Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 9.djvu/103

85 jeweller ceased not to talk with her and set out Kemerezzeman’s charms to her, till he had made an end of chasing the ring; when he gave it to her and she put it on her finger, which it fitted exactly. ‘O my lord,’ said she, ‘my heart loveth this ring and I long for it to be mine and will not take it from my finger.’ ‘Have patience,’ answered her husband. ‘The owner of it is generous and I will seek to buy it of him, and if he will sell it to me, I will bring it to thee. Or if he have another jewel, I will buy it of him for thee and fashion it for thee into a ring like this.’

Meanwhile, Kemerezzeman passed the night in his lodging and on the morrow he took a hundred dinars and carried them to the old woman, the barber’s wife, who said to him, ‘Give them to thy father.’ So he gave them to the barber, and she said, ‘Hast thou done as I told thee?’ ‘Yes,’ answered he, and she said, ‘Go now to the jeweller and if he give thee the ring, put it on the top of thy finger and pull it off in haste and say to him, “O master, thou hast made a mistake; the ring is too strait.” He will say, “O merchant, shall I break it and make it again larger?” And do thou reply, “It boots not to break it and fashion it anew. Take it and give it to one of thy women.” Then pull out another stone worth seven hundred dinars and say to him, “Take this stone and set it for me, for it is handsomer than the other.” Give him thirty dinars and give each of the journeymen two, saying, “This is for the chasing, over and above the price of the ring.” Then return to thy lodging for the night and on the morrow bring me two hundred dinars, and I will complete thee the rest of the device.’

So Kemerezzeman went to the jeweller, who welcomed him and made him sit down; and he said to him, ‘Hast thou done my occasion?’ ‘Yes,’ answered Ubeid and brought out to him the ring; whereupon he set it on the