Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/348

318 know this.’ So Heyat en Nufous called for inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:

Then she folded the letter and gave it to the old woman, who carried it to Ardeshir, leaving the princess sore incensed by reason of this affair. The prince read the letter and bowed his head to the earth, making as if he wrote with his fingers and speaking not. Quoth the old woman, ‘O my son, what ails thee that thou sayst nought?’ ‘O my mother,’ answered he, ‘what shall I say, seeing that she doth but threaten me and redoubleth in hard-heartedness and aversion?’ ‘Write her a letter of what thou wilt,’ rejoined the nurse. ‘I will protect thee, and let not thy heart be cast down, for needs must I bring you together.’ He thanked her for her kindness and kissing her hand, wrote the following verses:

Then he folded the letter and gave it to the old woman, together with three hundred dinars, saying, ‘This is for