Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/368

338 head she set a crown of red gold, inlaid with pearls and diamonds, and put her feet in slippers of cloth of gold, embroidered with fine pearls and adorned with all manner precious stones. Then she put her hand on the old woman’s shoulder and commanded to go forth by the privy door; but the nurse looked out and seeing the garden full of eunuchs and girls, walking about, eating the fruits and troubling the streams and taking their ease of sport and pleasance therein, said to the princess, ‘O my lady, is this a garden or a madhouse?’ Quoth the princess, ‘What meaneth thy speech, O nurse?’ And the old woman answered, saying, ‘Verily, the garden is full of slave-girls and eunuchs, near five hundred girls and the like number of eunuchs, eating of the fruits and troubling the streams and scaring the birds and hindering [us] from taking [our] ease and sporting and laughing and what not else; and thou hast no need of them. Wert thou going forth of thy palace into the highway, this would be fitting, as an honour and protection to thee; but thou goest forth of the privy door into the garden, where none of the creatures of God the Most High may look on thee.’ ‘By Allah, O nurse,’ rejoined the princess, ‘thou sayst sooth! But how shall we do?’ And the old woman said, ‘Send them all away and keep only two of the slave-girls, that we may make merry with them.’ So she dismissed them all, with the exception of two of her women, who were most in favour with her.

Then, when the old woman saw that her heart was light and that the season was pleasant to her, she said to her, ‘Now we can enjoy ourselves aright: come, let us take our pleasance in the garden.’ So the princess put her hand on her shoulder and went out by the private door. The two waiting-women walked in front and she followed them, laughing at them and swaying gracefully to and fro in her robes; whilst the nurse forewent her, showing her the trees and feeding her with fruits; and so they fared on