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275 them and saluted them, saying, ‘O my ladies, may I not be bereaved of you!’ Quoth Wekhimeh to her, ‘Who is like unto thee, O Anca? Behold, Queen Es Shuhba is come to thee.’ So El Anca kissed the queen’s feet and lodged them in her palace; whereupon Tuhfeh came up to her and fell to kissing her and saying, ‘Never saw I a goodlier than this favour.’ Then she set before them somewhat of food and they ate and washed their hands; after which Tuhfeh took the lute and played excellent well; and El Anca also played, and they fell to improvising verses in turns, whilst Tuhfeh embraced El Anca every moment. Quoth Es Shuhba, ‘O my sister, each kiss is worth a thousand dinars;’ and Tuhfeh answered, ‘Indeed, a thousand dinars were little for it.’ Whereat El Anca laughed and on the morrow they took leave of her and went away to Meimoun’s palace.

Here Queen Es Shuhba bade them farewell and taking her troops, returned to her palace, whilst the kings also went away to their abodes and the Sheikh Aboultawaïf addressed himself to divert Tuhfeh till nightfall, when he mounted her on the back of one of the Afrits and bade other thirty gather together all that she had gotten of