第49章

but I crave pardon of Allah Almighty for whatso I did，and if He reunite us，I will never again gainsay thee in aught，no；never！'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night； She pursued，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Hasan's wife besought pardon of him saying，'Blame me not for my sin；and indeed I crave mercy of Allah Almighty.'Quoth Hasan （and indeed his heart ached for her），''Twas not thou that wast in fault；

nay，the fault was mine and mine only，for I fared forth and left thee with one who knew not thy rank，neither thy worth nor thy degree.But know，O beloved of my heart and fruit of my vitals and light of mine eyes，that Allah （blessed be He！） hath ordained to me power of releasing thee；so，say me，wouldst thou have me carry thee to thy father's home，there to accomplish what Allah decreeth unto thee，or wilt thou forthright depart with me to mine own country，now that relief is come to thee？'Quoth she；'Who can deliver me save the Lord of the Heavens？ Go to thy motherland and put away from thee false hope；for thou knowest not the perils of these parts which，an thou obey me not，soon shalt thou sight.'And she improvised these couplets；'On me and with me bides thy volunty；* Why then such anger such despite to me？

Whate'er befel us Heaven forbid that love * Fade for long time or e'er forgotten be！

Ceased not the spy to haunt our sides，till seen * Our love estranged and then estranged was he：

In truth I trusted to fair thoughts of thine * Though spake the wicked spy maliciously.

We'll keep the secret'twixt us twain and bold * Although the brand of blame unsheathed we see.

The livelong day in longing love I spend * Hoping acceptance-message from my friend.'

Then wept she and her children，and the handmaidens heard them：

so they came in to them and found them weeping，but saw not Hasan with them；wherefore they wept for ruth of them and damned Queen Nur al-Huda.Then Hasan took patience till night came on and her guards had gone to their sleeping-places，when he arose and girded his waist；then went up to her and，loosing her，kissed her on the head and between the eyes and pressed her to his bosom，saying，'How long have we wearied for our mother-land and for reunion there！ Is this our meeting in sleep，or on wake？'

Then he took up the elder boy and she took up the younger and they went forth the palace；and Allah veiled them with the veil of His protection，so that they came safe to the outer gate which closed the entrance to the Queen's Serraglio.But finding it locked from without，Hasan said，'There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！ Verily we are Allah's and unto Him shall we return！'With this they despaired of escape and Hasan beat hand upon hand，saying，'O

Dispeller of dolours！ Indeed，I had bethought me of every thing and considered its conclusion but this；and now，when it is daybreak，they will take us，and what device have we in this case？'And he recited the following two couplets，[171]

'Thou madest fair thy thought of Fate，whenas 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 wast deceived by them，For in the peace of night is born full many a troublous thing.'

Then Hasan wept and his wife wept for his weeping and for the abasement she had suffered and the cruelties of Time and Fortune；'Baulks me my Fate as tho'she were my foe；* Each day she showeth me new cark and care：

Fate，when I aim at good，brings clear reverse，* And lets foul morrow wait on day that's fair.'

And also these；'Irks me my Fate and clean unknows that I * Of my high worth her shifts and shafts despise.

She nights parading what ill-will she works： * I night parading Patience to her eyes.'

Then his wife said to him，'By Allah，there is no relief for us but to kill ourselves and be at rest from this great and weary travail；else we shall suffer grievous torment on the morrow.'

At this moment，behold，they heard a voice from without the door say，'By Allah，O my lady Manar al-Sana，I will not open to thee and thy husband Hasan，except ye obey me in whatso I shall say to you！'When they heard these words they were silent for excess of fright and would have returned whence they came；when lo！ the voice spake again saying，'What aileth you both to be silent and answer me not？'Therewith they knew the speaker for the old woman Shawahi，Lady of Calamities，and said to her，'Whatsoever thou biddest us，that will we do；but first open the door to us；

this being no time for talk.'Replied she，'By Allah，I will not open to you until ye both swear to me that you will take me with you and not leave me with yonder whore： so，whatever befalleth you shall befal me and if ye escape，I shall escape，and if ye perish，I shall perish： for yonder abominable woman；tribade[172] that she is！ entreateth me with indignity and still tormenteth me on your account；and thou，O my daughter；knowest my worth.'Now recognising her they trusted in her and sware to her an oath such as contented her，whereupon she opened the door to them and they fared forth and found her riding on a Greek jar of red earthenware with a rope of palm-fibres about its neck，[173] which rolled under her and ran faster than a Najdi colt，and she came up to them，and said，'Follow me and fear naught，for I know forty modes of magic by the least of which I could make this city a dashing sea，swollen with clashing billows，and ensorcel each damsel therein to a fish，and all before dawn.But I was not able to work aught of my mischief；for fear of the King her father and of regard to her sisters，for that they are formidable，by reason of their many guards and tribesmen and servants.However，soon will I show you wonders of my skill in witchcraft；and now let us on，relying upon the blessing of Allah and His good aid.'Now Hasan and his wife rejoiced in this，making sure of escape，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.