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Noureddin rose and kissed the hand of his father, who said to him, 'If I knew that thou wouldst deal fairly by Enis el Jelis, I would give her to thee. 'O my father, replied Noureddin, 'how should I not deal fairly by her? Quoth the Vizier, 'O my son, I charge thee not to take another wife nor concubine to share with her nor sell her. 'O my father, answered Noureddin, 'I swear to thee that I will do none of these things. Then he went in to the damsel and abode with her a whole year, whilst God caused the King to forget the affair.
Has this gallows-bird aught left to buy girls withal? Then he looked round and seeing the broker crying out and the merchants round him, said to himself, 'Doubtless he is ruined and has brought the damsel Enis el Jelis hither to sell her!
And he said, 'Know, O steward, it is my desire that so long as there remains in thy hands enough for my morning meal, thou trouble me not with taking care for my evening meal. Therewith the steward went away and Noureddin continued his extravagant way of living; and if any of his boon-companions chanced to say to him, 'This thing is handsome, he would answer, 'It is thine as a gift; or if another said, 'O my lord, such and such a house is handsome, he would say, 'Take it: it is thine. In this manner he continued to live for a whole year, giving his friends a banquet in the morning and another in the evening, till one day as they were sitting together, the damsel Enis el Jelis repeated the following verses: Thou madest fair thy thought of Fate, when that the days were fair, And fearedst not the unknown ills that they to thee might bring: The nights were fair and calm to thee; thou wert deceived by them, For in the peace of night is born full many a troublous thing.
Presently, as Enis el Jelis sat resting after the bath, in came the Vizier's son, whose name was Noureddin Ali, and asked after his mother and her women, to which the two little slaves replied that they had gone to the bath.
'O my lady, answered she, 'as I was sitting here, there came in a handsome young man, who said to me, "Art thou she whom my father bought for me?" 'Yes, replied Enis el Jelis: 'he took of me three kisses. 'He did not leave thee without deflowering thee! cried the Vizier's wife, and fell to weeping and buffeting her face, she and her women, fearing that Noureddin's father would kill him.
The Khalif passed thirty days without calling to mind the affair of Noureddin Ali ben Khacan, and none reminded him of it, till one night, as he passed by the apartment of Enis el Jelis, he heard her weeping and reciting the following verse, in a low and sweet voice: Thine image is ever before me, though thou art far away, Nor doth my tongue give over the naming of thee aye!
When the Vizier's wife heard the slaves' cries, she sprang up and came out of the bath, with the sweat dripping from her, saying, 'What is this clamour in the house? Then she came up to the two little slaves, and said to them, 'Out on you! what is the matter? 'Our lord Noureddin came in and beat us, answered they: 'so we fled and he went in to the damsel and embraced her, and we know not what he did after this: but when we cried out to thee, he fled. Thereupon, the mistress went in to Enis el Jelis and enquired what had happened.
Now the Khalif's sole desire in all this was to hear the damsel sing; so he said to Noureddin, 'O my lord, thou hast rewarded me munificently, but I beg of thy great bounty that thou wilt let this damsel sing an air, that I may hear her. So Noureddin said, 'O Enis el Jelis! 'Yes, replied she.
Then he called his slave-girl and said to her, 'O Enis el Jelis, hast thou seen what has befallen me? And he related to her what the steward had told him.
Then he sent for Enis el Jelis and bestowed plentiful favours upon them both, assigning them a palace at Baghdad and regular allowances. Moreover, he made Noureddin one of his boon-companions, and the latter abode with him in the enjoyment of the most delectable life, till Death overtook him.
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