第45章 KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.(7)

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！Needs must I do my endeavour，in my turn，to celebrate my mistress，to the best of my power，and recite somewhat in her honour.'Then he went up to the lady Budour and kissing herbetween the eyes，looked at her and at Maimouneh and recited the following verses，for all he had no skill in poetry：

They chide my passion for my fair in harsh and cruel guise；But，of their ignorance，forsooth，theyre neither just nor wise.

Vouchsafe thy favours to the slave of love，for，an he taste Of thine estrangement and disdain，assuredly he dies.

Indeed，for very stress of love，Im drenched with streaming tears，That，like a rivulet of blood，run ever from mine eyes.

No wonder tis what I for love endure；the wonder is That any，since the loss of thee，my body recognize.

Forbidden be thy sight to me，if Ive a thought of doubt Or if my heart of passion tire or feign or use disguise！

And also the following：

I feed mine eyes on the places where we met long ago；Far distant now is the valley and Im forslain for woe.

Im drunk with the wine of passion and the teardrops in mine eyes Dance to the song of the leader of the camels，as we go.

I cease not from mine endeavour to win to fortune fair；Yet in Budour，Suada，[28] all fortune is，I know.

Three things I reckon，I know not of which to most complain；Give ear whilst I recount them and be you judge，I trow.

Firstly，her eyes，the sworders；second，the spearman，her shape，And thirdly，her ringlets that clothe her in armour，[29]

row upon row.

Quoth she （and indeed I question，for tidings of her I love，All whom I meet，or townsman or Bedouin，high or low）

Quoth she unto me，'My dwelling is in thy heart；look there And thou shalt see me.'I answer，'And where is my heart？

Heigho！'

When Maimouneh heard this，she said，Thou hast done well，Dehnesh！But tell me，which of the two is the handsomer？And he answered，My mistress Budour is certainly handsomer than thy beloved.'Thou liest，O accursed one！'cried Maimouneh.'Nay，my beloved is more beautiful than thine！'And they ceased not to gainsay each other，till Maimouneh cried out at Dehnesh and would have laid violent hands on him；but he humbled himself to her and softening his speech，said to her，Let us leave talking，for we do but contradict each other，and rather seek one who shall judge fairly between us，whether of the two is fairer，and let us abide by his sentence.'I agree to this，'answered she and smote the earth with her foot，whereupon there came up a one-eyed Afrit，hump-backed and scurvy，with eyes slit endlong in his face.On his head were seven horns and four locks of hair falling to his heels；his hands were like pitchforks，his legs like masts and he had claws like a lion and hoofs like those of the wild ass.When he saw Maimouneh，he kissed the earth before her and standing with his hands clasped behind him，said，What is thy will，O kings daughter？O Keshkesh，'answered she，I would have thee judge between me and this accursed Dehnesh.'And she made known to him the whole matter，whereupon he looked at the prince and princess and saw them lying asleep，embraced，each with an arm about the others neck，alike in beauty and grace and equal in goodliness.The Marid gazed long and fixedly upon them，marvelling at their beauty，and repeated the following verses：

Cleave fast to her thou lovst and let the envious rail amain，For calumny and envy neer to favour love were fain.

Lo，the Compassionate hath made no fairer thing to see Than when one couch in its embrace enfoldeth lovers twain，Each to the others bosom clasped，clad in their own delight，Whilst hand with hand and arm with arm about their necks enchain.

If in thy time thou find but one to love thee and be true，I rede thee cast the world away and with that one remain.

Lo，when two hearts are straitly knit in passion and desire，But on cold iron smite the folk that chide at them in vain.

Thou that for loving censures the votaries of love，Canst thou assain a heart diseased or heal a cankered brain？

O Lord，O Thou Compassionate，I prithee，ere we die，Though only for a single day，unite us two again！

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.But I have another idea，and it is that we wake each of them in turn，without the others 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.Then turning sideways，he found lying by him something，whose breath was more fragrant than musk，and whose body was softer than cream.At this he marvelled greatly and sitting up，looked at this that lay beside him and saw it to be a young lady like the moon，as she were a splendid pearl，or a shining sun，five feet high，with a shape like the letter I，high-bosomed and rosy-checked；even as saith of her the poet：

Four things there are，which neer unite，except it be To shed my hearts best blood and take my soul by storm.

And these are night-black locks and brow as bright as day，Cheeks ruddy as the rose and straight and slender form.

And also quoth another：

She shineth forth，a moon，and bends，a willow-wand，And breathes，pure ambergris，and gazes，a gazelle.

It seems as if grief loved my heart and when from her Estrangement I endure，possession to it fell.