第92章

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[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 lovelonging，And Shahrazad per ceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Eightyfifth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Princess Budur saw Kamar alZaman 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[268] is wellnigh 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 alZaman 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 alZaman 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，[269] made thee swear not to speak to me tonight？'But Kamar alZaman 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 alZaman '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 sealring 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 sealring；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，[270] and she was ashamed of her own shamelessness. Then she plucked his sealring 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 armpit，nestled close to him and fell asleep by his side.And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the One hundred and Eightysixth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Princess Budur fell asleep by the side of Kamar alZaman，after doing that which she did，quoth Maymunah to Dahnash，Night thou，O accursed，how proudly and coquettishly my beloved bore himself，and how hotly and passionately thy mistress showed herself to my dearling？ There can be no doubt that my beloved is handsomer than shine；nevertheless I pardon thee.'Then she wrote him a document of manumission and turned to Kashkash and said，'Go，help Dahnash to take up his mistress and aid him to carry her back to her own place，for the night waneth apace and there is but little left of it.''I hear and I obey；'answered Kashkash. So the two Ifrits went forward to Princess Budur and upraising her flew away with her；then，bearing her back to her own place，they laid her on her bed，whilst Maymunah abode alone with Kamar alZaman，gazing upon him as he slept，till the night was all but spent，when she went her way. As soon as morning morrowed，the Prince awoke from sleep and turned right and left，but found not the maiden by him and said in his mind，'What is this business？ It is as if my father would incline me to marriage with the damsel who was with me and have now taken her away by stealth，to the intent that my desire for wedlock may redouble.'Then he called out to the eunuch who slept at the door，saying，'Woe to thee，O damned one，arise at once！'So the eunuch rose，bemused with sleep，and brought him basin and ewer，whereupon Kamar alZaman entered the water closet and did his need；[271] then，coming out made the Wuzuablution and prayed the dawnprayer，after which he sat telling on his beads the ninetyandnine names of Almighty Allah.