Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/163

143 princesses arose and going in to Hassan, acquainted him with the case and said to him, ‘Verily this place is thy place and our house is thy house; so be of good cheer and fear not nor grieve, for none can come at thee here; but keep a good heart and a cheerful mind, till we return to thee. The keys of our chambers we leave with thee; but, O our brother, we beseech thee, by the due of brotherhood, not to open such a door, for thou hast no call thereto.’ Then they took leave of him and went away with the troops, leaving him alone in the palace.

It was not long before his breast grew straitened and his patience came to an end: solitude and sadness were heavy on him and he grieved for his separation from them with an exceeding grief. The palace, for all its vastness, was straitened upon him and finding himself sad and solitary, he bethought him of the damsels and recited the following verses:

He used to go a-hunting by himself in the desert and bring back the game and eat thereof alone: but melancholy and unease redoubled on him, by reason of his loneliness. So he arose and went round about the palace and explored its every part. Morever, he opened the princesses’ apartments and found therein riches and treasures, fit to do away the beholder’s wits; but he delighted not in aught thereof, by reason of their absence. His heart was on fire with solicitude respecting the door