Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/251

223 of passion. But how shouldst thou be unsmitten of passion, and thou a sojourner in the land of Bassora?” “By Allah,” said she, “before I became enamoured of this youth, I was endowed with the uttermost of amorous grace and was resplendent with beauty and perfection and ravished all the princes of Bassora, till he fell in love with me!” “And who parted you?” asked I. “The vicissitudes of fortune,” answered she; “but the manner of our separation was a strange one; and it was on this wise.

One New Year’s day I had invited the damsels of Bassora and amongst them a girl belonging to Siran, who had bought her out of Oman for fourscore thousand dirhems. She was madly in love with me and when she entered, she threw herself upon me and well-nigh tore me in pieces with bites and pinches. Then we withdrew apart, to drink wine at our ease, till our meat was ready and our delight was complete, and she toyed with me and I with her, and now I was upon her and now she upon me. Presently, the fumes of the wine moved her to strike her hand on the ribbon of my trousers, whereby it became loosed, unknown of either of us, and my trousers fell down in our play. At this moment, he came in, unobserved, and seeing me thus, was wroth and made off, as doth the Arab filly, when she hears the tinkle of her bridle. This, O elder, was three years ago, and since that time I have never ceased to excuse myself to him and entreat him with soft words and implore his indulgence, but he will neither cast a look at me nor write me a word nor speak to me by a messenger nor hear aught from me.” Quoth I, “Is he an Arab or a foreigner?” And she, “Out on thee! He is of the princes of Bassora.” “Is he old or young?” asked I. She looked at me laughingly and said, “Thou art certainly a fool! He is like the moon at its full, smooth-cheeked and beardless, nor is there any defect in him except his aversion to me.” “What is his name?” asked I, and she,