Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/67

55 the monks, one after another, till he had sent all the forty; but each who saw her fell in love with her and plied her with blandishments galore and sought her favours for himself, without naming Danis, whilst she denied herself to them and rebuffed them all with harsh answers.

When Danis’s patience was at an end and his passion was sore on him, he said in himself, ‘Verily, the proverb says, “Nothing scratches my body but my own nail and nought runs my errands like my own feet.”’ So he rose and made ready rich meats, and it was the ninth day of her sojourn in the convent. Then he carried them in to her and set them before her, saying, ‘In the name of God, favour us [by partaking] of the best of the food at our command.’ So she put out her hand, saying, ‘In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful!’ and ate, she and her maidens. When she had made an end of eating, he said to her, ‘O my lady, I wish to recite to you some verses.’ ‘Say on,’ quoth she; and he recited the following:

When she heard this, she answered him with these verses: