第2章

When it was the One Hundred and Twentysixth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Wazir Dandan thus continued his tale to Zau alMakan： Then quoth the youth Aziz to Taj alMuluk，Now when I found my life at the mercy of her slave women with my cheeks dust soiled，and I saw her sharpen the knife，I made sure of death and cried out to her for mercy.But she only redoubled in ferocity and ordered the slave girls to pinion my hands behind me，which they did； and，throwing me on my back，she seated herself on my middle and held down my head.Then two of them came up and squatted on my shin bones，whilst other two grasped my hands and arms； and she summoned a third pair and bade them beat me.So they beat me till I fainted and my voice failed.When I revived，I said to myself，'Twere easier and better for me to have my gullet slit than to be beaten on this wise！'And I remembered the words of my cousin，and how she used to say to me，'Allah，keep thee from her mischief！'； and I shrieked and wept till my voice failed and I remained without power to breathe or to move.Then she again whetted the knife and said to the slave girls，'Uncover him.'Upon this the Lord inspired me to repeat to her the two phrases my cousin had taught me，and had bequeathed to me，and I said，'O my lady，dost thou not know that Faith is fair，Unfaith is foul？'When she heard this，she cried out and said，'Allah pity thee，Azizah，and give thee Paradise in exchange for thy wasted youth！ By Allah，of a truth she served thee in her life time and after her death，and now she hath saved thee alive out of my hands with these two saws.Nevertheless，I cannot by any means leave thee thus，but needs must I set my mark on thee，to spite yonder brazen faced piece，who hath kept thee from me.'There upon she called out to the slave women and bade them bind my feet with cords and then said to them，'Take seat on him！'They did her bidding，upon which she arose and fetched a pan of copper and hung it over the brazier and poured into it oil of sesame，in which she fried cheese.[3] Then she came up to me （and I still insensible）

and，unfastening my bag trousers，tied a cord round my testicles and，giving it to two of her women，bade them trawl at it.They did so，and I swooned away and was for excess of pain in a world other than this.Then she came with a razor of steel and cut off my member masculine，[4] so that I remained like a woman： after which she seared the wound with the boiling and rubbed it with a powder，and I the while unconscious.Now when I came to myself，the blood had stopped； so she bade the slave girls unbind me and made me drink a cup of wine.Then said she to me，'Go now to her whom thou hast married and who grudged me a single night，and the mercy of Allah be on thy cousin Azizah，who saved thy life and never told her secret love！ Indeed，haddest thou not repeated those words to me，I had surely slit thy weasand.Go forth this instant to whom thou wilt，for I needed naught of thee save what I have just cut off； and now I have no part in thee，nor have Iany further want of thee or care for thee.So begone about thy business and rub thy head[5] and implore mercy for the daughter of thine uncle！'Thereupon she kicked me with her foot and I rose，hardly able to walk； and I went，little by little，till I came to the door of our house.I saw it was open，so Ithrew myself within it and fell down in a fainting fit； whereupon my wife came out and lifting me up，carried me into the saloon and assured herself that I had become like a woman.Then I fell into a sleep and a deep sleep； and when I awoke，I found myself thrown down at the garden gate，And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Twentyseventh Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Wazir Dandan pursued to King Zau alMakan，The youth Aziz thus continued his story to Taj alMuluk： When I awoke and found myself thrown down at the garden gate，I rose，groaning for pain and misery，and made my way to our home and entering，I came upon my mother weeping for me，and saying，'Would I knew，O my son，in what land art thou？'So I drew near and threw myself upon her，and when she looked at me and felt me，she knew that I was ill；for my face was coloured black and tan.Then I thought of my cousin and all the kind offices she had been wont to do me，and Ilearned when too late that she had truly loved me； so I wept for her and my mother wept also Presently she said to me，'O my son，thy sire is dead.'At this my fury against Fate redoubled，and I cried till I fell into a fit.When I came to myself，I looked at the place where my cousin Azizah had been used to sit and shed tears anew，till I all but fainted once more for excess of weeping； and I ceased not to cry and sob and wail till midnight，when my mother said to me，'Thy father hath been dead these ten days.'I shall never think of any one but my cousin Azizah，'replied I； 'and indeed I deserve all that hath befallen me，for that I neglected her who loved me with love so dear.'Asked she，'What hath befallen thee？'So I told her all that had happened and she wept awhile，then she rose and set some matter of meat and drink before me.I ate a little and drank，after which I repeated my story to her，and told her the whole occurrence；whereupon she exclaimed，'Praised be Allah，that she did but this to thee and forbore to slaughter thee！'Then she nursed me and medicined me till I regained my health； and，when my recovery was complete，she said to me，'O my son，I will now bring out to thee that which thy cousin committed to me in trust for thee； for it is thine.She swore me not to give it thee，till I should see thee recalling her to mind and weeping over her and thy connection severed from other than herself； and now I know that these conditions are fulfilled in thee.'So she arose，and opening a chest，took out this piece of linen，with the figures of gazelles worked thereon，which I had given to Azizah in time past； and taking it I found written therein these couplets，'Lady of beauty，say，who taught thee hard and harsh design，To slay with longing Love's excess this hapless lover thine？