Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/196

184 that drunkenness had gotten the mastery of thee and that thou [hadst fallen into the water and] wast drowned.’ Then I asked them of the damsel, and they answered, ‘When she came to know of thy loss, she rent her clothes and burnt the lute and fell to buffeting herself and lamenting, till we reached Bassora, when we said to her, ‘“ [sic]Leave this weeping and sorrowing.’” [sic] Quoth she, ‘“ [sic]I will don black and make me a tomb beside the house and abide thereby and repent from singing.’” [sic] So we suffered her to do this and on this wise she abideth to this day.’

Then they carried me to the Hashimi’s house, where I saw the damsel as they had said. When she saw me, she gave a great cry, methought she had died, and I embraced her with a long embrace. Then said the Hashimi to me, ‘Take her.’ And I answered, ‘It is well but do thou free her and marry her to me, according to thy promise.’ So he did this and gave us costly goods and store of raiment and furniture and five hundred dinars, saying, ‘This is the amount of that which I purpose to allow you monthly, but on condition that thou be my boon-companion and that I hear the girl sing [when I will].’ Moreover, he assigned us a house and bade transport thither all that we needed; so, when I went to the house, I found it full of furniture and stuffs and carried the damsel thither. Then I betook me to the grocer and told him all that had befallen me, begging him to hold me excused for putting away his daughter, without offence on her part; and I paid her her dowry and what else behoved me. I abode with the Hashimi on this wise