The Seven Hundred and Thirty-fifth 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 when the youth approached the house of his friends, suddenly the Barber caught him up hard by thereto and placing himself in front said, "Allah upon thee, O my lord, do not forget me, but be sure of return to the shop that I may poll thee." Quoth the youth to him in his folly, " 'Tis well, O Man, I will certainly come back to thee and will not forget thy shop." So the lover left him and ganged his gait and presently went up to the home of his friend, whilst the Barber stayed expecting him and remained standing at the door; and of the denseness of the tonsorial wits would not budge from that place and would await the youth that he might shave him. Such was the case with them; but as regards the Yuzbashi, when he went forth from his house bent upon seeking his friend who had invited him, he found that a serious matter of business[347] would hinder his giving the entertainment, so the host said to the Captain, "Allah upon thee, O my lord, pardon me for I have this day a matter which will prevent my going forth to the garden and Inshallah—God willing—on the morrow we will there meet and enjoy ourselves, we and thou, free and with hearts at rest; for a man who hath work in hand may not take his pleasure and his thoughts will remain ever preoccupied." Hereupon quoth the Captain, "Sooth thou hast said, O Such-and-such, and herein there is naught to excuse of harm or hindrance, and the day's engagement between us if it be not to-morrow will come after to-morrow." So he farewelled his host and left him and returned homewards. Now that Yuzbashi was a man of honour and sagacity and pluck and spunk and by nature a brave. He ceased not wending until he had reached his home where he found the Barber standing at the house door and the fellow came up to him and said, "Allah upon thee, O my lord, when thou goest within do thou send me down a handsome youth who went upstairs into this dwelling." The Yuzbashi turned upon him with a face fiery as ruddy sparks and cried to him, "What, O Man, dost thou say that one hath gone up to my house, O pimp, O pander?[348] What manner of man can enter therein and I absent?" Quoth the Barber, "By Allah, O my lord, one did go up whilst I stood awaiting him the while he passed out of my sight; so when thou art abovestairs do thou send him down to me, saying, 'Thine own Barber awaiteth thee at the entrance below.' " Now when the Yuzbashi heard these words, he waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and going up into his house with haste and hurry knocked at the inner door which defended the Harem. The inmates heard him and knew that it was he, and the Youth fell to piddling in his bag-trowsers; but the woman took him and hid him in the shaft of the cistern[349] and going forth opened the door to her husband. Cried the Yuzbashi, "Of a truth, hath any right or reason to say that here in this house is a man?"[350] and she replied, "Oh, the shame of me! How ever, O my lord, can there be here a man?"[351] So the Yuzbashi went about seeking and searching but he came not upon any; then he went down to the Barber wight and cried, "O Man, I have found none upstairs save the womenkind;" but the Barber replied, "By Allah, O my lord, he went up before my eyes and I am still awaiting him." Then the Captain hurried away a second time and rummaged about, high and low, and left no place whereinto he did not pry and spy, yet he came upon no one. He was perplext at his affair and again going down to the Barber said to him, "O Man, we have found none." Still the fellow said to him doggedly, "Withal a man did go within, whilst I who am his familiar here stand expecting him, and thou sayest forsooth he is not there, albeit he be abovestairs and after he went in he never came out until this tide." Hereupon the Captain returned to his Harem a third time and a fourth time unto the seventh time; but he found no one; so he was dazed and amazed and the going in and faring out were longsome to him. All this and the youth concealed in the cistern shaft lay listening to their dialogue and he said, "Allah ruin this rascal Barber!" but he was sore afraid and he quaked with fright lest the Yuzbashi slay him and also slay his wife. Now after the eighth time the Captain came down to the Barber and said to him, "An thou saw him enter, up along with me and seek for him." The man did accordingly, but when the two had examined every site, they came upon no one; so the Barber was stupefied and said to himself, "Whoso went up before me and I looking upon him, whither can he have wended?" Then he fell to pondering and presently said, "By Allah, verily this is a wondrous matter that we have not discovered him;" but the Yuzbashi cried fiercely, "By the life of my head and by Him who created all creatures and numbered the numberings thereof, an I find not this fellow needs must I do thee die." The Barber of his exceeding terror fell to rummaging all the places but it fortuned that he did not look into the shaft of the cistern; however at last he said, "There remaineth for us only the cistern-shaft ;"— And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day, and fell silent, and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, 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 Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was