Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/157

139 separation from you.” Then one of them came up to me and embraced me and repeated the following verses:

And I repeated the following:

When I saw her weeping, I said, “By Allah, I will never open the hundredth door!” Then they bade me farewell and departed, leaving me alone in the palace. When the evening drew near, I opened the first door and found myself in an orchard, full of blooming trees, laden with ripe fruit, and the air resounded with the loud singing of birds and the ripple of running waters. The sight brought solace to my soul, and I entered and walked among the trees, inhaling the odours of the flowers and listening to the warble of the birds, that sang the praises of God the One, the Almighty. I looked upon the apple, whose colour is parcel red and parcel yellow, as says the poet:

Then I looked upon the quince and inhaled its fragrance that puts musk and ambergris to shame, even as says the poet:

Thence I passed to the pear, whose taste surpasses rose-water and sugar, and the plum, whose beauty delights the eye, as it were a polished ruby. When I had taken my fill