Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/225

197 rise and follow him. So he followed the servant into the presence of his yesternight’s guest, whom he found seated on his couch and who said to him, ‘Who art thou?’ ‘I am Younus the Scribe,’ answered the other. ‘Welcome to thee, O Younus!’ rejoined the prince. ‘By Allah, I have long wished to look on thee; for I have heard of thy report. How didst thou pass the night?’ ‘Well,’ answered Younus; ‘may God the Most High advance thee!’ ‘Peradventure,’ said the prince, ‘thou repentedst thee of that thou didst yesterday and saidst in thyself, “I have delivered my slave-girl to a man whom I know not, neither know I his name nor whence he cometh?”’cometh”’ [sic] ‘God forbid, O Amir,’ replied Younus, ‘that I should repent over her! Had I made gift of her to the prince, she were the least of the gifts that are given unto him, for indeed she is not worthy of his rank.’ ‘By Allah,’ rejoined Welid, ‘but I repented me of having taken her from thee and said in myself, “This man is a stranger and knows me not, and I have taken him by surprise and acted inconsiderately by him, in my haste to take the damsel!” Dost thou recall what passed between us?’ ‘Yes,’ answered Younus. Quoth Welid, ‘Dost thou sell her to me for fifty thousand dirhems?’ And Younus said, ‘I do.’

Then the prince called to one of his servants, to bring him fifty thousand dirhems and a thousand and five hundred dinars to boot, and gave them all to Younus, saying, ‘The thousand dinars are for thy fair thought of us and the five hundred for the expenses of thy journey and what thou shalt buy for thy people. Art thou content?’ ‘I am content,’ answered Younus and kissed his hands, saying, ‘By Allah, thou hast filled my eyes and my hands and my heart!’ Quoth Welid, ‘By Allah, I have as yet had no privacy of her nor have I taken my fill of