Page:The Perfumed Garden - Burton - 1886.djvu/237

Rh in succession. Abou el Heidja deflowered them all, and so ravished in a single night the maidenhood of eighty young girls without ejaculating the smallest drop of sperm. This extraordinary vigour filled Zohra with astonishment, and likewise all those who were present.

The princess, turning to the negro Mimoun, asked, "And this one, what is his name?" They said "Mimoun." "Your task shall be," said the princess, pointing to Mouna, "to do this woman's business without resting for fifty consecutive days; you need not ejaculate unless you like; but if the excess of fatigue forces you to stop, you will not have fulfilled your obligations." They all cried out at the hardness of such a task; but Mimoun protested, and said, "I accept the condition, and shall come out of it with honour!" The fact was that this negro had an insatiable appetite for the coitus. Zohra told him to go with Mouna to her chamber, impressing upon the latter to let her know if the negro should exhibit the slightest trace of fatigue."

"And you, what is your name?" she asked the friend of Abou el Heidja. "Abou el Heiloukh," he replied. "Well, then, Abou el Heiloukh, what I require of you is to remain here, in the presence of these women and virgins, for thirty consecutive days, with your member during this period always in erection during day and night.

Then she said to the fourth, "What is your name?"

"Felah (good fortune)," was his answer. "Very well, Felah," she said, "you will remain at our disposition for any services which we may have to demand of you."

However, Zohra, in order to leave no motive for any excuse and so that she might not be accused of bad faith,