Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 2.djvu/81

 The Tale of Ghanim bin Ayyub. 6l increased upon them and each could hardly abstain from other. One night, as he lay by her side, and both were warm with wine, Ghanim passed his hand over her breasts and stroked them ; then he slipped it down to her waist as far as her navel. She awoke and, sitting up, put her hand to her trousers and finding them fast tied, once more fell asleep. Presently, he again felt her and sliding his hand down to her trouser-string, began pulling at it, whereupon she awoke and sat upright. ^Ghanim also sat up by her side and she asked him, " What dost thou want ? " " I want to lie with thee," he answered, " and that we may deal openly and frankly with each other." Quoth she, " I must now declare to thee my case, that thou mayst know my quality ; then will my secret be disclosed to thee and my excuse become manifest to thee." Quoth he, " So be it ! " Thereat she opened the skirt of her shift and, taking up her trouser-string, said to him, "O my lord, read what is worked on the flat of this string : " so he took it in hand, and saw these words broidered on it in gold, " I AM THINE, AND THOU ART MINE, O COUSIN OF THE APOSTLE!" 1 When he read this, he withdrew his hand and said to her, " Tell me who thou art ! " " So be it," answered she ; " know that I am one of the concubines of the Commander of the Faithful, and my name is Kut al-Kulub the Food of Hearts. I was brought up in his palace and, when I grew to woman's estate, he looked on me and, noting what share of beauty and loveliness the Creator had given me, loved me with exceeding love, and assigned me a separate apartment, and gave me ten slave-girls to wait on me and all these ornaments thou seest me wearing. On a certain day he set out for one of his provinces, and the Lady Zubaydah came to one of the slave-girls in my service and said to her: I have something to require of thee. What is it, O my lady ? asked she and the Caliph's wife answered : When thy mistress Kut al-Kulub is asleep, put this piece of Bhang into her nostrils or drop it into her drink, and thou shalt have of me as much money as will satisfy thee. With love and gladness ; replied the girl and took the Bhang from her, being a glad woman because of the money and because aforetime she had been one of Zubaydah's slaves. So she put the Bhang in my drink, and when it was night I drank, and the drug had no sooner settled in my stomach than Because the Abbaside Caliphs descend from AI-Abbas paternal uncle of Mohammed. The text means more explicitly, " O descendant of the Prophet's unck I "