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thousand dinars, and pearls and jewels and jacinths, and I require of thee, to boot, that thou swear to me that thou wilt keep my secret nor discover it to any and that thou wilt company with none but me; and I in turn will swear to thee a true oath that I will never play thee false.’
So he swore to her the oath she required and she swore to him, and they agreed upon this; after which she said to her nurse Huboub, ‘To-morrow go thou with Mesrour to his lodging and seek somewhat of musk and ambergris and aloes and rose-water and see what he hath. If he be a man of condition, we will take him into favour; else will we leave him.’ Then said she to him, ‘O Mesrour, I desire somewhat of musk and ambergris and aloes-wood; so do thou send it me by Huboub.’ And he answered, ‘I hear and obey; my shop is at thy commandment.’ Then the wine went round between them and their session was pleasant; but Mesrour’s heart was troubled for the passion and longing that possessed him; and when Zein el Mewasif saw him in this plight, she said to her slave-girl Sukoub, ‘Arouse Mesrour from his stupor; mayhap he will awake.’ ‘Willingly,’ answered Sukoub and sang the following verses:
An if thou be in love, bring gold and gear and in thy lays Set forth thy love, so thou mayst win the aim of thine essays
And taste the favours of a fawn, soft-eyed and smiling-lipped, Whose shape is as the cassia-branch, when to the breeze it sways.
Look on her; in her charms thou’lt see matter for wonderment And pour thy life out, ere the term appointed to thy days.
These be the attributes of love, an thou but knewst thereof; But, if the gold delude thee, leave the gold and go thy ways.
Mesrour apprehended [her meaning] and said, ‘I hear and understand. Never was stress but after came relief, and He who afflicteth will order [the issue].’ Whereupon Zein el Mewasif recited the following:
