第96章

An thou repent not，Soul！ I'll punish thee with kissing[385] *

Her lower face that shall mine every grinder break！'

And when she ended her lines，quoth her master，'Sit thee down，this much sufficeth！''--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that 'when the yellow girl ended her recitation，quoth her master，'Sit thee down； this much sufficeth！'Then he made peace between them and clad them all in sumptuous robes of honour and hanselled them with precious jewels of land and sea.And never have I seen，O Commander of the Faithful，any when or any where，aught fairer than these six damsels fair.'Now when Al-Maamun heard this story from Mohammed of Bassorah，he turned to him and said，'O Mohammed，knowest thou the abiding-place of these damsels and their master，and canst thou contrive to buy them of him for us？'

He answered，'O Commander of the Faithful，indeed I have heard that their lord is wrapped up in them and cannot bear to be parted from them.'Rejoined the Caliph，'Take thee ten thousand gold pieces for each girl，that is sixty thousand for the whole purchase； and carry the coin to his house and buy them of him.'

So Mohammed of Bassorah took the money and，betaking himself to the Man of Al-Yaman，acquainted him with the wish of the Prince of True Believers.He consented to part with them at that price to pleasure the Caliph； and despatched them to Al-Maamun，who assigned them an elegant abode and therein used to sit with them as cup-companions； marvelling at their beauty and loveliness，at their varied colours and at the excellence of their conversation.

Thus matters stood for many a day； but，after awhile，when their former owner could no longer bear to be parted from them，he sent a letter to the Commander of the Faithful complaining to him of his own ardent love-longing for them and containing，amongst other contents，these couplets，'Captured me six，all bright with youthful blee；*Then on all six be best salams from me！

They are my hearing，seeing，very life；*My meat，my drink，my joy，my jollity：

I'll ne'er forget the favours erst so charmed*Whose loss hath turned my sleep to insomny：

Alack，O longsome pining and O tears！*Would I had farewelled all humanity：

Those eyes，with bowed and well arched eyebrows[386] dight，*

Like bows have struck me with their archery.'

Now when the letter came to the hands of Al-Maamun，he robed the six damsels in rich raiment； and，giving them threescore thousand dinars，sent them back to their lord who joyed in them with exceeding joy[387] （more especially for the monies they brought him），and abode with them in all the comfort and pleasance of life，till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of societies.And men also recount the tale of HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE DAMSEL AND ABU NOWAS.

The Caliph，Commander of the Faithful，Harun al-Rashid，being one night exceedingly restless and thoughtful with sad thought，rose from his couch and walked about the by-ways of his palace，till he came to a chamber，over whose doorway hung a curtain.He raised that curtain and saw，at the upper end of the room，a bedstead whereon lay something black，as it were a man asleep，with a wax taper on his right hand and another on his left； and as the Caliph stood wondering at the sight，behold，he remarked a flagon full of old wine whose mouth was covered by the cup.The Caliph wondered even more at this，saying，'How came this black by such wine-service？'Then，drawing near the bedstead，he found that it was a girl lying asleep there，curtained by her hair； so he uncovered her face and saw that it was like the moon，on the night of his fulness.[388] So the Caliph filled himself a cup of wine and drank it to the roses of her cheeks； and，feeling inclined to enjoy her，kissed a mole on her face，whereupon she started up from sleep，and cried out，'O Trusted of Allah，[389] what may this be？'Replied he，'A guest who knocketh at thy door，hoping that thou wilt give him hospitality till the dawn；'and she answered； 'Even so！ I will serve him with my hearing and my sight.'So she brought forward the wine and they drank together，after which she took the lute and tuning the strings，preluded in one-and-twenty modes，then returning to the first，played a lively measure and sang these couplets，'The tongue of love from heart bespeaks my sprite，* Telling I love thee with love infinite：

I have an eye bears witness to my pain，* And fluttering heart sore hurt by parting-plight.

I cannot hide the love that harms my life；*Tears ever roll and growth of pine I sight：

I knew not what love was ere loving thee；*But Allah's destiny to all is dight.'

And when her verses were ended she said，'O Commander of the Faithful，I have been wronged！'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.