There was once of old time a foolish, ignorant man, who had
wealth galore, and his wife was a fair woman, who loved a
handsome youth. The latter used to watch for her husband's
absence and come to her, and on this wise he abode a long while.
One day, as the woman was private with her lover, he said to her,
'O my lady and my beloved, if thou desire me and love me, give me
possession of thyself and accomplish my need in thy husband's
presence; else will I never again come to thee nor draw near
thee, what while I abide on life.' Now she loved him with an
exceeding love and could not brook his separation an hour nor
could endure to vex him; so, when she heard his words, she said
to him, ['So be it,] in God's name, O my beloved and solace of
mine eyes, may he not live who would vex thee!' Quoth he,
'To-day?' And she said, 'Yes, by thy life,' and appointed him of
this.
When her husband came home, she said to him, 'I desire to go
a-pleasuring.' And he said, ' With all my heart.' So he went,
till he came to a goodly place, abounding in vines and water,
whither he carried her and pitched her a tent beside a great
tree; and she betook herself to a place beside the tent and made
her there an underground hiding-place, [in which she hid her
lover]. Then said she to her husband, 'I desire to mount this
tree.' And he said, 'Do so.' So she climbed up and when she came
to the top of the tree, she cried out and buffeted her face,
saying, 'Lewd fellow that thou art, are these thy usages? Thou
sworest [fidelity to me] and liedst.' And she repeated her speech
twice and thrice.
Then she came down from the tree and rent her clothes and said,
'O villain, if these be thy dealings with me before my eyes, how
dost thou when thou art absent from me?' Quoth he, 'What aileth
thee?' and she said, 'I saw thee swive the woman before my very
eyes.' 'Not so, by Allah!' cried he. 'But hold thy peace till I
go up and see.' So he climbed the tree and no sooner did he begin
to do so than up came the lover [from his hiding-place] and
taking the woman by the legs, [fell to swiving her]. When the
husband came to the top of the tree, he looked and beheld a man
swiving his wife. So he said, 'O strumpet, what doings are
these?' And he made haste to come down from the tree to the
ground; [but meanwhile the lover had returned to his hiding-
place] and his wife said to him, 'What sawest thou?' 'I saw a man
swive thee,' answered he; and she said, 'Thou liest; thou sawest
nought and sayst this but of conjecture.'
On this wise they did three times, and every time [he climbed the
tree] the lover came up out of the underground place and bestrode
her, whilst her husband looked on and she still said, 'O liar,
seest thou aught?' 'Yes,' would he answer and came down in haste,
but saw no one and she said to him, 'By my life, look and say
nought but the truth!' Then said he to her, 'Arise, let us depart
this place,[FN#234] for it is full of Jinn and Marids.' [So they
returned to their house] and passed the night [there] and the man
arose in the morning, assured that this was all but imagination
and illusion. And so the lover accomplished his desire.[FN#235]
Nor, O king of the age," added the vizier, "is this more
extraordinary than the story of the king and the tither."
When the king heard this from the vizier, he bade him go away
[and he withdrew to his house].
The Tenth Night of the Month.
When it was eventide, the king summoned the vizier and sought of
him the story of the King and the Tither, and he said, "Know, O
king, that