owner?The wood-cutters, therefore, directed him to thee: he is sitting in my shop; so go out to him and thank him, and take thy axe and thy sandalsOn hearing these words, my countenance turned pale, and my whole state became changed; and while I was in this condition, the floor of my chamber clove asunder, and there rose from it the stranger, and lo, he was the 'Efrit; he had tortured the lady with the utmost cruelty; but she would confess nothing: so he took the axe and the sandals, and said to her, If I am Jarjaris, of the descendants of Iblis, I will bring the owner of this axe and these sandals. Accordingly, he came, with the pretence before mentioned, to the wood-cutters, and, having entered my chamber without granting me any delay, seized me, and soared with me through the air: he then descended, and dived into the earth, and brought me up into the place where I was before.
Here I beheld the lady stripped of her clothing, and with blood flowing from her sides; and tears trickled from my eyes. The 'Efrit then took hold of her, and said, Vile woman, this is thy lover:whereupon she looked at me, and replied, I know him not, nor have I ever seen him until this instant. The 'Efrit said to her, With all this torture wilt thou not confess? She answered, Never in my life have I seen him before, and it is not lawful in the sight of God that I should speak falsely against him.Then, said he, if thou know him not, take this sword and strike off his head. She took the sword, and came to me, and stood over my head: but I made a sign to her with my eyebrow, while tears ran down my cheeks. She replied in a similar manner, Thou art he who hath done all this to me:I made a sign to her, however, that this was a time for pardon, conveying my meaning in the manner thus described by the poet:
Our signal in love is the glance of our eyes; and every intelligent person understandeth the sign. Our eyebrows carry on an intercourse between us: we are silent; but love speaketh.
And when she understood me, she threw the sword from her hand, O my mistress, and the 'Efrit handed it to me, saying, Strike off her head, and I will liberate thee, and do thee no harm. I replied, Good:and, quickly approaching her, raised my hand; but she made a
