Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/380

352 they washed their hands and Noureddin said to the Khalif, ‘O fisherman, thou hast done us a right welcome service this night!’ Then he put his hand to his pouch and taking out three of the dinars that Senjer had given him, said, ‘O fisherman, excuse me. By Allah, had I known thee before that which has lately befallen me, I had done away the bitterness of poverty from thy heart; but take this as an earnest of my good will!’ Then he threw the dinars to the Khalif, who took them and kissed them and put them up. Now the Khalif’s sole desire in all this was to hear the damsel sing; so he said to Noureddin, ‘O my lord, thou hast rewarded me munificently, but I beg of thy great bounty that thou wilt let this damsel sing an air, that I may hear her.’ So Noureddin said, ‘O Enis el Jelis!’ ‘Yes,’ replied she. And he said, ‘My life on thee, sing us something for the sake of this fisherman, for he wishes to hear thee.’ So she took the lute and struck the strings, after she had tuned them, and sang the following verses:

Then she played again, so admirably that she ravished their wits, and sang the following verses:

At this the Khalif was agitated and so overcome with emotion that he was not master of himself for excess of delight, and he exclaimed, ‘By Allah, it is good! By Allah, it is good! By Allah, it is good!’ Quoth Noureddin, ‘O fisherman, doth this damsel please thee?’ ‘Ay, by Allah!’ replied he. Whereupon said Noureddin, ‘I make thee a present of her, the present of a generous man who does