Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/270

248 fortune: and he turned to her and recited the following verses:

And also these:

Then she said to him, ‘By Allah, there is no relief for us but to kill ourselves and be at rest from this great weariness; else we shall suffer grievous torment on the morrow.’ At this moment, they heard a voice from without the door say, ‘By Allah, O my lady Menar es Sena, I will not open to thee and thy husband Hassan, except ye obey me in what I shall say to you!’ When they heard this, they were silent for excess of fear and would have returned whence they came; when behold, the voice spoke again, saying, ‘What ails you to be silent and answer me not?’ Therewith they knew the speaker for the old woman Shewahi and said to her, ‘Whatsoever thou biddest us, that will we do; but first open the door to us, for this is no time for talk.’ ‘By Allah,’ replied she, ‘I will not open to you, except ye swear to me that you will take me with you and not leave me with yonder harlot: so, whatever befalls you shall befall me and if ye escape, I shall escape, and if ye perish, I shall perish: for yonder lewd minion entreats me with indignity and still torments me on your account; and thou, O my daughter, knowest my worth.’

So they trusted in her and swore to her such an oath as contented her, whereupon she opened the door to