第19章

But now，O my son，come down and fear no hurt.' Thereupon he descended from the cistern-niche and Mahmud mounted him on a mule，and they fared on till they reached Baghdad，where he brought him to his own house and carried him to the bath，saying to him，'The goods and money were the ransom of thy life，O my son； but，if thou wilt hearken to me，I will give thee the worth of that thou hast lost，twice told.' When he came out of the bath，Mahmud carried him into a saloon decorated with gold with four raised floors，and bade them bring a tray with all manner of meats.So they ate and drank and Mahmud bent towards Ala al-Din to snatch a kiss from him； but he received it upon the palm of his hand and said，'What，dost thou persist in thy evil designs upon me？ Did I not tell thee that，were I wont to sell this merchandise to other than thee for gold，I would sell it thee for silver？' Quoth Mahmud，'I will give thee neither merchandise nor mule nor clothes save at this price； for I am gone mad for love of thee，and bless him who said，'Told us，ascribing to his Shaykhs，our Shaykh*Abu Bilal，these words they wont to utter：[52]

Unhealed the lover wones of love desire，* By kiss and clip，his only cure's to futter！'

Ala al-Din replied，'Of a truth this may never be，take back thy dress and thy mule and open the door that I may go out.' So he opened the door，and Ala al-Din fared forth and walked on，with the dogs barking at his heels，and he went forwards through the dark when behold，he saw the door of a mosque standing open and，entering the vestibule，there took shelter and concealment； and suddenly a light approached him and on examining it he saw that it came from a pair of lanthorns borne by two slaves before two merchants.Now one was an old man of comely face and the other a youth； and he heard the younger say to the elder，'O my uncle，I conjure thee by Allah，give me back my cousin！' The old man replied，'Did I not forbid thee，many a time，when the oath of divorce was always in thy mouth，as it were Holy Writ？' Then he turned to his right and，seeing Ala al-Din as he were a slice of the full moon，said to him，'Peace be with thee！ who art thou，O my son？' Quoth he，returning the salutation of peace，'I am Ala al-Din，son of Shams al-Din，Consul of the merchants for Egypt.I besought my father for merchandise； so he packed me fifty loads of stuffs and goods.'--And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Ala al-Din continued，'So he packed me fifty loads of goods and gave me ten thousand dinars，wherewith I set out for Baghdad； but when I reached the Lion's Copse，the wild Arabs came out against me and took all my goods and monies.So I entered the city knowing not where to pass the night and，seeing this place，I took shelter here.' Quoth the old man，'O my son，what sayest thou to my giving thee a thousand dinars and a suit of clothes and a mule worth other two thousand？' Ala al-Din asked，'To what end wilt thou give me these things，O my uncle？' and the other answered，'This young man who accompanieth me is the son of my brother and an only son； and I have a daughter called Zubaydah[53] the lutist，an only child who is a model of beauty and loveliness，so I married her to him.Now he loveth her，but she loatheth him；

and when he chanced to take an oath of triple divorcement and broke it，forthright she left him.Whereupon he egged on all the folk to intercede with me to restore her to him； but I told him that this could not lawfully be save by an intermediate marriage，and we have agreed to make some stranger the intermediary[54]

in order that none may taunt and shame him with this affair.So，as thou art a stranger，come with us and we will marry thee to her； thou shalt lie with her to-night and on the morrow divorce her and we will give thee what I said.' Quoth Ala al-Din to himself，'By Allah，to bide the night with a bride on a bed in a house is far better than sleeping in the streets and vestibules！'

So he went with them to the Kazi whose heart，as soon as he saw Ala al-Din，was moved to love him，and who said to the old man，'What is your will？' He replied，'We wish to make this young man an intermediary husband for my daughter； but we will write a bond against him binding him to pay down by way of marriage-settlement ten thousand gold pieces.Now if after passing the night with her he divorce her in the morning，we will give him a mule and dress each worth a thousand dinars，and a third thousand of ready money； but if he divorce her not，he shall pay down the ten thousand dinars according to contract.' So they agreed to the agreement and the father of the bride-to-be received his bond for the marriage-settlement.Then he took Ala al-Din and，clothing him anew，carried him to his daughter's house and there he left him standing at the door，whilst he himself went in to the young lady and said，'Take the bond of thy marriage-settlement，for I have wedded thee to a handsome youth by name Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat： so do thou use him with the best of usage.' Then he put the bond into her hands and left her and went to his own lodging.Now the lady's cousin had an old duenna who used to visit Zubaydah，and he had done many a kindness to this woman，so he said to her，'O my mother，if my cousin Zubaydah see this handsome young man，she will never after accept my offer； so I would fain have thee contrive some trick to keep her and him apart.' She answered，'By the life of thy youth，[55] I will not suffer him to approach her！' Then she went to Ala al-Din and said to him，'O my son，I have a word of advice to give thee，for the love of Almighty Allah and do thou accept my counsel，as I fear for thee from this young woman： better thou let her lie alone and feel not her person nor draw thee near to her.' He asked，'Why so？'； and she answered，'Because her body is full of leprosy and I dread lest she infect thy fair and seemly youth.'