Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 4.djvu/259

 them?' Quoth I, 'I was thinking of the whilom owner of this house, for he was my intimate in his lifetime.' Asked she, 'What was his name?'; and I answered, 'Mohammed bin Ali the Jeweller and he was a man of great wealth. Tell me did he leave any children?' Said she, 'Yes, he left a daughter, Budur by name, who inherited all his wealth?' Quoth I, 'Meseemeth thou art his daughter?' 'Yes,' answered she, laughing; then added, 'O Shaykh, thou best talked long enough; now wend thy ways.' Replied I, 'Needst must I go, but I see thy charms are changed by being out of health; so tell me thy case; it may be Allah will give thee comfort at my hands.' Rejoined she, 'O Shayth, if thou be a man of discretion, I will discover to thee my secret; but first tell me who thou art, that I may know whether thou art worthy of confidence or not; for the poet saith,

'None keepeth a secret but a faithful person: with the best of mankind remaineth concealed. I have kept my secret in a house with a lock, whose key is lost and whose door is sealed.'

Thereto I replied, 'O my lady, an thou wouldest know who I am, I am Ali bin Mansúr of Damascus, the Wag, cup-companion to the Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid.' Now when she heard my name, she came down from her seat and saluting me, said, 'Welcome, O Ibn Mansur! Now will I tell thee my case and entrust thee with my secret. I am a lover separated from her beloved.' I answered, 'O my lady, thou art fair and shouldest be on love terms with none but the fair. Whom then dost thou love?' Quoth she, 'I love Jubayr bin Umayr al-Shaybáni, Emir of the Banú Shaybán; ' and she described to me a young man than whom there was no prettier fellow in Bassorah. I asked, 'O my lady, have interviews or letters passed between you?' and she answered 'Yes, but our love was tongue-love souls, not heart and souls- love; for he kept not his trust nor was he faithful to his troth.' Said I, 'O my lady, and what was the cause of your separation?', and she replied, 'I was sitting one day whilst my handmaid here combed my hair. When she had made an end of combing it, she plaited my tresses, and my beauty and loveliness charmed her; so she