第132章 GHANIM BEN EYOUB THE SLAVE OF LOVE.(6)

Then love increased on him，and the fires were loosed in his heart，while she defended herself from him，saying，'I can never be thine.'They ceased not to make love and carousewhilst Ghanim was drowned in the sea of passion and distraction and she redoubled in cruelty and coyness，till the night brought in the darkness and let fall on them the skirts of sleepwhen Ghanim rose and lit the lamps and candles and renewed the banquet and the flowers；then took her feet and kissed themand finding them like fresh cream，pressed his face on them and said to her，'O my lady，have pity on the captive of thy love and the slain of thine eyes；for indeed I were whole of heart but for thee！'And he wept awhile. 'O my lord and light of my eyes，'replied she，'by Allah，I love thee and trust in thee，but I know that I cannot be thine.'And what is there to hinder？'asked he. Quoth she，'Tonight，I will tell thee my storythat thou mayst accept my excuse.'Then she threw herself upon him and twining her arms about his neck，kissed him and wheedled him，promising him her favours；and they continued to toy and laugh till love got complete possession of them. They abode thus for a whole month，sleeping nightly on one couchbut whenever he sought to enjoy hershe put him off，whilst mutual love increased upon them，till they could hardly abstain from one another. One night as they layside by sideboth heated with winehe put his hand to her breast and stroked it，then passed it down over her stomach to her navel. She awoke and sitting upput her hand to her trousers and finding them fast，fell asleep again. Presently，he put out his hand a second time and stroked her and sliding down to the ribbon of her trousers，began to pull at it，whereupon she awoke and sat up. Ghanim also sat up beside her and she said to him，'What dost thou want？'I want to lie with thee，'answered he，'and that we may deal frankly one with the other.'Quoth she，'I must now expound my case to thee，that thou mayst know my condition and my secret and that my excuse may be manifest to thee.'It is well，'replied he. Then she opened the skirt of her shiftand taking up the ribbon of her trousers，said to him，'O my lordread what is on this ribbon.'So he took it and saw，wrought in letters of gold，the following words，'I am thine，and thou art mineO descendant of the Prophet's Uncle！'When he read this，he dropped his hand and said to her'Tell me who thou art.'It is well，'answered she；'know that I am one of the favourites of the Commander of the Faithful and my name is Cout el Culoub. I was reared in his palace，and when I grew up，he looked on me，and noting my qualities and the beauty and grace that God had bestowed on me，conceived a great love for me；so he took me and assigned me a separate lodging and gave me ten female slaves to wait on me and all this jewellery thou seest on me. One day he went on a journey to one of his provinces and the Lady Zubeideh came to one of my waiting-women and said to her'I have somewhat to ask of thee.'What is itO my lady？'asked she.

'When thy mistress Cout el Culoub is asleep，'said Zubeideh，'put this piece of henbane up her nostrils or in her drink，and thou shalt have of me as much money as will content thee.'With all my heart，'replied the woman，and took the henbane，being glad because of the money and because she had aforetime been in Zubeideh's service. So she put the henbane in my drink，and when it was night，I drank，and the drug had no sooner reached my stomach than I fell to the ground，with my head touching my feet，and knew not but that I was in another world. When Zubeideh saw that her plot had succeeded，she put me in this chest and summoning the slavesbribed them and the doorkeepers，and sent the former to do with me as thou sawest. So my delivery was at thy hands，and thou broughtest me hither and hast used me with the utmost kindness. This is my story，and I know not what is come of the Khalif in my absence. Know then my condition，and divulge not my affair.'When Ghanim heard her words and knew that she was the favourite of the Commander of the Faithful，he drew back，being smitten with fear of the Khalifand sat apart from her in one of the corners of the place，blaming himself and brooding over his case and schooling his heart to patience，bewildered for love of one who might not be his. Then he wept，for excess of longing，and bemoaned the injustice and hostility of Fortune （Glory be to Him who occupies hearts with love！）

reciting the following verses：

The heart of the lover's racked with weariness and care，For his reason ravished is for one who is passing fair.

It was asked me，'What is the taste of love？'I answer made，'Love is sweet waterwherein are torment and despair.'

Thereupon Cout el Culoub arose and pressed him to her bosom and kissed him，for love of him mastered her heart，so that she discovered to him her secret and the passion that possessed her and throwing her arms about his neck，embraced him；but he held off from her，for fear of the Khalif. Then they talked awhile（and indeed they were both drowned in the sea of mutual love）

till day，when Ghanim rose and going to the market as usual，took what was needful and returned home. He found her in tears；but when she saw himshe ceased weeping and smiled and said，'Thou hast made me desolate，O beloved of my heart！By Allah，the hour that thou hast been absent from me has been to me as a year！I have let thee see how it is with me for the excess of my passion for thee；so come now，leave what has been and take thy will of me.'God forbid that this should be！'replied he. 'How shall the dog sit in the lion's place？ Verilythat which is the master's is forbidden to the slave.'And he withdrew from her and sat down on a corner of the mat. Her passion increased with his refusal；so she sat down beside him and caroused and sported with him，till they were both warm with wine，and she was mad for dishonour with him. Then she sang the following verses：

The heart of the slave of passion is all but broken in twain： How long shall this rigour last and this coldness of disdain？