Page:Tales from the Arabic, Vol 2.djvu/277

253 throne of the circumcision at the upper end of the hall, whereupon Tuhfeh took the lute and pressing it to her bosom, touched its strings on such wise that the wits of all present were bewildered and the Sheikh Iblis said to her, ‘O my lady Tuhfeh, I conjure thee, by the life of this worshipful queen, sing for me and praise thyself, and gainsay me not.’ Quoth she, ‘Hearkening and obedience; yet, but for the adjuration by which thou conjurest me, I had not done this. Doth any praise himself? What manner of thing is this?’ Then she improvised and sang the following verses:

Her verses pleased the kings of the Jinn and they said, ‘By Allah, thou sayst sooth!’ Then she rose to her feet, with the lute in her hand, and played and sang, whilst the Jinn and the Sheikh Aboultawaïf danced.