"For the gathering of friends and familiars design'd * Between hands of Kings and Wazirs I'm shrin'd: Upon me is whatever taste loves and joys * Of flesh and viands all kinds combin'd: From me fill thee full of these cates and praise * Thy Lord, the Maker of all mankind."

Then the attendants placed bread upon the trays, and the Prince found writ in moulded letters upon the loaves the couplets that follow,

"And a loaf new-born from the flour of wheat, * White and piping hot from the oven-heat: Quoth to me my chider, Be wise and say * Soothe my heart and blame not, O friend I greet."

Presently the handmaidens piled upon the trays platters of silver and porcelain (whereof mention hath been made) containing all that lip and tongue gratify of the meat of muttons in fry and Kata-grouse and pigeon-poults and quails and things that fly of every kind and dye which hungry men can long to espy, and Yusuf saw inscribed upon the china dishes the following couplets,

"Platters of china fair * That all men's eyne ensnare, None seeth in this our town * China of mould so rare.

Then he looked upon the silver plate and found it graven with these lines,

"Plate worked in silver of the brightest white * In height of beauty, O thou joy to sight, When fully finisht and when perfect made * Becometh chargers peerless in delight."

And portrayed upon the porcelain were all that grow and fly of geese and poultry. Anon a handmaid brought in hand a knife wherewith to carve the meats, and Yusuf looking at the blade saw upon it letters gold-inlaid and forming these verses,

I am blade of finest grain * Wherefrom comes naught of bane: Fro' my friends all harm I ward * And thy foes by me be slain!"

Hereupon the handmaids ended the ordinance of the table and set everything in its own stead; after which the Princess took seat beside the Prince and said to him, "O my lord, hearten our heart and deign grace to us and honour us by eating with us: this indeed be a day of joy for my union with thee and for thy lighting this my lodging with the splendour of thy semblance so bright and thy beauty so rare and for thine alighting at my home and thine opportune kindness and thine inner graciousness,[FN#209] O thou unique one of the Age and the Time, and O thou who hast no peer in our day and our tide." Now when Yusuf heard the words of Al-Hayfa he said to her, "Wallahi, O thou who the moons adornest and who the sun and the daylight shamest, O lady of brow flower-bright and of stature elegant-slight, O thou who pa.s.sest in beauty and comeliness all mortal beings, O thou with smile like water sweet and mouth-dews like purest spring and of speech the softest, I wot thou art the lady of goodness and excellence and generosity and liberality."

Then she again fell to morselling the Prince until they both had a sufficiency of food, whereupon she bade them fetch water for washing their hands after meat. And they brought to Yusuf a basin of glittering gold, when he rejoiced with exceeding exultation the while he was sunk in meditation, and at times he gazed upon Al-Hayfa and his wits were bewildered and his senses seduced him to some- thing he would do with her for the abundance that was in her of beauty and loveliness. But his reason forbade to him his pa.s.sion, and quoth he in his mind, "To everything its own time,"-- 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

The Six Hundred and Seventy-sixth 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 Yusuf said, "To everything its own time, and soothly sayeth the old saw, Whoso hurrieth upon a matter ere opportunity consent shall at last repent. Now when they brought the basin before him and therein stood an ewer of crystal garnished with gold, he looked at it and saw graven thereupon the following couplets,

"I'm a Basin gold beautifies * For the hands of the great and the wise: Abased[FN#210] for the cleansing of palms, * Washing hands with the water of eyes."

Thereat he considered the ewer and saw inscribed upon it these lines,

"O rare the Ewer's form whereon must dote * Our hearts and pupils of our eyes fain gloat: Seems ferly fair to all admiring orbs * You seemly body wi' the slender throat.

And when he had finished washing his hands and had dried them with the napkins he pointed at them and spoke these couplets,

"Groweth my love a-heart and how to hide * When o'er the plains of cheek tear-torrents glide?

I veil what love these sobs and moans betray * With narrowed heart I spread my patience wide.

O Farer to the fountain,[FN#211] flow these eyes * Nor seek from other source to be supplied: Who loveth, veil of Love his force shall reave, * For tears shall tell his secrets unespied: I for the love of you am bye-word grown, * My lords, and driven to the Desert-side; While you in heart of me are homes, your home; * And the heart-dweller kens what there may bide.

When Prince Yusuf had finished his improvisation and the poetry which he produced, Princess Al-Hayfa bussed him upon the brow, and he seeing this waxed dazed of his wits and right judgment fled him and he fell fainting to the floor for a while of time.

And when he came to himself he pondered how she had entreated him and his Pa.s.sion would have persuaded him to do with her somewhat but Reason forbade and with her force he overcame himself. After his improvising Al-Hayfa again saluted him on the front and cried, "Indeed thou hast done well in thy words, O thou with Crescent's brow!" Presently she came for the table of wine and filling a cup drank it off; then she crowned another goblet and pa.s.sed it to Yusuf who took it and kissed it while she improvised some couplets as follows,

"Thy seduction of lips ne'er can I forbear * Nor deny love-confession for charms so rare: O thou aim of my eyes, how my longing stay? * O thou tall of form and long wavy hair?

Thy rose-hued cheek showeth writ new-writ[FN#212] * Dimming wine my cups in their rondure bear."

And presently she added,[FN#213]

"I hid his phantom, by the Lord, but showed * My looks the blush his scented cheek had sent: How veil the joy his love bestows, when I * To blood-red[FN#214]

tears on cheek give open vent, When his uplighted cheek my heart enfires * As though a-morn in flame my heart were pent?

By Allah, ne'er my love for you I'll change * Though change my body and to change consent.

And when Al-Hayfa had finished her improvisation and her poetry, Yusuf drained the goblet and after kissing it returned it to her; but he was as one a-swoon. Then she took it from him and he recovered and presently declaimed for her the following couplets,

"A maiden in your tribe avails my heart with love to fire[FN#215]

* And how can I a-hidden bear the love my eyes declare?

The branches of the sand-hill tree remember and recall * What time she softly bent and showed a grace beyond compare; And taught me how those eyne o'erguard the roses of her cheek *

And knew to ward them from the hand to cull her charms would dare."

As soon as Yusuf had finished his improvisation and what of poetry he had produced, Al-Hayfa took seat by his side and fell to conversing with him in sweetest words with softest smiles, the while saying, "Fair welcome to thee, O wonder of beauty and lovesome in eloquence and O charming in riant semblance and lord of high degree and clear n.o.bility: thou hast indeed illumined our place with the light of thy flower-like forehead and to our hearts joyance hast thou given and our cares afar hast thou driven and eke our b.r.e.a.s.t.s hast made broad; and this is a day of festival to laud, so do thou solace our souls and drain of our wine with us for thou art the bourne and end and aim of our intent." Then Al-Hayfa took a cup of crystal, and crowning it with clear-strained wine which had been sealed with musk and saffron, she pa.s.sed it to Prince Yusuf. He accepted it from her albeit his hand trembled from what befel him of her beauty and the sweetness of her poetry and her perfection; after which he began to improvise these couplets,

"O thou who drainest thy morning wine * With friends in a bower sweet blooms enshrine?

Place unlike all seen by sight of man * In the lands and gardens of best design--, Take gladly the liquor that quivers in cup * And elevates man, this clean aid of the Vine: This goblet bright that goes round the room * Nor Chosroes held neither Nu'uman's line.

Drink amid sweet flowers and myrtle's scent * Orange-bloom and Lily and Eglantine, And Rose and Apple whose cheek is dight * In days that glow with a fiery shine; 'Mid the music of strings and musician's gear * Where harp and pipe with the lute combine;-- An I fail to find her right soon shall I * Of parting perish foredeemed to die!"

Then Al-Hayfa responded to him in the same rhyme and measure and spake to him as follows,

"O thou who dealest in written line * Whose nature hiding shall e'er decline; And subdued by wine in its mainest might * Like lover drunken by strains divine,[FN#216]

Do thou gaze on our garden of goodly gifts * And all manner blooms that in wreaths entwine; See the birdies warble on every bough * Make melodious music the finest fine.

And each Pippet pipes[FN#217] and each Curlew cries * And Blackbird and Turtle with voice of pine; Ring-dove and Culver, and eke Hazar, * And Kata calling on Quail vicine; So fill with the mere and the cups make bright * With bestest liquor, that boon benign;-- This site and sources and scents I espy * With Rizwan's garden compare defy."

And when Al-Hayfa had ended her improvisation and what she had spoken to him of poetry, and Yusuf had given ear to the last couplet, he was dazed and amazed and he shrieked aloud and waxed distraught for her and for the women that were beside and about her, and after the cry he fell fainting to the ground. But in an hour[FN#218] he came to, when the evening evened and the wax candles and the chandeliers were lighted, his desire grew and his patience flew and he would have risen to his feet and wandered in his craze but he found no force in his knees. So he feared for himself and he remained sitting as before.--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

The Six Hundred and Seventy-eighth 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 Yusuf remained sitting as before, Al-Hayfa asked him saying, "How art thou hight, O dearling of my heart and fruit of my vitals?" Here- upon he told her his name and the name of his sire, and related to her the whole of what had befallen him, first and last, with the affair of the concubine and his faring forth from his own city and how he had sighted her Palace and had swum the stream and shot the shaft that carried the paper, after which he recited to her these couplets,

"I left my home for a fair young maid * Whose love my night with its light array'd; Yet wot I not what her name may be * Thus ignorance mating with union forbade.

But when of her gifts I was certified * Her gracious form the feat easy made; The King of Awe sent my steps to her * And to union with beauty vouchsafed me aid: Indeed disgrace ever works me shame * Tho' long my longing to meet I'm afraid."

When Al-Hayfa heard his name her great love to him waxed greater.

Then she took the lute upon her lap and caressed it with her finger-tips when it sighed and sobbed and groaned and moaned[FN#219] and she fell to singing these verses,

"A thousand welcomes hail thy coming fain, * O Yusuf, dearling son of Sahl's strain: We read thy letter and we understood * Thy kingly birth from sand that told it plain:[FN#220]

I'm thine, by Allah, I the loveliest maid * Of folk and thou to be my husband deign: Bruit of his fair soft cheek my love hath won * And branch and root his beauty grows amain: He from the Northern Realms to us draws nigh * For King Mihrjan bequeathing ban and bane; And I behold him first my Castle seek * As mate impelled by inspiration fain.

The land upstirs he and the reign he rules * From East to West, the King my father slain; But first he flies us for no fault of ours * Upon us wasting senseless words and vain: E'en so Creation's Lord hath deigned decree, * Unique in Heaven--glorified be He!"[FN#221]

Now when Yusuf heard the words of Al-Hayfa he rejoiced with exceeding joy and she was gladdened in like manner, after which he gifted her with all that was upon him of gear and in similar guise she doffed what dress was upon her and presented it to him.[FN#222] Then she bade the slave-girls bring her an especial suit and they fetched her a second bundle and she clothed Yusuf with what was therein of sumptuous clothes. After this the Prince abode with Al-Hayfa as an inmate of her palace for a term of ten days in all the happiness of life, eating and drinking and enjoying conjugal intercourse.[FN#223] Presently Almighty Allah (be He extolled and exalted!) decreed that, when all tidings of Yusuf son of Sahl were lost, his sire sent in search of him Yahya,[FN#224] his cousin and the son of his maternal aunt, amongst a troop of twenty knights to track his trail and be taught his tidings until Allah (be He glorified and magnified!) guided him to the pages who had been left upon the river-bank.

Here they had tarried for ten days whilst the sunshine burnt them and hunger was exterminating them; and when they were asked concerning their lord, they gave notice that he had swum the stream and had gone up to yonder Castle and had entered therein.

"And we know not (they ended) whether he be alive or dead." So the lord Yahya said to them, "Is there amongst you any will cross the current and bring us news of him?" But not one of them would consent and they remained in silence and confusion. So he asked them a second time and a third time yet none would rise up before him and hearten him to attempt the dangers of the stream, whereupon he drew forth his ink-case of bra.s.s and a sheet of paper and he fell to writing the following verses,

"This day I have witnessed a singular case * Of Yusuf scion to Sahl's dear race: Since he fared at undurn his sire was grieved * And the Palace remained but an empty place: I liken the youth to full moon 'mid stars * Disappeadng and darkening Earth's bright face.

'Tis my only fear that his heart is harmed, * Brent by Love-fires lacking of mercy and grace: By Allah, albeit man's soul thou rule * Among stranger folk thou art but an ace!"

Presently he took a reed and grasping it thrust thereinto the twisted and folded paper, after which he stopped the hole with wax; then, lashing it to the surface of the shaft, he set it upon the bow-handle and drew the string and shot the bolt in the direction of the Castle, whither it flew and fell at the foot of the staircase beside the main entrance. It so fortuned at that time a slave-girl came forth to fill her pitcher with water and she found the arrow and picked it up and carried it to her lady who was sitting in the speak-room at converse with Yusuf.

Hereupon the Prince hent the reed in hand and broke it and drew forth the paper which he opened and read and comprehended.

Hereupon he wept with exceeding great weeping until he fell to the floor a-faint and the Princess took the note from his grasp and perused it, and it was hard upon her, so she bade them beat the slave-girl who brought the writ with an hundred blows and they bastinadoed her till she lost her senses. But when Yusuf recovered, he thought of his pages and his people and his homestead and his family and he cried to Al-Hayfa, "Wallahi, I have sinned with a great sin when I left my suite in the desert; and Satan garred me forget them and the wine made me mindless of them and banished from my thought my folk and my home. And now 'tis my desire to fare and look upon my pages and to forgather with Yahya my cousin, the son of the King's sister and greet them and dismiss them to their homesteads, after which I will return to thee forthright." Quoth she, "By Allah, I may not patient myself away from thee a single hour otherwise shall my spirit depart my body, and I conjure thee by the Almighty that thou bid me return to them a reply!" Quoth Prince Yusuf, "What news wilt thou give them? An thou say that I never came to thee none will believe; for indeed my pages saw me pa.s.sing into thy Palace"--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

The Six Hundred and Eightieth 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 Prince Yusuf said to the Princess Al-Hayfa, "Indeed my pages saw me pa.s.sing into the Palace and have given him[FN#225] tidings to that effect." And she responded to him with fairest response and tenderness of terms and gem-like verse. Then she took her ink-case and paper and a brazen pen and would have written but he forbade her, saying by way of deprecation "This be not the right rede! An thou return a reply my slaves will take it and will bear it to my native country and will inform the folk of all our adventure: 'tis better far that I fare to them myself and greet them and going with them to my own country satisfy my sire, after which I will return to thee in hottest haste. And do not thou on this wise, for we fear lest our affair be made public and this our case be reported to thy royal father, and it prove hard to him by reason that all such talk in the case of the Kings is to them mighty grievous. Moreover, when he shall be acquainted with the truth he will either transport thee to his presence or he shall place over this Palace guards who may forbid thee from me and forbid me from thee, and this shall be a cause of our separation each from other." But Al-Hayfa shrieked aloud when she heard these words and wept and wailing said, "O my lord, prithee take me with thee, me and my handmaids and all that be in this my Palace." Said he, "I will not delay from thee save for the s.p.a.ce of my wayfare an I live and Allah Almighty preserve me." Hereat she wept with loud weeping and groaned, and love-longing surged up in her and she fell to repeating the following couplets,