and pastime, and
that too hanger in hand as if charging a host? Whence camest thou and
whither art thou going? Speak sooth, for truth will stand thee in good
stead, and lie not, for lies come of villein-breed. Doubtless thou hast
wandered this night from thy way, that thou chancedst upon this place
whence escape were the greatest of mercies; for thou art now in an open
plain and, did we shout but a single shout, would come to our rescue
four thousand knights.[170] So tell me what thou wantest; and if thou
wouldst only have us set thee on the right road, we will do so." When
Sharrkan heard her words he replied, "I am a stranger of the Moslems,
who fared forth this night single-handed, seeking for spoil; nor could
this moonlight show me a fairer booty than these ten maidens; so I shall
seize them and rejoin my comrades with them." Quoth she, "I would have
thee know that as for the booty thou hast not come at it; and, as for
the handmaids, by Allah, they shall never be thy spoil. Have I not told
thee that to lie is villein-vile?" Quoth he, "The wise man is he who
taketh warning by others." Thereupon quoth she, "By the truth of the
Messiah, did I not fear that thy death would be on my hands, I would
shout a shout should fill the mead for thee with war steeds and with men
of might, but I take pity upon the stranger. So, if thou seek booty, I
require of thee that thou alight from thy steed and swear to me, by thy
faith, that thou wilt not advance against me aught like arms in hand,
and we will wrestle, I and thou. If thou throw me, set me on thy steed
and take all of us to thy booty; but if I throw thee, thou shalt become
under my command. Swear this to me, for I fear thy treachery: indeed it
hath become a common saw, Where Perfidy is innate there Trust is a
weakly mate. Now an thou wilt swear I will return and draw near to thee
and tackle thee." Answered Sharrkan (and indeed he lusted to seize her
and said in his soul, "Truly she knoweth not that I am a champion of
champions"); "Swear me by what oath thou wilt and by what thou deemest
most binding, and I will not approach thee with aught till thou hast
made thy preparation and sayest:—Draw near that I wrestle with thee. If
thou throw me, I have money wherewithal to ransom myself; and if I throw
thee, 'twill be booty and booty enough for me!" Rejoined the damsel, "I
am content herewith!" and Sharrkan was astounded at her words and said,
"And by the truth of the Apostle (whom Allah bless and keep!) I too am
content on the other part!" Then said she, "Swear to me by Him who
sprite in body dight and dealt laws to rule mankind aright, that thou
wilt not offer me aught of violence save by way of wrestling; else mayst
thou die without the pale of Al-Islam." Sharrkan replied, "By Allah!
were a Kazi to swear me, even though he were a Kazi of the Kazis,[171]
he would not impose upon me such an oath as this!" Then he sware to her
by all she named and tied his steed to a tree; but he was drowned in the
sea of thought, saying in himself, "Praise be to Him who fashioned her
from dirty water!"[172] Then he girt himself and made ready for
wrestling, and said to her, "Cross the stream to me;" but she replied,
"It is not for me to come over to thee: if thou wilt, pass thou over
here to me." "I cannot do that," quoth he, and quoth she, "O boy, I will
come across to thee." So she tucked up her skirts and, leaping, landed
on the other side of the stream by his side; whereupon he drew near to
her and bent him forwards and clapped palms.[173] But he was confounded
by her beauty and loveliness; for he saw a shape which the Hand of Power
had tanned with the dye-leaves of the Jánn, which had been fostered by
the Hand of Beneficence and fanned by the Zephyrs of fair fortune and
whose birth a propitious ascendant had greeted. Then she called out to
him, "O Moslem, come on and let us wrestle ere the break of morning,"
and tucked up her sleeves from a fore-arm like fresh curd, which
illumined the whole place with its whiteness; and Sharrkan was dazzled
by it. Then he bent forwards and clapped his palms by way of challenge,
she doing the like, and caught hold of her, and the two grappled and
gripped and interlocked hands and arms. Presently he shifted his hands
to her slender waist, when his finger tips sank into the soft folds of
her middle, breeding languishment, and he fell a trembling like the
Persian reed in the roaring gale. So she lifted him up and, throwing him
to the ground, sat upon his breast with hips and hinder cheeks like
mounds of sand, for his soul had lost mastery over his senses. Then she
asked him, "O Moslem! the slaying of Nazarenes is lawful to you folk;
what then hast thou to say about being slain thyself?"; and he answered,
"O my lady, thy speech as regards slaying me is not other than unlawful;
for our prophet Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!) prohibited the
slaying of women and children, old men and monks!" "As it was thus
revealed to your Prophet," she replied, "it behoveth us to render the
equivalent of his mercy; so rise. I give thee thy life, for generosity
is never lost upon the generous." Then she got off his breast and he
rose and stood shaking the dust from his head against the owners of the
curved rib, even women; and she said to him, "Be not ashamed; but verily
one who entereth the land of Roum in quest of booty, and cometh to
assist Kings against Kings, how happeneth it that he hath not strength
enough to defend himself from one made out of the curved rib?" "'Twas
not for lack of strength in me," he answered; "nor didst thou throw me
by thy force; it was thy loveliness overthrew me; so if thou wilt grant
me another bout, it will be of thy courtesy." She laughed and said, "I
grant thee thy request: but these handmaids have long been pinioned and
their arms and sides are weary, and it were only right I should loose
them, for haply this next wrestling bout will be long." Then she went to
the slave-girls and, unbinding them, said to them in the tongue of
Greece, "Get ye to some safe place, till I foil this Moslem's lust and
longing for you." So they went away, whilst Sharrkan kept gazing at them
and they kept turning to look at the two. Then each approached the
adversary and he set his breast against hers, but when he felt waist
touch waist, his strength failed him; and she, waxing ware of this,
lifted him with her hands swiftlier than the blinding leven-flash, and
threw him to the ground. He fell on his back,[174] and then she said to
him, "Rise: I give thee thy life a second time. I spared thee in the
first count because of thy Prophet, for that he made unlawful the
slaying of women; and I do so on the second count because of thy
weakliness and the greenness of thine years and thy strangerhood; but I
charge thee, if there be in the Moslem army sent by Omar bin al-Nu'uman
to succour the King of Constantinople, a stronger than thou, send him
hither and tell him of me: for in wrestling there are shifts and trips,
catches and holds, such as the feint or falsing and the snap or first
grip, the hug, the feet-catch, the thigh-bite,[175] the jostle and the
leg-lock." "By Allah, O my lady," quoth Sharrkan (and indeed he was
highly incensed against her), "had I been Master al-Safdí, Master
Mohammed Kimál or Ibn al-Saddí,[176] as they were in their prime, I had
kept no note of these shifts thou mentionest; for O my mistress, by
Allah, thou hast not grassed me by thy strength, but by the
blandishments of thy back-parts; for we men of Mesopotamia so love a
full-formed thigh that nor sense was left me nor foresight. But now, an
thou wish, thou shalt try a third fall with me while my wits are about
me, and this last match is allowed me by the laws of the game which
sayeth the best of three: moreover I have regained my presence of mind."
When she heard his words she said to him, "Hast thou not had a
belly-full of this wrestling, O vanquished one? However come on, an thou
wilt; but know that this must be the last round." Then she bent forward
and challenged him and Sharrkan did likewise, setting to it in real
earnest and being right cautious about the throw: so the two strove
awhile and the damsel found in him a strength such as she had not
observed before and said to him, "O Moslem, thou art now on thy mettle."
"Yes," he replied, "thou knowest that there remaineth to me but this one
round, after which each of us will wend a different way." She laughed
and he laughed too;[177] then she overreached at his thigh and caught
firm hold of it unawares, which made him greet the ground and fall full
on his back. She laughed at him and said, "Art thou an eater of bran?
Thou art like a Badawi's bonnet which falleth off with every touch or
else the Father of Winds[178] that droppeth before a puff of air. Fie
upon thee, O thou poor thing!" adding, "Get thee back to the Moslem army
and send us other than thyself, for thou failest of thews; and proclaim
for us, among the Arabs and Persians, the Turks and Daylamites,[179]
whoso hath might in him, let him come to us." Then she made a spring and
landed on the other side of the stream and said to Sharrkan, laughing,
"Parting with thee is right grievous to me, O my lord; but get thee to
thy mates before dawn, lest the Knights come upon thee and pick thee up
on their lance-points. Thou hast no strength to defend thee against a
woman, so how couldst thou hold thine own amongst men of might and
Knights?" Sharrkan was confounded and called to her (as she turned from
him making towards the convent), "O my lady, wilt thou go away and leave
the miserable stranger, the broken hearted slave of love?" So she turned
to him laughing and said, "What is thy want? I will grant thee thy
prayer." "Have I set foot in thy country and tasted the sweetness of thy
courtesy," replied he, "and shall I return without eating of thy victual
and tasting thy hospitality; I who have become one of thy servitors!"
"None baulk kindliness save the base," she rejoined, "honour us in
Allah's name, on my head and eyes be it! Mount thy steed and ride along
the brink of the stream over against me, for now thou art my guest." At
this Sharrkan was glad and, hastening back to his horse, mounted and
walked him abreast of her, and she kept faring on till they came to a
drawbridge[180] built of beams of the white poplar, hung by pullies and
steel-chains and made fast with hooks and padlocks. When Sharrkan
looked, he saw awaiting her upon the bridge the same ten handmaids whom
she had thrown in the wrestling-bouts; and, as she came up to them, she
said to one in the Greek tongue, "Arise and take the reins of his horse
and conduct him across into the convent." So she went up to Sharrkan and
led him over, much puzzled and perturbed with what he saw, and saying to
himself, "O would that the Wazir Dandan were here with me that his eyes
might look upon these fairest of favours." Then he turned to the young
lady and said to her, "O marvel of loveliness, now I have two claims
upon thee; first the claim of good-fellowship, and secondly for that
thou hast carried me to thy home and offered me thy hospitality. I am
now under thy commandance and thy guidance; so do me one last favour by
accompanying me to the lands of Al-Islam; where thou shalt look upon
many a lion-hearted warrior and thou shalt learn who I am." When she
heard this she was angered and said to him, "By the truth of the
Messiah, thou hast proved thyself with me a man of keen wit; but now I
see what mischief there is in thy heart, and how thou canst permit
thyself a speech which proveth thy traitorous intent. How should I do as
thou sayest, when I wot that if I came to that King of yours, Omar bin
al-Nu'uman, I should never get free from him? For truly he hath not the
like of me or behind his city walls or within his palace-halls, Lord of
Baghdad and of Khorasan though he be, who hath built for himself twelve
pavilions, in number as the months of the year, and in each a concubine
after the number of the days; and if I come to him he would not prove
shy of me, for your folk believe I am lawful to have and to hold as is
said in your writ:—Or those women whom your right hand shall possess as
slaves.[181] So how canst thou speak thus to me? As for thy saying:—Thou
shalt look upon the braves of the Moslems, by the truth of the Messiah,
thou sayest that which is not true, for I saw your army when it reached
our land, these two days ago; and I did not see that your ordinance was
the ordinance of Kings, but I beheld only a rabble of tribesmen gathered
together. And as to thy words:—Thou shalt know who I am, I did not do
thee kindness because of thy dignity but out of pride in myself; and the
like of thee should not talk thus to the like of me, even wert thou
Sharrkan, Omar bin al-Nu'uman's son, the prowest name in these days!"
"Knowest thou Sharrkan?" asked he; and she answered "Yes! and I know of
his coming with an army numbering ten thousand horsemen; also that he
was sent by his sire with this force to gain prevalence for the King of
Constantinople." "O my lady," said Sharrkan, "I adjure thee by thy
religion, tell me the cause of all this, that sooth may appear to me
clear of untruth, and with whom the fault lies." "Now by the virtue of
thy faith," she replied, "did I not fear lest the news of me be bruited
abroad that I am of the daughters of Roum, I would adventure myself and
sally forth single-handed against the ten thousand horsemen and slay
their leader, the Wazir Dandan and vanquish their champion
Sharrkan.[182] Nor would aught of shame accrue to me thereby, for I have
read books and studied the rules of good breeding in the language of the
Arabs. But I have no need to vaunt my own prowess to thee, more by token
as thou hast proved in thy proper person my skill and strength in
wrestling; and thou hast learnt my superiority over other women. Nor,
indeed, had Sharrkan himself been here this night and it were said to
him:—Clear this stream, could he have done it; and I only long and lust
that the Messiah would throw him into my hands in this very convent,
that I might go forth to him in the habit of a man and drag him from his
saddle-seat and make him my captive and lay him in bilboes."——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
[Illustration]
Now when it was the Forty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Nazarene
damsel said to Sharrkan (and he listening impatiently enow), "Verily if
Sharrkan fell into my hands, I would go forth to him in the habit of a
man and drag him from his saddle-seat and make him my captive and lay
him in bilboes," pride and passion and knightly jealousy took possession
of him and he desired to discover and declare himself and to lay on
load; but her loveliness restrained him and he began repeating:—
An faulty of one fault the Beauty prove, ✿ Her charms a
thousand advocates shall move.
So she went up and Sharrkan after her; and, when he saw the maiden's
back and hinder cheeks that clashed against each other, like rollers in
the rolling sea, he extemporised these couplets:—
For her sins is a pleader that brow, ✿ And all hearts its fair
pleading must trow:
When I saw it I cried, "To-night ✿ The moon at its fullest doth show;
Tho' Balkís' own Ifrit[183] try a bout, ✿ Spite his force she
would deal him a throw.
The two fared on till they reached a gate over which rose a marble
archway. This she opened and ushered Sharrkan into a long vestibule,
vaulted with ten connected arches, from each of which hung a crystal
lamp glistening like a spark of fire. The handmaids met her at the
further end bearing wax candles of goodly perfume, and wearing on their
heads golden fillets crusted with all manner bezel-gems,[184] and went
on before her (Sharrkan still following), till they reached the inner
convent. There the Moslem saw couches and sofas ranged all around, one
opposite the other and all overhung with curtains flowered in gold. The
monastery floor was paved with every kind of vari-coloured marbles and
mosaic-work, and in the midst stood a basin that held four-and-twenty
jetting fountains of gold, whence the water ran like molten silver;
whilst at the upper end stood a throne spread with silks fit only for
Kings. Then said the damsel, "Ascend, O my lord, this throne." So he
went up to it and sat down and she withdrew to remain absent for some
time. Sharrkan asked of her from one of the servants who answered him,
"She hath gone to her dormitory; but we will serve thee even as she
ordered." So they set before him viands of rare varieties, and he ate
his sufficiency, when they brought him a basin of gold and an ewer of
silver, and he washed his hands. Then his thoughts reverted to his army,
knowing not what had befallen it in his absence and calling to mind also
how he had forgotton his father's injunctions: so he was troubled about
his case, repenting of what he had done till the dawn broke and the day
appeared; when he lamented and sighed and became drowned in the sea of
sadness and repeated:—
I am not lost to prudence, but indeed ✿ Here I'm bewildered, what
shall be my rede?
Would any aid me in mine ails of love, ✿ By my own might and
sleight would I be free'd:
But ah! my heart is lost and passion-shent: ✿ To none save Allah can
I trust my need!
When he ended his verse behold, there came up to him a rare show and a
fair, more than twenty maidens like crescents encompassing the young
lady, who shone in their midst as the full moon among the constellations
guarding and girding her. She was clad in brocades befitting Kings; her
breasts were like twin pomegranates, a woven zone set with all kinds of
jewels tightly clasped her waist which expanded below into jutting hips;
and her hinder cheeks stood out as a mound of crystal[185] supporting a
silvern shaft. When Sharrkan looked at her his wits went nigh to fly
away from him with delight; and he forgot army and Wazir as he gazed on
her fair head decked and dight with a net-work of pearls set off by
divers sorts of gems. Handmaids on her right and handmaids on her left
bore her train, as she paced with dainty graceful gait in all the pride
of seemlihead. He sprang to his feet seeing such beauty and loveliness,
and cried aloud, "Beware and beware of that zone rarely fair!" and broke
out into these couplets:—
With heavy back-parts, high breasts delicate, ✿ And lissome form
that sways with swimming gait,
She deftly hides love-longing in her breast; ✿ But I may never hide
its ban and bate:
While hosts of followers her steps precede,[186] ✿ Like pearls
now necklaced and now separate.
She gazed upon him for a long time and considered him till she was
assured of him, when she came up to him and said, "In very sooth the
place is honoured and illumined by thee, O Sharrkan! How sped thy night,
O hero, after we went away and left thee?"; adding, "Verily lying is a
vile thing and a shameful, especially in great Kings! and thou art
Crown-Prince Sharrkan, son and heir of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; so
henceforth make no secret of thy rank and condition, nor let me hear
aught from thee but the truth; for leasing bequeatheth hate and despite.
And as thou art pierced by the shaft of Fate, be resignation thine and
abide content to wait." When he heard her words he saw that artifice
availed him naught and he acknowledged the truth, saying, "I am
Sharrkan, bin Omar bin al-Nu'uman, whom fortune hath afflicted, and cast
into this place; so whatso thou willest, do it in my case!" She hung her
head groundwards a long while, then turned to him and said, "Be of good
cheer and let thine eyes be cool and clear;[187] for thou art the guest
of my hospitality, and bread-and-salt hath made a tie between me and
thee; wherefore thou art in my ward and under my safeguard. Have no fear
for, by the truth of the Messiah, if all on earth sought to do thee hurt
they should not come at thee, till life had left my body for thy sake:
indeed thou art now under the charge of the Messiah and of me." Hereat
she sat her down by his side and fell to playing with him, till his
alarm subsided and he knew that had she desired to slay him, she would
have done so during the past night. Presently she bespoke in the Grecian
tongue one of her slave-girls, who went away and soon came back bringing
a beaker and a tray of food; but Sharrkan abstained from eating and said
to himself, "Haply she hath put somewhat in this meat." She knew what
was in his thought; so she turned to him and said, "By the truth of the
Messiah, the case is not on such wise, nor is there aught in this meat
of what thou suspectest! Had my mind been set on slaying thee, I had
slain thee ere now." Then she walked up to the tray and ate of every
dish a mouthful; whereupon Sharrkan came forward and ate too. She was
pleased at this and both ate till they were satisfied. They washed their
hands and after that she rose and ordered a handmaid to bring perfumes
and herbs of sweet savour, wines of all colours and kinds and a
wine-service with vessels of gold, silver and crystal. She filled a
first goblet and drank it off before offering it to him, even as she had
done with the food: then she downed a second and handed it to him. He
drank and she said to him, "O Moslem, see how thou art here in all
solace and delight of life!" And she ceased not to drink and ply him
with drink, till he took leave of his wits,——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day, and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Forty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel ceased
not to drink and ply Sharrkan with drink till he took leave of his wits,
for the wine and the intoxication of love he bore her. Presently she
said to the slave-girl, "O Marjánah[188]! bring us some instruments of
music!" "To hear is to obey," said the handmaid and going out, returned
in the twinkling of an eye with a Damascus lute,[189] a Persian harp, a
Tartar pipe, and an Egyptian dulcimer. The young lady took the lute and,
after tuning each several string, began in gentle undersong to sing,
softer, than zephyr's wing and sweeter than Tasmin[190]-spring, with
heart safe and secure from everything the couplets following:—
Allah assain those eyne! What streams of blood they shed! ✿ How many
an arrowy glance those lids of thine have sped.
I love all lovers who to lovers show them dure; ✿ Twere wrong to
rue the love in wrong-head born and bred:
Haply fall hapless eye for thee no sleeping kens! ✿ Heaven help
the hapless heart by force of thee misled!
Thou doomest me to death who art my king, and I ✿ Ransom with life
the deemster who would doom me dead.
Thereupon each and every of the maidens rose up and taking an
instrument, played and recited couplets in the Roumi tongue; then their
mistress sang also and seeing Sharrkan in ecstasies asked him, "O
Moslem, dost thou understand what I say?"; and he answered, "Nay, my
ecstasy cometh from the beauty of thy finger-tips." She laughed and
continued, "If I sing to thee in Arabic what wouldst thou do?" "I should
no longer," quoth he, "be master of my senses." Then she took an
instrument and, changing the measure, began singing these verses:—
The smack of parting's myrrh to me, ✿ How, then, bear patience' aloë?
I'm girt by ills in trinity ✿ Severance, distance, cruelty!
My freedom stole that fairest she, ✿ And parting irks me bitterly.
When she ended her verse, she looked at Sharrkan and found him lost to
existence, and he lay for a while stretched at full length and prone
among the maidens.[191] Then he revived and, remembering the songs,
again inclined to mirth and merriment; and the twain returned to their
wine and wassail, and continued their playing and toying, their pastime
and pleasure till day ceased illuminating and night drooped her wing.
Then the damsel went off to her dormitory and when Sharrkan asked after
her they answered, "She is gone to her sleeping-chamber," whereto he
rejoined, "Under Allah's ward and His good guard!" As soon as it was
morning, a handmaid came to him and said to him, "My mistress biddeth
thee to her." So he rose and followed her and, as he drew near her
lodging, the damsels welcomed him with smitten tabrets and songs of
greeting, and led him through a great door of ivory studded with pearls
and jewels. Thence they passed with him into a tall and spacious hall,
at the upper end of which was a wide daïs carpeted with all kinds of
silks, and round it open lattices commanding a view of trees and
streams. About the saloon were figures carved in human form, and
fashioned on such wise that the air passed through them and set in
motion musical instruments within, so that the beholder would fancy they
spoke.[192] Here sat the young lady, looking at the figures; but when
she saw Sharrkan, she sprang to her feet and, taking him by the hand,
made him sit down by her side, and asked him how he had passed the
night. He blessed her and the two sat talking awhile till she asked him,
"Knowest thou aught touching lovers and slaves of love?"; and he
answered "Yes! I wot somewhat in verse on that matter." "Let me hear
it," quoth she, so he began quoting:—
Pleasure and health, good cheer, good appetite ✿ To Azzah, freest
with our name and fame!
By Allah! would I near her off she flies ✿ At tangent, granting
less the more I claim:
I dote on Azzah, but when clear I off ✿ My rivals, clears me too
that dearest dame;
Like wandering wight that chose for shade a cloud ✿ Which, ere
siesta done, thin air became.
When she heard this she said, "Verily Al-Kuthayyir[193] was conspicuous
for sweet speech and chaste, and he was superlative in his praise of
Azzah when he sang (and she began to recite):—
"Did Azzah deal behest to Sun o' noon, ✿ The judge had 'judged
her beauty's bestest boon;
And girls who come to me and carp at her, ✿ God make their rosy
cheeks her sandal-shoon!"
"And indeed," quoth she, "'twas said that Azzah boasted exceeding beauty
and loveliness." Then she asked Sharrkan saying, "O Prince, dost thou
know aught of Jamíl's[194] verses to Buthaynah? if so repeat to us
somewhat of them;" and he answered, "Yes, I know them better than any;"
whereupon he began repeating these couplets:—
"Jamíl, in Holy war go fight!" to me they say: ✿ What war save
fight for fair ones would I e'er essay?
To me their every word and work are mere delight, ✿ And martyrs clepe
I all they slay in fight and fray:
An ask I, "O Buthaynah! what's this love, I pray, ✿ Which eats
my heart? quoth she "'Twill stay for ever and aye!"
And when I cry, "Of wits return some small display ✿ For daily
use," quoth she, "Far, far 'tis fled away!"
Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy ✿ While I
no goal espy save thee and thee alway.
"Thou hast spoken right well," said she, "O King's son, and Jamíl also
spoke excellently well. But what would Buthaynah have done with him that
he saith in his hemistich:—
Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy?"
"O my lady," quoth Sharrkan, "she willed to do him what thou willest to
do with me, and even that will not satisfy thee." She laughed at his
opportune reply and they ceased not carousing till Day put out her light
and Night came in darkness dight. Then she rose and went to her
dormitory and slept, while Sharrkan slept in his place till morning
dawned. As soon as he awoke, the handmaids came to him with tabrets and
other instruments of mirth and merriment, as wont; and, kissing the
ground between his hands, said to him, "Bismillah!—in Allah's name—be so
kind as to come[195]: our mistress biddeth thee to her presence!" So he
rose and accompanied the slave-girls who surrounded him, playing on
tabrets and other instruments of music, till they passed from that
saloon into another and a yet more spacious hall, decorated with
pictured likenesses and figures of birds and beasts, passing all
description. Sharrkan marvelled at the art and artifice of the place and
began reciting:—