I have endured till e’en endurance owned

How I bore up with her; (a thing more bitter

Than bitter aloes) yet though a bitterer thing

Is not, than is that drug, it were more bitter

To me should Patience leave me unsustained.

Then said he to his wife, “O woman, I saw with the merchant our friend, first my knife, which I knew, for that its fashion was a device of my own wit, nor doth its like exist; and he told me of it a story that troubled the heart: so I came back and found it at home. Again to-day I see him with the watch, whose fashion also is of my own device, nor is there the fellow of it in Bassorah, and of this also he told me a story that saddened my heart. Wherefore I am bewildered in my wit and know not what is to come to me.” Quoth she, “The purport of thy speech is that thou suspectedst me of being the friend of that merchant and his leman, and eke of giving him thy good; so thou camest to question me and make proof of my perfidy; and, had I not shown thee the knife and the watch, thou hadst been certified of my treason. But since, O man, thou deemest me this ill deme, henceforth I will never again break with thee bread nor drain with thee drink, for I loathe thee with the loathing of prohibition.[[427]]” So he gentled her and excused himself till he had appeased her and returned, repenting him of having bespoken her thus, to his shop, where he sat——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the jeweller quitted his wife, he repented having bespoken her thus and, returning to his shop, he sat there in disquiet sore and anxiety galore, between belief and unbelief. About eventide he went home alone, not bringing Kamar al-Zaman with him: whereupon quoth his wife, “Where is the merchant?”; and quoth he, “In his lodgings.” She asked, “Is the friendship between thee and him grown cold?” and he answered, “By Allah, I have taken a dislike to him, because of that which hath betided me from him.”[[428]] Quoth she, “Go fetch him, to please me.” So he arose and went in to Kamar al-Zaman in his house; where he saw his own goods strewn about and knew them. At this sight, fire was kindled in his heart and he fell a-sighing. Quoth the youth, “How is it that I see thee melancholy?” Obayd was ashamed to say, “Here are my goods in thy house: who brought them hither?”; so he replied only, “A vexation hath betided me; but come thou with me to my house, that we may solace ourselves there.” The other rejoined, “Let me be in my place: I will not go with thee.” But the jeweller conjured him to come and took him to his house, where they supped and passed the evening together, Kamar al-Zaman talking with the jeweller, who was drowned in the sea of solicitude and for a hundred words, wherewith the guest bespoke him, answered him only one word. Presently, the handmaid brought them two cups of drink, as usual, and they drank; whereupon the jeweller fell asleep, but the youth abode on wake, because his cup was not drugged. Then came Halimah and said to her lover, “How deemest thou of yonder cornuted, who is drunken in his heedlessness and weeteth not the wiles of women? There is no help for it but that I cozen him into divorcing me. To-morrow, I will disguise myself as a slave-girl and walk after thee to his shop, where do thou say to him, O master, I went to-day into the Khan of Al-Yasirjíyah, where I saw this damsel and bought her for a thousand dinars. Look at her for me and tell me whether she was cheap at that price or dear. Then uncover to him my face and breasts and show all of me to him; after which do thou carry me back to thy house, whence I will go to my chamber by the secret passage, so I may see the issue of our affair with him.” Then the twain passed the night in mirth and merriment, converse and good cheer, dalliance and delight till dawn, when she returned to her own place and sent the handmaid to arouse her lawful lord and her lover. Accordingly they arose and prayed the dawn-prayer and brake their fast and drank coffee, after which Obayd repaired to his shop and Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to his own house. Presently, in came Halimah to him by the tunnel, in the guise of a slave-girl, and indeed she was by birth a slave-girl.[[429]] Then he went out and she walked behind him, till he came to the jeweller’s shop and saluting him, sat down and said, “O master, I went into the Khan of Al-Yasirjiyah to-day, to look about me, and saw this damsel in the broker’s hands. She pleased me; so I bought her for a thousand dinars and I would have thee look upon her and see if she be cheap at that price or no.” So saying, he uncovered her face and the jeweller saw her to be his own wife, clad in her costliest clothes, tricked out in her finest trinkets and kohl’d and henna’d, even as she was wont to adorn herself before him in the house. He knew with full knowledge her face and dress and trinkets, for those he had wrought with his own hand, and he saw on her fingers the seal-rings he had newly made for Kamar al-Zaman, whereby he was certified with entire assurance that she was indeed his very wife. So he asked her, “What is thy name, O slave-girl?”; and she answered, “Halimah,” naming to him her own name; whereat he was amazed and said to the youth, “For how much didst thou buy her?” He replied, “For a thousand dinars”; and the jeweller rejoined, “Thou hast gotten her gratis; for her rings and clothes and trinkets are worth more than that.” Said Kamar al-Zaman, “May Allah rejoice thee with good news! Since she pleaseth thee, I will carry her to my house;” and Obayd said, “Do thy will.” So he took her off to his house, whence she passed through the secret passage to her own apartment and sat there. Meanwhile, fire flamed in the jeweller’s heart and he said to himself, “I will go see my wife. If she be at home, this slave-girl must be her counterpart, and glory be to Him who alone hath no counterpart! But, if she be not at home, ’tis she herself without a doubt.” Then he set off running, and coming to his house, found his wife sitting in the same clothes and ornaments he had seen upon her in the shop; whereupon he beat hand upon hand, saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” “O man,” asked she, “art thou mad or what aileth thee? ’Tis not thy wont to do thus, and needs must it be that something hath befallen thee.” Answered he, “If thou wilt have me tell thee be not vexed.” Quoth she, “Say on”; so he said, “Our friend the merchant hath bought a slave-girl, whose shape is as thy shape and her height as thy height; moreover, her name is even as thy name and her apparel is the like of thine apparel. Brief, she resembleth thee in all her attributes, and on her fingers are seal-rings like thy seal-rings and her trinkets are as thy trinkets. So, when he displayed her to me, methought it was thyself and I was perplexed concerning my case. Would we had never seen this merchant nor companied with him; and would he had never left his own country and we had not known him, for he hath troubled my life which before was serene, causing ill-feeling to succeed good faith and making doubt to enter into my heart.” Said she, “Look in my face, belike I am she who was with him and he is my lover and I disguised myself as a slave-girl and agreed with him that he should display me to thee, so he might lay a snare for thee.” He replied, “What words are these? Indeed, I never suspected that thou wouldst do the like of this deed.” Now this jeweller was unversed in the wiles of women and knew not how they deal with men, nor had he heard the saying of him who said:—

A heart bore thee off in chase of the fair, ✿ As fled Youth and came Age wi’ his hoary hair:

Laylà troubles me and love-joys are far; ✿ And rival and risks brings us cark and care.