Their charms, whatever fault the fair commit, A thousand intercessors bring for it.
So she went up, and he after her; whilst he looked at her back and saw her buttocks smiting against each other, like the billows in the troubled sea; and he recited the following verses:
In her face an advocate harbours, who blots out her every fault
From the hearts of mankind, for he is mighty to intercede.
Whenas I look at her face, I cry in my wonder aloud, “The moon of
the skies in the night of her full is risen indeed!”
If the Afrit of Belkis himself should wrestle a fall with
her, Her charms would throw him forthright, for all his
strength and speed.
They went on till they reached a vaulted gate, arched over with marble. This she opened and entered with Sherkan into a long vestibule, vaulted with ten arches from each of which hung a lamp of crystal, shining like the rays of the sun. The damsels met her at the end of the vestibule, bearing perfumed flambeaux and having on their heads kerchiefs embroidered with all manner jewels and went on before her, till they came to the inward of the monastery, where Sherkan saw couches set up all around, facing one another and overhung with curtains spangled with gold. The floor was paved with all kinds of variegated marbles, and in the midst was a basin of water, with four-and-twenty spouts of gold around it, from which issued water like liquid silver; whilst at the upper end stood a throne covered with silks of royal purple. Then said the damsel, “O my lord, mount this throne.” So he seated himself on it, and she withdrew: and when she had been absent awhile, he asked the servants of her, and they said, “She hath gone to her sleeping-chamber; but we will serve thee as thou shalt order.” So they set before him rare meats and he ate till he was satisfied, when they brought him a basin of gold and an ewer of silver, and he washed his hands. Then his mind reverted to his troops, and he was troubled, knowing not what had befallen them in his absence and thinking how he had forgotten his father’s injunctions, so that he abode oppressed with anxiety and repenting of what he had done, till the dawn broke and the day appeared, when he lamented and sighed and became drowned in the sea of melancholy, repeating the following verses:
I lack not of prudence and yet in this case I’ve been fooled; so
what shift shall avail unto me?
If any could ease me of love and its stress, Of my might and my
virtue I’d set myself free.
But alas! my heart’s lost in the maze of desire, And no helper
save God in my strait can I see.
Hardly had he finished, when up came more than twenty damsels like moons, encompassing the young lady, who appeared amongst them as the full moon among stars. She was clad in royal brocade and girt with a woven girdle set with various kinds of jewels, that straitly clasped her waist and made her buttocks stand out as they were a hill of crystal upholding a wand of silver; and her breasts were like double pomegranates. On her head she wore a network of pearls, gemmed with various kinds of jewels, and she moved with a coquettish swimming gait, swaying wonder-gracefully, whilst the damsels held up her skirts. When Sherkan saw her beauty and grace, he was transported for joy and forgot his army and the Vizier Dendan end springing to his feet, cried out, “Beware, beware of that girdle rare!” and repeated the following verses:
Heavy of buttocks, languorous of gait, With limber shape and
breasts right delicate,
She hides what passion in her bosom burns; Yet cannot I my heat
dissimulate.
Her maidens, like strung pearls, behind her fare, Now all
dispersed now knit in ordered state.
She fixed her eyes on him and considered him awhile, till she was assured of him, when she came up to him and said, “Indeed the place is honoured and illumined by thy presence, O Sherkan! How didst thou pass the night, O hero, after we went away and left thee? Verily lying is a defect and a reproach in kings, especially in great kings; and thou art Sherkan, son of King Omar ben Ennuman; so henceforth tell me nought but truth and strive not to keep the secret of thy condition, for falsehood engenders hatred and enmity. The arrow of destiny hath fallen on thee, and it behoves thee to show resignation and submission.” When Sherkan heard what she said, he saw nothing for it but to tell her the truth so he said, “I am indeed Sherkan, son of Omar ben Ennuman, whom fortune hath afflicted and cast into this place: so now do whatsoever thou wilt.” She bowed her head a long while, then turned to him and said, “Reassure thyself and be of good cheer; for thou art my guest, and bread and salt have passed between us; so art thou in my safeguard and under my protection. Have no fear; by the virtue of the Messiah, if all the people of the earth sought to harm thee, they should not come at thee till the breath had left my body for thy sake; for thou art under my protection and that of the Messiah.” Then she sat down by his side and began to sport with him, till his alarm subsided and he knew that, had she been minded to kill him, she would have done so on the past night. After awhile, she spoke in the Greek tongue to one of her serving-women, who went away and returned in a little with a goblet and a tray of food; but Sherkan abstained from eating, saying in himself, “Maybe she hath put somewhat in this meat.” She knew what was in his thought; so she turned to him and said, “By the virtue of the Messiah, the case is not as thou deemest, nor is there aught in this food of what thou suspectest! Were I minded to kill thee, I had done so before now.” Then she came to the table and ate a mouthful of every dish, whereupon Sherkan came forward and fell to. She was pleased at this, and they both ate till they were satisfied, after which she let bring perfumes and sweet-smelling herbs and wines of all colours and kinds, in vessels of gold and silver and crystal. She filled a first cup and drank it off, before offering it to Sherkan, even as she had done with the food. Then she filled a second time and gave the cup to him. He drank and she said to him, “See, O Muslim, how thou art in the utmost delight and pleasure of life!” And she ceased not to drink and to ply him with drink, till he took leave of his wits, for the wine and the intoxication of love for her. Presently she said to the serving-maid, “O Merjaneh, bring us some instruments of music.” “I hear and obey,” replied Merjaneh, and going out, returned immediately with a lute, a Persian harp, a Tartar flute and an Egyptian dulcimer. The young lady took the lute and tuning it, sang to it in a dulcet voice, softer than the zephyr and sweeter than the waters of Tesnim, the following verses:
May Allah assoilzie thine eyes! How much is the blood they have
shed! How great is the tale of the shafts thy pitiless
glances have sped!
I honour the mistress, indeed, that harshly her suitor entreats;
’Tis sin in the loved to relent or pity a lover misled.
Fair fortune and grace to the eyes that watch the night,
sleepless, for thee, And hail to the heart of thy slave, by
day that is heavy as lead!
’Tis thine to condemn me to death, for thou art my king and my
lord. With my life I will ransom the judge, who heapeth
unright on my head.
Then each of the damsels rose and taking an instrument played and sang to it in the Greek language. The lady their mistress, sang also, to Sherkan’s delight. Then she said to him, “O Muslim, dost thou understand what I say?” “No,” replied he; “it was the beauty of thy finger-tips that threw me into ecstasies.” She laughed and said, “If I sang to thee in Arabic, what wouldst thou do?” “I should lose the mastery of my reason,” replied he. So she took an instrument and changing the measure, sang the following verses:
Parting must ever bitter be; How shall one bear it patiently?
Three things are heavy on my heart, Absence, estrangement,
cruelty.
I love a fair to whom I’m thrall, And severance bitter is to me.
Then she looked at Sherkan and found he had lost his senses for delight: and he lay amongst them insensible awhile, after which he revived and
recalling the singing inclined to mirth. Then they fell again to drinking and ceased not from sport and merriment till the day departed with the evening and the night let fall her wings. Thereupon she rose and retired to her chamber. Sherkan enquired after her and being told that she was gone to her bedchamber, said, “I commend her to the safe-keeping of God and to His protection!” As soon as it was day, a waiting-woman came to him and said, “My mistress bids thee to her.” So he rose and followed her, and as he drew near her lodging, the damsels received him with smitten tabrets and songs of greeting and escorted him to a great door of ivory set with pearls and jewels. Here they entered and he found himself in a spacious saloon, at the upper end of which was a great estrade, carpeted with various kinds of silk, and round it open lattices giving upon trees and streams. About the place were figures, so fashioned that the air entered them and set in motion instruments of music within them, and it seemed to the beholder as if they spoke. Here sat the young lady, looking on the figures; but when she saw Sherkan, she sprang to her feet and taking him by the hand, made him sit down by her and asked him how he had passed the night. He blessed her and they sat talking awhile, till she said to him, “Knowest thou aught touching lovers and slaves of passion?” “Yes,” replied he; “I know some verses on the subject.” “Let me hear them,” said she. So he repeated the following verses:
Pleasure and health, O Azzeh, and good digestion to thee! How
with our goods and our names and our honours thou makest
free!
By Allah, whene’er I blow hot, she of a sudden blows cold, And no
sooner do I draw near, than off at a tangent flies she!
Indeed, as I dote upon Azzeh, as soon as I’ve cleared me of all
That stands between us and our loves, she turns and abandons
me;
As a traveller that trusts in the shade of a cloud for his
One Thousand and One Nights Page 197