第77章

And he repented when repentance availed him naught，and wept and rent his raiment.Then he hent in hand two stones and went round about the city，beating his breast with the stones and crying 'O Zumurrud！' whilst the small boys flocked round him，calling out，'A madman！ A madman！' and all who knew him wept for him，saying，'This is such an one： what evil hath befallen him？' Thus he continued doing all that day and，when night darkened on him，he lay down in one of the city lanes and sleet till morning On the morrow，he went round about town with the stones till eventide，when he returned to his saloon to pass therein the night.

Presently，one of his neighbours saw him，and this worthy old woman said to him，'O my son，Heaven give thee healing！ How long hast thou been mad？' And he answered her with these two couplets，[292]

'They said，Thou revest upon the person thou lovest.* And I

replied，The sweets of life are only for the mad.

Drop the subject of my madness，and bring her upon whom I rave *

If she cure my madness do not blame me.'

So his old neighbour knew him for a lover who had lost his beloved and said，'There is no Majesty and there is no Might，save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！ O my son，I wish thou wouldest acquaint me with the tale of thine affliction.

Peradventure Allah may enable me to help thee against it，if it so please Him.' So he told her all that had befallen him with Barsum the Nazarene and his brother the wizard who had named himself Rashid al-Din and，when she understood the whole case，she said，'O my son，indeed thou hast excuse.' And her eyes railed tears and she repeated these two couplets，'Enough for lovers in this world their ban and bane：*By Allah，lover ne'er in fire of Sakar fries：

For，sure，they died of love-desire they never told*Chastely，and to this truth tradition testifies.'[293]

And after she had finished her verse，she said，'O my son，rise at once and buy me a crate，such as the jewel-pedlars carry； buy also bangles and seal-rings and bracelets and ear-rings and other gewgaws wherein women delight and grudge not the cash.Put all the stock into the crate and bring it to me and I will set it on my head and go round about，in the guise of a huckstress and make search for her in all the houses，till I happen on news of her--Inshallah！' So Ali Shar rejoiced in her words and kissed her hands，then，going out，speedily brought her all she required；

whereupon she rose and donned a patched gown and threw over her head a honey-yellow veil，and took staff in hand and，with the basket on her head，began wandering about the passages and the houses.She ceased not to go from house to house and street to street and quarter to quarter，till Allah Almighty led her to the house of the accursed Rashid al-Din the Nazarene where，hearing groans within，she knocked at the door，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Sixteenth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when the old woman heard groans within the house，she knocked at the door，whereupon a slave-girl came down and opening to her，saluted her.

Quoth the old woman，'I have these trifles for sale： is there any one with you who will buy aught of them？' 'Yes，' answered the damsel and，carrying her indoors，made her sit down； whereupon all the slave-girls came round her and each bought something of her.And as the old woman spoke them fair and was easy with them as to price，all rejoiced in her，because of her kind ways and pleasant speech.Meanwhile，she looked narrowly at the ins and outs of the place to see who it was she had heard groaning，till her glance fell on Zumurrud，when she knew her and she began to show her customers yet more kindness.At last she made sure that Zumurrud was laid prostrate； so she wept and said to the girls，'O my children，how cometh yonder young lady in this plight？'

Then the slave-girls told her all what had passed，adding，'Indeed this matter is not of our choice； but our master commanded us to do thus，and he is now on a journey.' She said，'O my children，I have a favour to ask of you，and it is that you loose this unhappy damsel of her bonds，till you know of your lord's return，when do ye bind her again as she was； and you shall earn a reward from the Lord of all creatures.' 'We hear and obey，' answered they and at once loosing Zumurrud，gave her to eat and drink.Thereupon quoth the old woman，'Would my leg had been broken，ere I entered your house！' And she went up to Zumurrud and said to her，'O my daughter，Heaven keep thee safe；

soon shall Allah bring thee relief.' Then she privily told her that she came from her lord，Ali Shar，and agreed with her to be on the watch for sounds that night，saying，'Thy lord will come and stand by the pavilion-bench and whistle[294] to thee； and when thou hearest him，do thou whistle back to him and let thyself down to him by a rope from the window，and he will take thee and go away with thee.' So Zumurrud thanked the old woman，who went forth and returned to Ali Shar and told him what she had done，saying，'Go this night，at midnight，to such a quarter，for the accursed carle's house is there and its fashion is thus and thus.Stand under the window of the upper chamber and whistle；

whereupon she will let herself down to thee； then do thou take her and carry her whither thou wilt.' He thanked her for her good offices and with flowing tears repeated these couplets，'Now with their says and saids[295] no more vex me the chiding race；*My heart is weary and I'm worn to bone by their disgrace：

And tears a truthful legend[296] with a long aion-chain*Of my desertion and distress the lineage can trace.

O thou heart-whole and free from dole and dolours I endure，* Cut short thy long persistency nor question of my case：

A sweet-lipped one and soft of sides and cast in shapeliest mould*Hath stormed my heart with honied lure and honied words of grace.

No rest my heart hath known since thou art gone，nor ever close *

These eyes，nor patience aloe scape the hopes I dare to trace：

Ye have abandoned me to be the pawn of vain desire，* In squalid state 'twixt enviers and they who blame to face：