Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 2.djvu/25

 Nur al-Din Ali and the Damsel Anis al-Jalts. 7 " Fie upon you ! what is the matter ? " ; and both answered, " Verily our lord Nur al-Din came in and beat us, so we fled ; then he went up to Anis al-Jalis and threw his arms round her and we know not what he did after that; but when we cried out to thee he ran away." Upon this the lady went to Anis al-Jalis and said to her, " What tidings ? " " O my lady," she answered, "as I was sitting here lo ! a handsome young man came in and said to me :Art thou she my father bought for me ? ; and I answered Yes ; for, by Allah, O mistress mine, I believed that his words were true ; and he instantly came in and embraced me." " Did he nought else with thee but this ? " quoth the lady, and quoth she, " Indeed he did ! But he did it only three times." " He did not leave thee without dishonouring thee!" cried the Wazir's wife and fell to weeping and buffetting her face, she and the girl and all the handmaidens, fearing lest Nur al-Din's father should kill him. 1 Whilst they were thus, in came the Wazir and asked what was the matter, and his wife said to him, " Swear that whatso I tell thee thou wilt attend to it." " I will," answered he. So she related to him what his son had done, whereat he was much concerned and rent his raiment and smote his face till his nose bled, and plucked out his beard by the handful. " Do not kill thyself," said his wife, " I will give thee ten thousand dinars, her price, of my own money." But he raised his head and cried* "Out upon thee! I have no need of her purchase-money : my fear is lest life as well as money go." " O my lord, and how is that ? " " Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al Mu'in bin Sawi who, as soon as he shall hear of this matter, will go up to the Sultan " And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. Jiofo to&en ft foas tfie {S$irtg-fifti) She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that trie Wazir said to his wife, " Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al-Mu'in bin Sawi who, as soon as he hears of this matter will go up to the Sultan and say to him : Thy Wazir In a case like this, the father would be justified by Rasm (or usage) not by Koranic law, in playing Brutus with his son. The same would be the case in a detected intrigue with a paternal concubine and, in very strict houses, with a slave-girl.