Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 2.djvu/78

 58 A If Laylah wa Laylah. his words and cried, " I testify that there is no god but the God, and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God ! " ; then she turned to Ghanim and, placing her hands before her face, said to him in the sweetest speech, " Q blessed youth, who brought me hither? See, I am now come to myself." "O my lady," he replied, " three slave-eunuchs came here bearing this chest ; " and related to her the whole of what had befallen him, and how evening having closed upon him had proved the cause of her pre- servation, otherwise she had died smothered. 1 Then he asked her who she was and what was her story, and she answered, " O youth, thanks be to Allah who hath cast me into the hands of the like of thee ! But now rise and put me back into the box ; then fare forth upon the road and hire the first camel-driver or muleteer thou findest to carry it to thy house. When I am there, all will be well and I will tell thee my tale and acquaint thee with my adventures, and great shall be thy gain by means of me." At this he rejoiced and went outside the tomb. The day was now dazzling bright and the firmament shone with light and the folk had begun to circulate ; so he hired a man with a mule and, bringing him to the tomb, lifted the chest wherein he had put the damsel and set it on the mule. Her love now engrossed his heart and he fared homeward with her rejoicing, for that she was a girl worth ten thousand gold pieces and her raiment and ornaments would fetch a mint of money. As soon as he arrived at his house he carried in the chest and opening it And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. Jgofo fojjen it foa& tfte Jfortp-fitst She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ghanim son of Ay'yub arrived with the chest at his house, he opened it and took out the young lady, who looked about her and, seeing that the place was handsome, spread with carpets and dight with cheerful colours and other deckings; and noting the stuffs up-piled and packed bales and other else than that, knew that he was a substantial merchant and a man of much money. There- upon she uncovered her face and looked at him, and lo ! he was a This mode of disposing of a rival was very common in Harems. But it had its difficulties and on the whole the river was (and is) preferred.