Page:The Harvard Classics Vol. 16.djvu/122

 a greater calamity: let us return home, and do thou feign to be ill, and I will come to thee and apply a remedy that shall cure the wound, and thou wilt quickly be restored.

After remaining there some time longer, I rose, and, in a state of great uneasiness and fear, returned to the house, and professed myself ill; upon which my husband came in to me, and said, What hath befallen thee, O my mistress, during this excursion? I answered, I am not wellAnd what is this wound, said he, that is upon thy cheek, and in the soft part? I answered, When I asked thy permission, and went out to-day to purchase some stuff for dress, a camel loaded with firewood drove against me in the crowd, and tore my veil, and wounded my cheek as thou seest, for the streets of this city are narrow.To-morrow, then, he exclaimed, I will go to the governor, and make a complaint to him, and he shall hang every seller of firewood in the cityBy Allah, said I, burden not thyself by an injury to any one; for the truth is, that I was riding upon an ass, which took fright with me, and I fell upon the ground, and a stick lacerated my cheek.If it be so, then, he replied, I will go to-morrow to Ja'far E]-Barmeki, and relate the matter to him, and he shall kill every ass-driver in this cityWilt thou, said I, kill all those men on my account when this which befell me was decreed by God?Undoubtedly, he answered; and, so saying, he seized me violently, and then sprang up, and uttered a loud cry, upon which the door opened, and there came forth from it seven black slaves, who dragged me from my bed, and threw me down in the middle of the apartment; whereupon he ordered one of them to hold me by my shoulders, and to sit upon my head; and another to sit upon my knees and to hold my feet. A third then came, with a sword in his hand, and said, O my lord, shall I strike her with the sword, and cleave her in twain, that each of these may take a half and throw it into the Tigris for the fish to devour? For such is the punishment of her who is unfaithful to her oath and to the laws of loveMy husband answered, Strike her O Sa'ad:And the slave, with the drawn sword in his hand, said, Repeat the profession of the faith, and reflect what thou wouldst have to be done, that thou mayest give thy testamentary directions, for this is the end of thy life.