Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 4.djvu/64

42 Dyeing thy hoary hairs disgracefully with black And hiding what appears, with fraudulent intent; As of the puppet-men thou wert, with one beard go’st And with another com’st again, incontinent.

And how well saith another:

‘By Allah,’ quoth the broker, ‘thou hast spoken truly!’ The merchant asked what she said: so the broker repeated the verses to him, and he knew that she was in the right and desisted from buying her. Then another came forward and would have bought her at the same price; but she looked at him and seeing that he had but one eye, said, ‘This man is one-eyed; and it is of such as he that the poet saith:

Then the broker brought her another bidder and said to her, ‘Wilt thou be sold to this man?’ She looked at him and seeing that he was short of stature and had a beard that reached to his navel, said, ‘This is he of whom the poet speaks, when he says:

‘O my lady,’ said the broker, ‘look who pleases thee of