United States or Mali ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Then he turned to Maimouneh and Dehnesh and said to them, 'By Allah, if you will have the truth, they are equal in beauty and grace and perfection, nor is there any difference between them but that of sex.
There can be no doubt that my beloved is handsomer than thine; nevertheless I pardon thee. Then she wrote him a patent of manumission and said to Keshkesh, 'Help Dehnesh to take up his mistress and carry her back to her own place, for the night wanes apace and there is but little left of it. 'I hear and obey, answered Keshkesh.
When Dehnesh heard this, he shook for delight and was filled with admiration and said, 'Thou hast indeed done well in praise of him whom thou lovest!
So they descended and alighting on the tower, entered the saloon, where Maimouneh stationed Dehnesh beside the bed and putting out her hand, drew back the silken coverlet, whereupon Kemerezzeman's face shone out like the sun.
Then said Maimouneh to Dehnesh, 'O accursed one, sawst thou how prudishly and coquettishly my beloved bore himself and what ardour of passion thy mistress showed to him?
Then he shook her and moved her, essaying to waken her and saying, 'O my beloved, awake and look on me; I am Kemerezzeman. But she awoke not, neither moved her head, for Dehnesh made her sleep heavy.
With this, he considered awhile and said to himself, 'If I guess aright, this is she to whom my father would have married me and I have refused these three years past; but, God willing, as soon as it is day, I will say to him, "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 grace. Then he bent over Budour, to kiss her, whereat Maimouneh trembled and was confounded and Dehnesh was like to fly for joy.
If thy beloved prove handsomer than mine, the pledge shall be thine against me; but if my beloved prove the fairer, the pledge shall be mine against thee. 'O my lady, said Dehnesh, 'I accept this thy condition; so come with me to the Islands. 'Not so, replied Maimouneh; 'for the abode of my beloved is nearer than that of thine: here it is under us; so come down with me and see my beloved, and after we will go look upon thy mistress. 'I hear and obey, said Dehnesh.
She looked at him a moment, then turning to Dehnesh, said, ''Look, O accursed one, and be not the vilest of madmen; I am a maiden and am ravished with him. So Dehnesh looked at the prince and gazed steadfastly on him awhile, then, shaking his head, said to Maimouneh, 'By Allah, O my lady, thou art excusable; but there is another thing to be considered, and that is that the female estate differs from the male.
But I have another idea, and it is that we wake each of them in turn, without the other's knowledge, and whichever is more enamoured of the other shall be held the lesser in beauty and grace. 'This is a good counsel, answered Maimouneh, and Dehnesh said, 'I consent to this. Then Dehnesh changed himself to a flea and bit Kemerezzeman on the neck, whereupon the prince awoke with a start and rubbed the place of the bite, because of the smart.
Word Of The Day