Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/242

220 he laughed and said, “This is certainly an imbroglio of dreams!” Then he entered, sighing, and recalled what had happened and was perplexed, and his affair became confused to him and he knew not what to think. Presently, he caught sight of his turban and trousers, so he handled the latter and feeling the purse of a thousand dinars, said, “God alone is all knowing! I am certainly in the mazes of a dream.” Then said the Lady of Beauty to him, “What ails thee to stand agape and seem perplexed? Thou wast not thus the first part of the night.” He laughed and said to her, “How long have I been absent from thee?” “God preserve thee!” exclaimed she. “The name of God encompass thee! Thou didst but go out an hour ago to do an occasion and return. Hast thou lost thy wits?” When Bedreddin heard this, he laughed and said, “Thou art right; but when I went out from thee, I forgot myself in the closet and dozed and dreamt that I was a cook in Damascus and abode there twelve years and that there came to me a boy, the son of some great man, and with him an eunuch.” Here he put his hand to his forehead and feeling the scar made by the stone, said, “By Allah, O lady, it must have been true, for here is the scar made by the stone, with which he smote me and cut my forehead open. So it would seem as if it had really happened. But perhaps I dreamt it, when we embraced and fell asleep together: for meseemed I journeyed to Damascus without turban or drawers and set up as a cook there.” Then he was perplexed and considered awhile and said, “By Allah, I fancied also that I made a mess of pomegranate-seed and put too little pepper in it. By Allah, I must have slept in the closet and dreamt all this!” “God on thee,” said the Lady of Beauty, “tell me what else thou didst dream.” “By Allah,” replied he, “had I not woke up, they would have nailed me to a cross of wood!” “Wherefore?” asked