The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 3

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 3

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When it was the One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifrit
Dahnash bin Shamhurish said to the Ifritah Maymunah, "Of a truth
I cut short my praises fearing lest I be tedious." Now when
Maymunah heard the description of that Princess and her beauty
and loveliness, she stood silent in astonishment; whereupon
Dahnash resumed, "The father of this fair maiden is a mighty
King, a fierce knight, immersed night and day in fray and fight;
for whom death hath no fright and the escape of his foe no dread,
for that he is a tyrant masterful and a conqueror irresistible,
lord of troops and armies and continents and islands, and cities
and villages, and his name is King Ghayur, Lord of the Islands
and of the Seas and of the Seven Palaces. Now he loveth his
daughter, the young maiden whom I have described to thee, with
dearest love and, for affection of her, he hath heaped together
the treasures of all the kings and built her therewith seven
palaces, each of a different fashion; the first of crystal, the
second of marble, the third of China steel, the fourth of
precious stones and gems of price, the fifth of porcelain and
many-hued onyxes and ring bezels, the sixth of silver and the
seventh of gold. And he hath filled the seven palaces with all
sorts of sumptuous furniture, rich silken carpets and hangings
and vessels of gold and silver and all manner of gear that kings
require; and hath bidden his daughter to abide in each by turns
for a certain season of the year; and her name is the Princess
Budur.[FN#248] Now when her beauty became known and her name and
fame were bruited abroad in the neighbouring countries, all the
kings sent to her father to demand her of him in marriage, and he
consulted her on the matter, but she disliked the very word
wedlock with a manner of abhorrence and said, O my father, I have
no mind to marry; no, not at all; for I am a sovereign Lady and a
Queen suzerain ruling over men, and I have no desire for a man
who shall rule over me. And the more suits she refused, the more
her suitors' eagerness increased and all the Royalties of the
Inner Islands of China sent presents and rarities to her father
with letters asking her in marriage. So he pressed her again and
again with advice on the matter of espousals; but she ever
opposed to him refusals, till at last she turned upon him angrily
and cried, 'O my father, if thou name matrimony to me once more,
I will go into my chamber and take a sword and, fixing its hilt
in the ground, will set its point to my waist; then will I press
upon it, till it come forth from my back, and so slay myself.'
Now when the King heard these her words, the light became
darkness in his sight and his heart burned for her as with a
flame of fire, because he feared lest she should kill herself;
and he was filled with perplexity concerning her affair and the
kings her suitors. So he said to her 'If thou be determined not
to marry and there be no help for it abstain from going and
coming in and out.' Then he placed her in a house and shut her up
in a chamber, appointing ten old women as duennas to guard her,
and forbade her to go forth to the Seven Palaces; moreover, he
made it appear that he was incensed against her, and sent letters
to all the kings, giving them to know that she had been stricken
with madness by the Jinns; and it is now a year since she hath
thus been secluded." Then continued the Ifrit Dahnash, addressing
the Ifritah Maymunah, "And I, O my lady go to her every night and
take my fill of feeding my sight on her face and I kiss her
between the eyes: yet, of my love to her, I do her no hurt
neither mount her, for that her youth is fair and her grace
surpassing: every one who seeth her jealouseth himself for her. I
conjure thee, therefore, O my lady, to go back with me and look
on her beauty and loveliness and stature and perfection of
proportion; and after, if thou wilt, chastise me or enslave me;
and win to thy will, for it is shine to bid and to forbid." So
saying, the Ifrit Dahnash bowed his head towards the earth and
drooped his wings downward; but Maymunah laughed at his words and
spat in his face and answered, "What is this girl of whom thou
pratest but a potsherd wherewith to wipe after making
water?[FN#249] Faugh! Faugh! By Allah, O accursed, I thought
thou hadst some wondrous tale to tell me or some marvellous news
to give me. How would it be if thou were to sight my beloved?
Verily, this night I have seen a young man, whom if thou saw
though but in a dream, thou wouldst be palsied with admiration
and spittle would flow from thy mouth." Asked the Ifrit, "And who
and what is this youth?"; and she answered, "Know, O Dahnash,
that there hath befallen the young man the like of what thou
tellest me befel thy mistress; for his father pressed him again
and again to marry, but he refused, till at length his sire waxed
wroth at being opposed and imprisoned him in the tower where I
dwell: and I came up to-night and saw him." Said Dahnash, "O my
lady, shew me this youth, that I may see if he be indeed
handsomer than my mistress, the Princess Budur, or not; for I
cannot believe that the like of her liveth in this our age."
Rejoined Maymunah, "Thou liest, O accursed, O most ill-omened of
Marids and vilest of Satans![FN#250] Sure am I that the like of
my beloved is not in this world."--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When It was the One Hundred and Eightieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifritah
Maymunah spake thus to the Ifrit Dahnash, "Sure am I that the
like of my beloved is not in this world! Art thou mad to fellow
thy beloved with my beloved?" He said, "Allah upon thee, O my
lady, go back with me and look upon my mistress, and after I will
with thee and look upon thy beloved." She answered, "It must
needs be so, O accursed, for thou art a knavish devil; but I will
not go with thee nor shalt thou come with me, save upon condition
of a wager which is this. If the lover thou lovest and of whom
thou boastest so bravely, prove handsomer than mine whom I
mentioned and whom I love and of whom I boast, the bet shall be
shine against me; but if my beloved prove the handsomer the bet
shall be mine against thee." Quoth Dahnash the Ifrit, "O my lady,
I accept this thy wager and am satisfied thereat; so come with me
to the Islands." Quoth Maymunah; "No! for the abode of my beloved
is nearer than the abode of shine: here it is under us; so come
down with me to see my beloved and after we will go look upon thy
mistress." "I hear and I obey," said Dahnash. So they descended
to earth and alighted in the saloon which the tower contained;
then Maymunah stationed Dahnash beside the bed and, putting out
her hand, drew back the silken coverlet from Kamar al-Zaman's
face, when it glittered and glistened and shimmered and shone
like the rising sun. She gazed at him for a moment, then turning
sharply round upon Dahnash said, "Look, O accursed, and be not
the basest of madmen; I am a maid, yet my heart he hath waylaid."
So Dahnash looked at the Prince and long continued gazing
steadfastly on him then, shaking his head, said to Maymunah, "By
Allah, O my lady, thou art excusable; but there is yet another
thing to be considered, and this is, that the estate female
differeth from the male. By Allah's might, this thy beloved is
the likest of all created things to my mistress in beauty and
loveliness and grace and perfection; and it is as though they
were both cast alike in the mould of seemlihead." Now when
Maymunah heard these words, the light became darkness in her
sight and she dealt him with her wing so fierce a buffet on the
head as well-nigh made an end of him. Then quoth she to him, "I
conjure thee, by the light of his glorious countenance, go at
once, O accursed, and bring hither thy mistress whom thou lovest
so fondly and foolishly, and return in haste that we may lay the
twain together and look on them both as they lie asleep side by
side; so shall it appear to us which be the goodlier and more
beautiful of the two. Except thou obey me this very moment, O
accursed, I will dart my sparks at thee with my fire and consume
thee; yea, in pieces I will rend thee and into the deserts cast
thee, that to stay at home and wayfarer an example thou be!"
Quoth Dahnash, "O my lady, I will do thy behests, for I know
forsure that my mistress is the fairer and the sweeter." So
saying the If rit flew away and Maymunah flew with him to guard
him. They were absent awhile and presently returned, bearing the
young lady, who was clad in a shift of fine Venetian silk, with a
double edging of gold and purfled with the most exquisite of
embroidery having these couplets worked upon the ends of the
sleeves,

"Three matters hinder her from visiting us, in fear *
Of hate-full, slandering envier and his hired spies:
The shining light of brow, the trinkets' tinkling voice, *
And scent of essences that tell whene'er she tries:
Gi'en that she hide her brow with edge of sleeve, and leave *
At home her trinketry, how shall her scent
disguise?''[FN#251]

And Dahnash and Maymunah stinted not bearing that young lady till
they had carried her into the saloon and had laid her beside the
youth Kamar al-Zaman.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Eighty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Ifrit
Dahnash and the Ifritah Maymunah stinted not bearing Princess
Budur till they descended and laid her on the couch beside Kamar
al- Zaman. Then they uncovered both their faces, and they were
the likest of all folk, each to other, as they were twins or an
only brother and sister; and indeed they were a seduction to the
pious, even as saith of them the poet Al-Mubin,

"O heart! be not thy love confined to one, *
Lest thou by doting or disdain be undone:
Love all the fair, and thou shalt find with them *
If this be lost, to thee that shall be won."

And quoth another,

"Mine eyes beheld two lying on the ground; *
Both had I loved if on these eyne they lay!"

So Dahnash and Maymunah gazed on them awhile, and he said, "By
Allah, O my lady, it is good! My mistress is assuredly the
fairer." She replied, "Not so, my beloved is the fairer; woe to
thee, O Dahnash! Art blind of eye and heart that lean from fat
thou canst not depart? Wilt thou hide the truth? Dost thou not
see his beauty and loveliness and fine stature and symmetry? Out
on thee, hear what I purpose to say in praise of my beloved and,
if thou be a lover true to her thou dost love, do thou the like
for her thou Lovest." Then she kissed Kamar al-Zaman again and
again between the eyes and improvised this ode,

"How is this? Why should the blamer abuse thee in his pride?
What shall console my heart for thee, that art but slender bough?

A Nature Kohl'd[FN#252] eye thou hast that witcheth far and wide;
From pure platonic love[FN#253] of it deliverance none I trow!

Those glances, fell as plundering Turk, to heart such havoc deal
As never havocked scymitar made keenest at the curve.

On me thou layest load of love the heaviest while I feel
So feeble grown that under weight of chemisette I swerve.

My love for thee as wottest well is habit, and my lowe
Is nature; to all others false is all the love I tender:

Now were my heart but like to shine I never would say No;
Only my wasted form is like thy waist so gracious slender:

Out on him who in Beauty's robe for moon like charms hath fame,
And who is claimed by mouth of men as marvel of his tribe!

'Of man what manner may he be' (ask they who flyte and blame)
'For whom thy heart is so distressed?' I only cry 'Describe!'

Oh stone-entempered heart of him! learn of his yielding grace
And bending form to show me grace and yielding to consent.

Oh my Prince Beautiful, thou hast an Overseer in place[FN#254]
Who irketh me, and eke a Groom whose wrong cloth ne'er relent.

Indeed he lieth who hath said that all of loveliness
Was pent in Joseph: in thy charms there's many and many a Joe!

The Genii dread me when I stand and face to face address;
But meeting thee my fluttering heart its shame and terror show.

I take aversion semblance and I turn from thee in fright,
But more aversion I assume, more love from me dost claim;

That hair of jetty black! That brow e'er raying radiant light!
Those eyne wherein white jostles black![FN#255] That dearling
dainty frame!"

When Dahnash heard the poesy which Maymunah spake in praise of
her beloved, he joyed with exceeding joy and marvelled with
excessive wonderment.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say

When it was the One Hundred and Eighty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Ifrit Dahnash heard the poesy which Maymunah spake in praise of
her beloved, he shook for exceeding joy and said, "Thou hast
celebrated thy beloved in song and thou hast indeed done well in
praise of him whom thou lovest! And there is no help for it but
that I also in my turn do my best to enfame my mistress, and
recite somewhat in her honour." Then the Ifrit went up to the
Lady Budur; and' kissing her between the eyes, looked at Maymunah
and at his beloved Princess and recited the following verses,
albeit he had no skill in poesy,

"Love for my fair they chide in angry way; *
Unjust for ignorance, yea unjustest they!
Ah lavish favours on the love mad, whom *
Taste of thy wrath and parting woe shall slay:
In sooth for love I'm wet with railing tears, *
That rail mine eyelids blood thou mightest say:
No marvel what I bear for love, 'tis marvel *
That any know my "me" while thou'rt away:
Unlawful were our union did I doubt *
Thy love, or heart incline to other May."

And eke these words:--

"I feed eyes on their stead by the valley's side, *
And I'm slain and my slaver[FN#256] aside hath tried:
Grief-wine have I drunken, and down my cheeks *
Dance tears to the song of the camel-guide:
For union-blessing I strive though sure, *
In Budur and Su'ad all my bliss shall bide:[FN#257]
Wot I not which of three gave me most to 'plain, *
So hear them numbered ere thou decide:
Those Sworders her eyne, that Lancer her fig- *
-ure, or ring-mail'd Locks which her forehead hide.
Quoth she (and I ask of her what so wights *
Or abide in towns or in desert ride[FN#258] )
To me, 'In thy heart I dwell, look there!' *
Quoth I, 'Where's my heart ah where? ah where?'"

When Maymunah heard these lines from the Ifrit, she said, "Thou
hast done well, O Dahnash! But say thou which of the two is the
handsomer?" And he answered, "My mistress Budur is handsomer than
thy beloved!" Cried Maymunah, "Thou liest, O accursed. Nay, my
beloved is more beautiful than shine!" But Dahnash persisted,
"Mine is the fairer." And they ceased not to wrangle and
challenge each other's words till Maymunah cried out at Dahnash
and would have laid violent hands on him, but he humbled himself
to her and, softening his speech, said, "Let not the truth be a
grief to thee, and cease we this talk, for all we say is to
testify in favour of our lovers; rather let each of us withdraw
the claim and seek we one who shall judge fairly between us which
of the two be fairer; and by his sentence we will abide." "I
agree to this," answered she and smote the earth with her foot,
whereupon there came out of it an Ifrit blind of an eye,
humpbacked and scurvy-skinned, with eye-orbits slit up and down
his face.[FN#259] On his head were seven horns and four locks of
hair fell to his heels; his hands were pitchfork-like and his
legs mast-like and he had nails as the claws of a lion, and feet
as the hoofs of the wild ass.[FN#260] When that If rit rose out
of the earth and sighted Maymunah, he kissed the ground before
her and, standing with his hands clasped behind him, said, "What
is thy will, O my mistress, O daughter of my King?"[FN#261] She
replied, "O Kashkash, I would have thee judge between me and this
accursed Dahnash." And she made known to him the matter, from
first to last, whereupon the Ifrit Kashkash looked at the face of
the youth and then at the face of the girl; and saw them lying
asleep, embraced, each with an arm under the other's neck, alike
in beauty and loveliness and equal in grace and goodliness. The
Marid gazed long upon them, marvelling at their seemlihead; and,
after carefully observing the twain, he turned to Maymunah and
Dahnash, and reseated these couplets.

"Go, visit her thou lovest, and regard not
The words detractors utter, envious churls
Can never favour love. Oh! sure the Merciful
Ne'er made a thing more fair to look upon,
Than two fond lovers in each others' arms,
Speaking their passion in a mute embrace.
When heart has turned to heart, the fools would part them
Strike idly on cold steel. So when thou'st found
One purely, wholly shine, accept her true heart,
And live for her alone. Oh! thou that blamest
The love-struck for their love, give o'er thy talk,
How canst thou minister to a mind diseased?"[FN#262]

Then he turned again to Maymunah and Dahnash and said to them,
"By Allah, if you will have the truth, I tell you fairly the
twain be equal in beauty, and loveliness and perfect grace and
goodliness, nor can I make any difference between them on account
of their being man and woman. But I have another thought which is
that we wake each of them in turn, without the knowledge of the
other, and whichever is the more enamoured shall be held inferior
in seemlihead and comeliness." Quoth Maymunah, "Right is this
recking," and quoth Dahnash, "I consent to this." Then Dahnash
changed himself to the form of a flea and bit Kamar al-Zaman,
whereupon he started from sleep in a fright.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Eighty-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Dahnash
changed himself to the form of a flea and bit Kamar al-Zaman who
started from sleep in a fright and rubbed the bitten part, his
neck, and scratched it hard because of the smart. Then turning
sideways, he found lying by him something whose breath was
sweeter than musk and whose skin was softer than cream. Hereat
marvelled he with great marvel and he sat up and looked at what
lay beside him; when he saw it to be a young lady like an union
pearl, or a shining sun, or a dome seen from afar on a well built
wall; for she was five feet tall, with a shape like the letter
Alif[FN#263], bosomed high and rosy checked; even as saith of her
the poet,

"Four things which ne'er conjoin, unless it be *
To storm my vitals and to shed my blood:
Brow white as day and tresses black as night *
Cheeks rosy red and lips which smiles o'erflood."

And also quoth another,

"A Moon she rises, Willow wand she waves, *
Breathes Ambergris, and gazes, a Gazelle:
Meseems that sorrow woes my heart and wins *
And, when she wendeth hastes therein to dwell!"

And when Kamar al-Zaman saw the Lady Budur, daughter of King
Ghayur, and her beauty and comeliness, she was sleeping clad in a
shift of Venetian silk, without her petticoat-trousers, and wore
on her head a kerchief embroidered with gold and set with stones
of price: her ears were hung with twin earrings which shone like
constellations and round her neck was a collar of union pearls,
of size unique, past the competence of any King. When he saw
this, his reason was confounded and natural heat began to stir in
him; Allah awoke in him the desire of coition and he said to
himself, "Whatso Allah willeth, that shall be, and what He
willeth not shall never be!" So saying, he put out his hand and,
turning her over, loosed the collar of her chemise; then arose
before his sight her bosom, with its breasts like double globes
of ivory; whereat his inclination for her redoubled and he
desired her with exceeding hot desire, He would have awakened her
but she would not awake, for Dahnash had made her sleep heavy; so
he shook her and moved her, saying, "O my beloved, awake and look
on me; I am Kamar al-Zaman." But she awoke not, neither moved her
head; where-upon he considered her case for a long hour and said
to himself, "If I guess aright, this is the damsel to whom my
father would have married me and these three years past I have
refused her; but Inshallah!--God willing--as soon as it is dawn,
I will say to him, 'Marry me to her, that I may enjoy her.'"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al-
Zaman said to himself, "By Allah, when I see dawn I will say to
my sire, 'Marry me to her that I may enjoy her'; nor will I let
half the day pass ere I possess her and take my fill of her
beauty and loveliness." Then he bent over Budur to buss her,
whereat the Jinniyah Maymunah trembled and was abashed and
Dahnash, the Ifrit, was like to fly for joy. But, as Kamar al-
Zaman was about to kiss her upon the mouth, he was ashamed before
Allah and turned away his head and averted his face, saying to
his heart, "Have patience." Then he took thought awhile and said,
"I will be patient; haply my father when he was wroth with me and
sent me to this jail, may have brought my young lady and made her
lie by my side to try me with her, and may have charged her not
to be readily awakened when I would arouse her, and may have said
to her, 'Whatever thing Kamar al-Zaman do to thee, make me ware
thereof'; or belike my sire standeth hidden in some stead whence
(being himself unseen) he can see all I do with this young lady;
and to morrow he will scold me and cry, 'How cometh it that thou
sayest, I have no mind to marry; and yet thou didst kiss and
embrace yonder damsel?' So I will withhold myself lest I be
ashamed before my sire; and the right and proper thing to do is
not to touch her at this present, nor even to look upon her,
except to take from her somewhat which shall serve as a token to
me and a memorial of her; that some sign endure between me and
her." Then Kamar al-Zaman raised the young lady's hand and took
from her little finger a seal-ring worth an immense amount of
money, for that its bezel was a precious jewel and around it were
graven these couplets,

"Count not that I your promises forgot, *
Despite the length of your delinquencies
Be generous, O my lord, to me inclining; *
Haply your mouth and cheeks these lips may kiss:
By Allah, ne'er will I relinquish you *
Albe you will transgress love's boundaries."

Then Kamar al-Zaman took the seal-ring from the little finger of
Queen Budur and set it on his own; then, turning his back to her,
went to sleep.[FN#264] When Maymunah the Jinniyah saw this, she
was glad and said to Dahnash and Kashkash, "Saw ye how my beloved
Kamar al-Zaman bore himself chastely towards this young lady?
Verily, this was of the perfection of his good gifts; for observe
you twain how he looked on her and noted her beauty and
loveliness, and yet embraced her not neither kissed her nor put
his hand to her, but turned his back and slept." Answered they,
"Even so!" Thereupon Maymunah changed herself into a flea and
entering into the raiment of Budur, the loved of Dahnash, crept
up her calf and came upon her thigh and, reaching a place some
four carats[FN#265] below her navel, there bit her. Thereupon she
opened her eyes and sitting up in bed, saw a youth lying beside
her and breathing heavily in his sleep, the loveliest of Almighty
Allah's creatures, with eyes that put to shame the fairest Houris
of Heaven; and a mouth like Solomon's seal, whose water was
sweeter to the taste and more efficacious than a theriack, and
lips the colour of coral-stone, and cheeks like the blood red
anemone, even as saith one, describing him in these couplets,

"My mind's withdrawn from Zaynab and Nawar[FN#266] *
By rosy cheeks that growth of myrtle bear;
I love a fawn, a tunic-vested boy, *
And leave the love of bracelet-wearing Fair:
My mate in hall and closet is unlike *
Her that I play with, as at home we pair.
Oh thou, who blam'st my flight from Hind and Zaynab, *
The cause is clear as dawn uplighting air!
Would'st have me fare[FN#267] a slave, the thrall of thrall, *
Cribbed, pent, confined behind the bar and wall?"

Now when Princess Budur saw him, she was seized by a transport of
passion and yearning and love-longing,--And Shahrazad per ceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Princess Budur saw Kamar al-Zaman she was forthwith seized with a
transport of passion and yearning and love longing, and she said
to herself, "Alas, my shame! This is a strange youth and I know
him not. How cometh he to be lying by my side on one bed?" Then
she looked at him a second time and, noting his beauty and
loveliness, said, "By Allah, he is indeed a comely youth and my
heart[FN#268] is well-nigh torn in sunder with longing for him!
But alas, how am I shamed by him! By the Almighty, had I known it
was this youth who sought me in marriage of my father, I had not
rejected him, but had wived with him and enjoyed his loveliness!"
Then she gazed in his face and said, "O my lord and light of mine
eyes, awake from sleep and take thy pleasure in my beauty and
grace." And she moved him with her hand; but Maymunah the
Jinniyah let down sleep upon him as it were a curtain, and
pressed heavily on his head with her wings so that Kamar al-Zaman
awoke not. Then Princess Budur shook him with her hands and said,
"My life on thee, hearken to me; awake and up from thy sleep and
look on the narcissus and the tender down thereon, and enjoy the
sight of naked waist and navel; and touzle me and tumble me from
this moment till break of day! Allah upon thee, O my lord, sit up
and prop thee against the pillow and slumber not!" Still Kamar
al-Zaman made her no reply but breathed hard in his sleep.
Continued she, "Alas! Alas! thou art insolent in thy beauty and
comeliness and grace and loving looks! But if thou art handsome,
so am I handsome; what then is this thou dost? Have they taught
thee to flout me or hath my father, the wretched old
fellow,[FN#269] made thee swear not to speak to me to-night?" But
Kamar al-Zaman opened not his mouth neither awoke, whereat her
passion for him redoubled and Allah inflamed her heart with love
of him. She stole one glance of eyes that cost her a thousand
sighs: her heart fluttered, and her vitals throbbed and her hands
and feet quivered; and she said to Kamar al-Zaman "Talk to me, O
my lord! Speak to me, O my friend! Answer me, O my beloved, and
tell me thy name, for indeed thou hast ravished my wit!" And
during all this time he abode drowned in sleep and answered her
not a word, and Princess Budur sighed and said, "Alas! Alas! why
art thou so proud and self satisfied?" Then she shook him and
turning his hand over, saw her seal-ring on his little finger,
whereat she cried a loud cry, and followed it with a sigh of
passion and said, "Alack! Alack! By Allah, thou art my beloved
and thou lovest me! Yet thou seemest to turn thee away from me
out of coquetry, for all, O my darling, thou camest to me, whilst
I was asleep and knew not what thou didst with me, and tookest my
seal-ring; and yet I will not pull it off thy finger." So saying,
she opened the bosom of his shirt and bent over him and kissed
him and put forth her hand to him, seeking somewhat that she
might take as a token, but found nothing. Then she thrust her
hand into his breast and, because of the smoothness of his body,
it slipped down to his waist and thence to his navel and thence
to his yard, whereupon her heart ached and her vitals quivered
and lust was sore upon her, for that the desire of women is
fiercer than the desire of men,[FN#270] and she was ashamed of
her own shamelessness. Then she plucked his seal-ring from his
finger, and put it on her own instead of the ring he had taken,
and bussed his inner lips and hands, nor did she leave any part
of him unkissed; after which she took him to her breast and
embraced him and, laying one of her hands under his neck and the
other under his arm-pit, nestled close to him and fell asleep by
his side.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.

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