Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/346

316 his presumption may be cut off and his fear magnified.’ And she ceased not to persuade her, till she called for inkhorn and paper and wrote him the following verses:

Then she folded the letter and gave it to the old woman, who repaired to Ardeshir’s shop and delivered it to him, saying, ‘Here is thine answer, and thou must know that, when she read thy verses, she was exceeding wroth; but I soothed her and spoke her fair, till she consented to write thee an answer.’ He took the letter joyfully, but, when he had read it and apprehended its purport, he wept sore, whereat the old woman’s heart ached and she said, ‘O my son, may God spare thine eyes to weep and thy heart to mourn! What can be more gracious than that she should answer thy letter, under the circumstances?’ ‘O my mother,’ answered he, ‘how shall I do for a subtler device? Behold, she writes to me, threatening me with death and crucifixion and forbidding me from writing to her, and by Allah, I see my death to be better than my life; but I beg thee of thy favour to carry her another letter from me.’ ‘Write,’ said she, ‘and I warrant I’ll bring thee an answer. By Allah, I will venture my life to bring thee to thy desire, though I die to pleasure thee!’