第76章

When it was the Three Hundred and Fourteenth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Ali Shar sat down and ate a little with him，after which he would have held his hand； but the Nazarene privily took a banana and peeled it； then，splitting it in twain，put into one half concentrated Bhang，mixed with opium，a drachm whereof would over throw an elephant； and he dipped it in the honey and gave it to Ali Shar，saying，'O my lord，by the truth of thy religion，I adjure thee to take this.' So Ali Shar，being ashamed to make him forsworn，took it and swallowed it； but hardly had it settled well in his stomach，when his head forwent both his feet and he was as though he had been a year asleep.As soon as the Nazarene saw this，rose to his feet as he had been a scald wolf or a cat-o'-mount[289]at bay and，taking the saloon key，left Ali Shar prostrate and ran off to rejoin his brother.And the cause of his so doing was that the Nazarene's brother was the same decrepit old man who purposed to buy Zumurrud for a thousand dinars，but she would none of him and jeered him in verse.He was an Unbeliever inwardly，though a Moslem outwardly，and had called himself Rashid al-Din；[290] and when Zumurrud mocked him and would not accept of him，he complained to his brother the aforesaid Christian who played this sleight to take her from her master Ali Shar； whereupon his brother，Barsum by name said to him，'Fret not thyself about the business，for I will make shift to seize her for thee，without expending either diner or dirham.Now he was a skilful wizard，crafty and wicked； so he watched his time and ceased not his practices till he played Ali Shar the trick before related； then，taking the key，he went to his brother and acquainted him with what had passed.Thereupon Rashid al-Din mounted his she mule and repaired with his brother and his servants to the house of Ali Shar，taking with him a purse of a thousand dinars，wherewith to bribe the Chief of Police，should he meet him.He opened the saloon door and the men who were with him rushed in upon Zumurrud and forcibly seized her，threatening her with death，if she spoke，but they left the place as it was and took nothing therefrom.Lastly they left Ali Shar lying in the vestibule after they had shut the door on him and laid the saloon key by his side.Then the Christian carried the girl to his own house and setting her amongst his handmaids and concubines，said to her，'O strumpet，I am the old man whom thou didst reject and lampoon； but now I have thee，without paying diner or dirham.' Replied she （and her eyes streamed with tears），'Allah requite thee，O wicked old man，for sundering me and my lord！' He rejoined，'Wanton minx and whore that thou art，thou shalt see how I will punish thee！ By the truth of the Messiah and the Virgin，except thou obey me and embrace my faith，I will torture thee with all manner of torture！' She replied，'By Allah，though thou cut my flesh to bits I will not forswear the faith of Al-Islam！ It may be Almighty Allah will bring me speedy relief，for He cloth even as He is fief，and the wise say： 'Better body to scathe than a flaw in faith.'' Thereupon the old man called his eunuchs and women，saying，'Throw her down！' So they threw her down and he ceased not to beat her with grievous beating，whilst she cried for help and no help came； then she no longer implored aid but fell to saying，'Allah is my sufficiency，and He is indeed all-sufficient！' till her groans ceased and her breath failed her and she fell into a fainting-fit.Now when his heart was soothed by bashing her，he said to the eunuchs，'Drag her forth by the feet and cast her down in the kitchen，and give her nothing to eat.' And after quietly sleeping that night，on the morrow the accursed old man sent for her and beat her again，after which he bade the Castrato return her to her place.When the burning of the blows had cooled，she said，'There is no god but the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God！ Allah is my sufficiency and excellent is my Guardian！' And she called for succour upon our Lord Mohammed （whom Allah bless and keep！）--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Fifteenth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Zumurrud called for succour upon our Lord Mohammed （whom Allah bless and keep！）.Such was her case； but as regards Ali Shar，he ceased not sleeping till next day，when the Bhang quitted his brain and he opened his eyes and cried out，'O Zumurrud'； but no one answered him.So he entered the saloon and found the empty air and the fane afar；[291] whereby he knew that it was the Nazarene who had played him this trick.And he groaned and wept and lamented and again shed tears，repeating these couplets，'O Love thou'rt instant in thy cruellest guise；*Here is my heart 'twixt fears and miseries：

Pity，O lords，a thrall who，felled on way*Of Love，erst wealthy now a beggar lies：

What profits archer's art if，when the foe*Draw near，his bowstring snap ere arrow lies：

And when griefs multiply on generous man*And urge，what fort can fend from destinies？

How much and much I warded parting，but*'When Destiny descends she blinds our eyes？''

And when he had ended his verse，he sobbed with loud sobs and repeated also these couplets，'Enrobes with honour sands of camp her foot step wandering lone，* Pines the poor mourner as she wins the stead where wont to wane She turns to resting-place of tribe，and yearns thereon to view *

The spring-camp lying desolate with ruins overstrown She stands and questions of the site，but with the tongue of case*The mount replies，'There is no path that leads to union，none！

'Tis as the lightning flash erewhile bright glittered o'er the camp*And died in darkling air no more to be for ever shown.'