Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 2.djvu/96

 74 Alf Laylah wa Laylah. same state." Then said Kut al-Kulub, " Come, let us go and visit him." So she arose, she and the Chiefs wife and Ghanim's mother and sister, and went in to the room where he lay and sat down near him. Presently Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love, 'heard them mention the name of Kut al-Kulub ; whereupon life returned to him, emaciated and withered as he was, and he raised his head from the pillow and cried aloud, " O Kut al-Kulub ! " She looked at him and made certain it was he and shrieked rather than said, " Yes, O my beloved ! " " Draw near to me;" said he, and she replied, "Surely thou art Ghanim bin Ayyub ? " ; and he rejoined " I am indeed ! " Hereupon a swoon came upon her ; and, as soon as Ghanim's mother and his sister Fitnah heard these words, both cried out " O our joy ! " and fainted clean away. When they all recovered, Kut al-Kulub exclaimed, " Praise be to Allah who hath brought us together again and who hath reunited thee with thy mother and thy sister ! " And she related to him all that had befallen her with the Caliph and said, " I have made known the truth to the Commander of the Faithful, who believed my words and was pleased with thee ; and now he desireth to see thee," adding, " He hath given me to thee." Thereat he rejoiced with extreme joy, when she said, " Quit not this place till I come back " and, rising forthwith, betook herself to her palace. There she opened the chest which she had brought from Ghanim's house and, taking out some of the dinars, gave them to the Syndic saying, " Buy with this money for each of them four complete suits of the finest stuffs and twenty kerchiefs, and else beside of what- soever they require ; " after which she carried all three to the baths and had them washed and bathed and made ready for them consommes, and galangale-water and cider against their coming out. When they left the Hammam, they put on the new clothes, and she abode with them three days feeding them with chicken meats and bouillis, and making them drink sherbet of sugar candy. After three days their spirits returned ; and she carried them again to the baths, and when they came out and had changed their raiment, she led them back to the Syndic's house and left them there, whilst she returned to the palace and craved permission to see the Caliph. When he ordered her to come in, she entered and, kissing the ground between his hands, told him the whole story and how her lord, Ghanim bin Ayyub, yclept the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love, and his mother and sister were now in Baghdad. When