Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/367

337 going to Ardeshir, said to him, ‘O my lord, the place is thy place and I live only in thy favours, besides that my tongue is under thy feet. But do thou excuse me: I must tell thee that the princess Heyat en Nufous, the mistress of this garden, hath a mind to visit it to-morrow at the first of the day and hath bidden me leave none therein to see her. So I would have thee of thy favour go forth of the garden this day, for the princess will only abide in it till the time of afternoon prayerafternoon-prayer [sic] and after it shall be at thy service for months and years.’ ‘O elder,’ said Ardeshir, ‘belike we have caused thee some inconvenience?’ And the other answered, saying, ‘By Allah, O my lord, there hath betided me from thee nothing but honour!’ ‘If it be so,’ rejoined the prince, ‘nothing but all good shall befall thee through me; for I will hide in the garden and none shall see me, till the princess has gone back to her palace.’ ‘O my lord,’ said the gardener, ‘if she espy the shadow of a human being in the garden, she will strike off my head.’ ‘Have no fear,’ replied the prince; ‘I will let none see me. But doubtless to-day thou lackest of spending money for thy family.’ Then he put his hand to his purse and pulled out five hundred dinars, which he gave to him, saying, ‘Take this gold and spend it on thy family, that thy heart may be at ease concerning them.’ When the gardener saw the gold, his life seemed a light matter to him and he suffered the prince to abide where he was, charging him straitly not to show himself in the garden.

Meanwhile, when the eunuchs went in to the princess at break of day, she bade open the private door leading into the garden and donned a royal robe, embroidered with pearls and jewels, over a shift of fine silk, embroidered with rubies. Under the whole was that which the tongue refuses to describe, whereat the mind was confounded and for love whereof the coward would become brave. On her

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