Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/84

66 out for joy and swooned away; and when she revived, she said, ‘O my lord, can it be true and didst thou indeed speak to me?’ The King made his voice small and said, ‘O accursed woman, thou deservest not that I should speak to thee!’ ‘Why so?’ asked she; and he replied, ‘Because all day thou tormentest thy husband and his cries disturb me, and all night long he calls upon God for help and invokes curses on thee and me and keeps me awake from nightfall to daybreak and disquiets me; and but for this, I had been well long ago. This is what has hindered me from answering thee.’ Quoth she, ‘With thy leave, I will release him from his present condition.’ ‘Do so,’ said the King, ‘and rid us of his noise.’ ‘I hear and obey,’ answered she, and going out into the palace, took a cup full of water and spoke over it certain words, whereupon the water began to boil and bubble as the cauldron bubbles over the fire. Then she went up to the young King and sprinkled him with it, saying, ‘By the virtue of the words I have spoken, if thou art thus by my spells, quit this shape for thy former one.’ And immediately he shook and rose to his feet, rejoicing in his deliverance, and said, ‘I testify that there is no god but God and that Mohammed is His apostle, may God bless and preserve him!’ Then she said to him, ‘Depart hence and do not return, or I will kill thee.’ And she screamed out in his face. So he went out from before her, and she returned to the dome and going down into the tomb, said, ‘O my lord, come forth to me, that I may see thy goodly form!’ The King replied in a weak voice, ‘What hast thou done? Thou hast rid me of the branch, but not of the root.’ ‘O my beloved, O my little black,’ said she, ‘what is the root?’ ‘Out on thee, O accursed one!’ answered he. ‘Every night, at the middle hour, the people of the city, whom thou by thine enchantments didst change into fish, lift up their heads from the water and cry to God