Page:Princess Badoura, a tale from the Arabian nights.djvu/50

36 up his hand and rubbed to allay the smarting; then moving sideways he touched something that stirred, and starting up saw by his side a maiden of most marvellous beauty.

No sooner had he beheld her than all his reasons against marriage were confounded and put to flight; and he said within his heart, 'What God desireth will come to pass, and what He desireth not will not happen.' Then taking the Princess by the hand, he endeavoured gently to rouse her, and ceasing not to invoke her with words and kisses of tenderness, he would infallibly have awakened her had not Dahnash bound her by a spell.

Then, seeing how fast she slept, 'What!' cried the Prince, 'must the love of Camaralzaman admit an impediment such as this? Awake, O beloved!' Carried away by his words he was tempted for a moment to assail her rudely, but then the nobility of his nature reasserted itself