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and more, and fell to conversing freely with me, till I was like to die of joy and delight. Presently, she said to me, ‘Hast thou a wife?’ ‘No,’ answered I; ‘I have never known woman.’ And fell a-weeping. Quoth she, ‘Why dost thou weep?’ ‘It is nothing,’ replied I; and giving the eunuch some of the dinars, begged him to use his influence with her for me; but he laughed and said, ‘She is more in love with thee than thou with her. She had no occasion for the stuffs she bought of thee and did all this but out of love for thee. So ask of her what thou wilt; she will not deny thee.’ When she saw me give the eunuch money, she returned and sat down again; and I said to her, ‘Be charitable to thy slave and pardon him what he is about to say.’ Then I told her what was in my mind, and she assented and said to the eunuch, ‘Thou shalt carry my message to him.’ Then to me, ‘Do as the eunuch bids thee.’ Then she rose and went away, and I paid the merchants what I owed them, and they all profited; but as for me, I gained nought but regret for the breaking off of our intercourse. I slept not all that night; but before many days were past, the eunuch came to me, and I made much of him and asked after his mistress. ‘She is sick for love of thee,’ replied he; and I said, ‘Tell me who she is.’ Quoth he, ‘She is one of the waiting-women of the Lady Zubeideh, the wife of the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, who brought her up and advanced her to be stewardess of the harem and granted her the right of going in and out at will. She told her mistress of thee and begged her to marry her to thee; but she said, “I will not do this, till I see the young man; and if he be worthy of thee, I will marry thee to him.” So now we wish to bring thee into the palace at once and if thou succeed in entering without being seen, thou wilt win to marry her; but if the affair get wind, thou wilt lose thy head. What sayst thou?’ And I answered, ‘I will go with thee and
