Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/258

230 and he said, ‘I have long wished to meet thee, for I have an occasion to thee.’ ‘What is it?’ asked I. Whereupon he pulled out three hundred dinars and laying them before me, said, ‘I beseech thee to accept these and compose me an air to two lines of verse I have made.’ ‘Repeat them to me,’ said I. And he recited the following lines:

So I set the verses to a plaintive air and sang it to him; whereupon he swooned away and I thought that he was dead. However, after awhile, he came to himself and said to me, ‘Repeat the air.’ But I conjured him by Allah to excuse me, saying, ‘I fear lest thou die.’ ‘Would it might be so!’ replied he and ceased not to importune me, till I had pity on him and repeated it; whereupon he cried out grievously and fell into a worse [swoon] than before and I doubted not but that he was dead; but, after I had sprinkled rose-water on him awhile, he revived and sat up. I praised God for his recovery and laying the dinars before him, said to him, ‘Take thy money and depart from me.’ Quoth he, ‘I have no need of the money and thou shalt have the like of it, if thou wilt repeat the air.’ My heart rejoiced in the money and I said, ‘I will repeat it, but on three conditions: the first, that thou abide with me and eat of my victual, till thou regain strength; the second, that thou drink wine enough to cheer thy heart; and the third, that thou tell me thy story.’

He agreed to this and ate and drank; after which he said, ‘I am of the people of Medina and I went forth one day a-pleasuring with my friends and following the road to El Akic, saw a company of girls and amongst them a