"The husband having with great pleasure undertaken the commission, the woman returned to her recital.
"'Your slave informed your father and mother that you were to spend the remainder of the day and the night in a garden with your friends. This prevented them from being uneasy during that evening and next day; but on the following days all the merchants of Bagdad were in search of you. Messengers were sent to all the gardens in the neighbourhood of the city, to the woods, and to a great distance in the country. As you were nowhere to be found, and nobody had observed you, it was conjectured that you had fallen into one of those snares which are too common at Bagdad, where young people without knowledge and experience find death in the very cup of pleasure.
"'Your father and mother tore their hair through grief; your family and friends went into mourning. Some kind of consolation was supposed to be derived from the pretended funeral, which all the mourners in Bagdad were hired to attend, but where many real tears were shed. Every person was affected with the distress of your parents.'
"This recital, O virtuous dervish! made me very uneasy. I perceived the dreadful consequences of forgetting myself and my duty; and I always considered my misfortunes, and the distraction of mind which was the consequence thereof, as a punishment from Heaven, because, in the arms of love, I was unmindful of the sacred obligations of nature.
"After our neighbour had related that part of my history which it was necessary I should know, she rose up.
"'It is now time,' said she, 'to appear: my husband must already have announced you; go, and confirm the account which he has given of your return.'
"I then entered my father's house, and it is impossible to describe his joy, much less that of my mother, who fainted away in my arms.
"'What!' said my father, 'you are returned from Balsora? Poor child! the loss you might have sustained was not nearly equal in my estimation to the danger which you have run and the fatigues you have undergone.'
"'Father,' said I, still keeping up before the neighbours the story which I had thought it convenient to adopt, 'I know not whether our correspondent is to fail, but I will deliver to you securities sufficient to remove every fear. There is a diamond to put in your turban; here is one for the hilt of your poniard; another for the handle of your scimitar, and a bracelet for my mother. I believe that this is a full equivalent for the sum which we may lose by him.'
"They again embraced me, without asking any further explanation; the weeds of mourning soon disappeared, and every one was dressed in his festival robes. The house was filled with music; a thousand tapers shed their light, and the friends of my father and mother assembled to enjoy a splendid entertainment. The evening and night were spent by the company in amusement and joy.