The Seven Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting, and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the more that man cried to the lover "Come," the faster did he run away; so the Fellah returned and said, "He misliketh to come and he hath fled." Hereupon he took seat together with the scald-head and the neighbours to dine off the scones of hand-rubbed grain, and the wife served to them whatso she had made for her lover's eating and she would not touch aught thereof but left it for her spouse and for his servant and for the neighbours. On the following day the Fellah went forth betimes to plough whilst the boy, delaying purposely at home, hid himself behind the door when behold, the lover entered to her, and she said, " 'Tis my desire that we forge a story whereby to slay my husband and Master Scald-head the servant." Quoth he, "How wilt thou slay them?" and quoth she, "I will buy for them poison and make it up in cooked food, so they may devour it together and perish together; after which we will abide, I and thou, making merry, nor shall the dead disturb us any more." He rejoined, "Do what thou willest," and all this whilst the boy stood listening to them behind the door. But as soon as the lover went forth the house, the lad arose and retired; then, donning Jews' garb he shouldered a pair of saddle-bags and went about crying, "Ho! Aloes good for use. Ho! Pepper[473] good for use. Ho! Kohl good for use. Ho! Tutty good for use!" Now when the woman saw him she came forth the house and hailed him, "Ho thou the Jew!" and said he to her, "Yes, O my lady." Then said she, "Hast thou with thee aught of poison?" and said he, "How, O my lady? Have I not with me poison of the hour?[474] and whoever shall eat thereof in a mess of sweet milk[475] and rice and clarified butter shall die within that time." "Do thou take this dinar," continued she, "and give me somewhat of it;" but he rejoined, "I do not trade for moneys, and I will sell it only for ornaments of precious metal." Hereupon she pulled off one of her anklets and handed it to him and he, who had provided himself with half a loaf of Egyptian sugar,[476] gave her the moiety thereof, saying, "Use it with sweet milk and rice and clarified butter." She took it in high glee, and arising milked the she-buffalo, after which she boiled the loaf-sugar in the milk and then threw it into a sufficiency of the rice and the clarified butter, fancying the while that she was cooking a mortal meal,[477] and lastly she ladled out the mess into a large platter. Now when it was sunset-time her husband returned from the field and was met about half-way by the boy who told him all that he had overheard and how he had sold her the sugar for one of her anklets, saying, "This be poison." Then he charged him that, as soon as both of them should have swallowed the mess of milk and rice and clarified butter, they fall down and feign dead. So master and servant agreed upon this plan. And when the Fellah entered the hut she served to them the platter which contained their supper, and they ate the whole thereof, she sitting by intent upon their action and expecting their death. But they served her with a sleight; for suddenly the Fellah changed countenance and made as though he waxed ill and faint, and fell upon the ground like one in the last agony, and shortly after the boy rolled upon the floor on similar wise. Whenas she considered them she exclaimed, "May Allah have no mercy upon you; the wretches are dead!" Hereupon she went out and called aloud to her lover, and as he was coming cried, "Hie thee hither and enjoy the sight of these dead ones;" so he hastened up to them, and seeing them stretched upon the door said, "They're dead." Presently quoth she, "We two, I and thou, will now make merry;" and so saying she withdrew with him into another hut, intending at once to sleep together. Hereupon the husband arose and went in to them and smote the lover with a quarter-staff upon the neck and broke in his back bone,[478] after which he turned to the wicked woman his wife and struck her and split open her head, and left the twain stone dead. And as soon as it was midnight he wrapped them in a single sheet and carried them forth outside the village, and after choosing a place,[479] dug a hole and thrust them therein. And ever after that same Fellah had rest from his wife, and he bound himself by a strong oath not to interwed with womankind-never no more.[480] And now (quoth Shahrazad) I will recount to you another tale touching the wiles of women; and thereupon she fell to relating the adventure of
THE WOMAN WHO HUMOURED HER LOVER AT HER HUSBAND'S EXPENSE.[481]
There was a man in Cairo and he had a wife who ever boasted of her gentle blood and her obedience and her docility and her fear of the Lord. Now she happened to have in the house a pair of fatted ganders[482] and she also had a lover whom she kept in the background. Presently the man came to visit her and seeing beside her the plump birds felt his appetite sharpened by them, so he said to her, "O Such-an-one, needs must thou let cook these two geese with the best of stuffing so that we may make merry over them, for that my mind is bent upon eating goose-flesh." Quoth she, "'Tis right easy; and by thy life, O So-and-so, I will slaughter them and stuff them and thou shalt take them and carry them home with thee and eat them, nor shall this pimp my husband taste of them or even smell them." "How wilt thou do?" asked he, and she answered, "I will serve him a sleight shall enter into his brains and then give them to thee, for none is dear to me as thyself, O thou light of mine eyes; whereas this pander my mate shall not touch a bittock thereof." Upon this agreement the lover went from her and when her husband returned at sunset-tide she said to him, "Ho Man, how canst thou ever call thyself a man when thou never invitest anybody to thy house and no day of the days thou sayest me, 'I have a guest coming to us,' even as another would do; and folk surely will talk of thee and declare thou art a miser and unknowing the ways of generosity." "O Woman," said he, "this were for me an easy business and to-morrow morning (Inshallah!) I will buy for thee flesh and rice and thou shalt let cook for us or dinner or supper, whereto I will invite one of my intimates." Quoth she to him, "Nay, O Man; rather do thou buy for me a pound of mince-meat; then slaughter the two geese and I will stuff them and fry them, for that nothing is more savoury to set before guests." Said he, "Upon my head and mine eye be it!" and as soon as it was dawn he slaughtered the geese and went forth and bought a Rotolo of meat which he minced and took all was required of rice and hot spices and what not else. These he carried home to his wife and said to her, "Do thou finish off thy cooking before midday when I will bring my guests," and presently he fared forth from her. Then she arose and cleaned out the geese and stuffed them with minced meat and a portion of rice and almonds and raisins;[483] and fried them until they were well cooked; after which she sent for her lover and as soon as he came she and he made merry together, and she gave him the geese which he took up and left her.—And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was