第57章 KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.(19)

The eunuch stationed Kemerezzeman behind the curtain of the princesss door and the prince said to him，Whether of the two wilt thou liefer have me do，cure thy lady from here or go in and cure her within the curtain？The eunuch marvelled at his words and answered，It were more to thine honour to cure her from here.'So Kemerezzeman sat down behind the curtain and taking out pen and inkhorn and paper，wrote the following：This is the letter of one whom passion torments and whom desire consumes and sorrow and misery destroy；one who despairs of life and looks for nothing but death，whose mourning heart has neither comforter nor helper，whose sleepless eyes have none to succour them against affliction，whose day is passed in fire and his night in torment，whose body is wasted for much emaciation and there comes to him no messenger from his beloved：

I write with a heart devoted to thee and the thought of thee And an eyelid，wounded for weeping tears of the blood of me.

And a body that love and affliction and passion and long desire Have clad with the garment of leanness and wasted utterly.

I plain me to thee of passion，for sore hath it baffled me Nor is there a corner left me where patience yet may be.

Wherefore，have mercy，I prithee，show favour unto me，For my heart，my heart is breaking for love and agony.

The cure of hearts is union with the beloved and whom his love maltreateth，God is his physician.If either of us have broken faith，may the false one fail of his desire！There is nought goodlier than a lover who is faithful to a cruel beloved one.'

Then，for a subion，he wrote，From the distracted and despairing lover，him whom love and longing disquiet，from the captive of passion and transport，Kemerezzeman，son of Shehriman，to the peerless beauty，the pearl of the fair Houris，the Lady Budour，daughter of King Gha？our.Know that by night I am wakeful and by day distraught，consumed with ever-increasing wasting and sickness and longing and love，abounding in sighs，rich in floods of tears，the prisoner of passion，the slain of desire，the debtor of longing，the boon-companion of sickness，he whose heart absence hath seared.I am the sleepless one，whose eyes close not，the slave of love，whose tears run never dry，for the fire of my heart is still unquenched and the flaming of my longing is never hidden.'Then in the margin he wrote this admired verse：

Peace from the stores of the grace of my Lord be rife On her in whose hand are my heart and soul and life！

And also these：

Vouchsafe thy converse unto me some little，so，perchance，Thou mayst have ruth on me or else my heart be set at ease.

Yea，for the transport of my love and longing after thee，Of all Ive suffered I make light and all my miseries.

God guard a folk whose dwelling-place is far removed from mine，The secret of whose love Ive kept in many lands and seas！

But fate，at last，hath turned on me a favourable face And on my loved ones threshold-earth hath cast me on my knees.

Budour beside me in the bed I saw and straight my moon，Lit by her sun，shone bright and blithe upon my destinies.[39]

Then by way of subion，he wrote the following verses：

Ask of my letter what my pen hath written，and the scroll Will tell the passion and the pain that harbour in my soul.

My hand，what while my tears rain down，writes and desire makes moan Unto the paper by the pen of all my weary dole.

My tears roll ever down my cheeks and overflow the page；Nay，Id ensue them with my blood，if they should cease to roll.

And at the end he added this other verse：

I send thee back herewith the ring I took whilere of thee，Whenas we companied；so send me that thou hadst of me.

Then he folded up Budours ring inside the letter and sealing it，gave it to the eunuch，who went in with it to the princess.She took it from him and opening it，found in it her own ring.Then she read the letter and when she understood its purport and knew that her beloved stood behind the curtain，her reason fled and her breast dilated for joy；and she repeated the following verses：

Long，long have I bewailed the sevrance of our loves，With tears that from my lids streamed down like burning rain，And vowed that，if the days should reunite us two，My lips should never speak of severance again.

Joy hath oerwhelmed me so that，for the very stress Of that which gladdens me，to weeping I am fain.

Tears are become to you a habit，O my eyes，So that ye weep as well for gladness as for pain.

Then she rose and setting her feet to the wall，strained with all her might upon the iron collar，till she broke it from her neck and snapped the chains；then going forth，she threw herself on Kemerezzeman and kissed him on the mouth，like a pigeon billing.

And she embraced him with all the stress of her love and longing and said to him，O my lord，do I wake or sleep and has God indeed vouchsafed us reunion after separation？Praised be He who hath reknit our loves，after despair！'When the eunuch saw this，he ran to King Gha？our and kissing the earth before him，said，O my lord，know that this is indeed the prince and paragon of astrologers；for he hath cured thy daughter from behind the curtain，without going in to her.'Look to it well，'said the King；is this news true？O my lord，'answered the eunuch，come and see for thyself how she hath found strength to break the iron chains and is come forth to the astrologer，kissing and embracing him.'So the King arose and went in to his daughter，who，when she saw him，rose and covered her face，reciting the following verses：

I love not the toothstick；tis hateful to me，For I，when I name it，say，'Other than thee.'[40]

But I love，notwithstanding，the capparis-tree，For，whenas I name it I say，'Thee I see.'[41]