登陆注册
16697400000079

第79章

She asked me how I did,and I told her all that had befallen myself and Ali bin Bakkar and besought her for news of herself. She answered,'Know that when I saw the robbers break open thy door and rush in,I was in sore terror,for I doubted not but that they were the Caliph's officers and would seize me and my mistress and we should perish forthwith: so we fled over the roofs,I and the maids; and,casting ourselves down from a high place,came upon some people with whom we took refuge; and they received us and brought us to the palace of the Caliphate,where we arrived in the sorriest of plights. We concealed our case and abode on coals of fire till nightfall,when I opened the rivergate and,calling the boatman who had carried us the night before,said to him,'I know not what is become of my mistress; so take me in the boat,that we may go seek her on the river: haply I shall chance on some news of her. Accordingly he took me into the boat and went about with me and ceased not wending till midnight,when I spied a barque making towards the water gate,with one man rowing and another standing up and a woman lying prostrate between them twain. And they rowed on till they reached the shore when the woman landed,and I looked at her,and behold,it was Shams alNahar. Thereupon I got out and joined her,dazed for joy to see her after having lost all hopes of finding her alive.''And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Sixtysixth Night,She said,It hath reached me,O auspicious King,that the slavegirl went on telling the jeweller,''I was dazed for joy to see her,after having lost all hopes of finding her alive. When I

came up to her,she bade me give the man who had brought her thither a thousand gold pieces; and we carried her in,I and the two maids,and laid her on her bed; where she passed that night in a sorely troubled state; and,when morning dawned,I forbade the women and eunuchs to go in to her,or even to draw near her for the whole of that day; but on the next she revived and somewhat recovered and I found her as if she had come out of her grave. I sprinkled rosewater upon her face and changed her clothes and washed her hands and feet; nor did I cease to coax her,till I brought her to eat a little and drink some wine,though she had no mind to any such matter. As soon as she had breathed the fresh air and strength began to return to her,I took to upbraiding her,saying,'O my lady,consider and have pity on thyself; thou seest what hath betided us: surely,enough and more than enough of evil hath befallen thee; for indeed thou hast been nigh upon death. She said,'By Allah,O good damsel,in sooth death were easier to me than what hath betided me; for it seemed as though I should be slain and no power could save me.

When the robbers took us from the jeweller's house they asked me,Who mayest thou be? and hearing my answer,'I am a singing girl,they believed me. Then they turned to Ali bin Bakkar and made enquiries about him,'And who art thou and what is thy condition?; whereto he replied,'I am of the common kind. So they took us and carried us along,without our resisting,to their abode; and we hurried on with them for excess of fear; but when they had us set down with them in the house,they looked hard at me and seeing the clothes I wore and my necklaces and jewellery,believed not my account of myself and said to me,'Of a truth these necklaces belong to no singinggirl; so be soothfast and tell us the truth of thy case. I returned them no answer whatever,saying in my mind,'Now will they slay me for the sake of my apparel and ornaments; and I spoke not a word. Then the villains turned to Ali bin Bakkar,asking,'And thou,who art thou and whence art thou? for thy semblance seemeth not as that of the common kind. But he was silent and we ceased not to keep our counsel and to weep,till Allah softened the rogues' hearts to pity and they said to us,'Who is the owner of the house wherein we were?' We answered,'Such an one,the jeweller;whereupon quoth one of them,'I know him right well and I wot the other house where he liveth and I will engage to bring him to you this very hour. Then they agreed to set me in a place by myself and Ali bin Bakkar in a place by himself,and said to us,'Be at rest ye twain and fear not lest your secret be divulged; ye are safe from us. Meanwhile their comrade went away and returned with the jeweller,who made known to them our case,and we joined company with him; after which a man of the band fetched a barque,wherein they embarked us all three and,rowing us over the river,landed us with scant ceremony on the opposite bank and went their ways. Thereupon up came a horsepatrol and asked us who we were;so I spoke with the Captain of the watch and said to him,'I am Shams alNahar,the Caliph's favourite; I had drunken strong wine and went out to visit certain of my acquaintance of the wives of the Wazirs,when yonder rogues came upon me and laid hold of me and brought me to this place; but when they saw you,they fled as fast as they could. I met these men with them: so do thou escort me and them to a place of safety and I will requite thee as I am well able to do. When the Captain of the watch heard my speech,he knew me and alighting,mounted me on his horse; and in like manner did two of his men with Ali bin Bakkar. So I spoke to her'

(continued the handmaid) 'and blamed her doings,and bade her beware,and said to her,'O my lady,have some care for thy life!' But she was angered at my words and cried out at me;accordingly I left her and came forth in quest of thee,but found thee not and dared not go to the house of Ali bin Bakkar; so stood watching for thee,that I might ask thee of him and wot how it goes with him. And I pray thee,of thy favour,to take of me some money,for thou hast doubtless borrowed from thy friends part of the gear and as it is lost,it behoveth thee to make it good with folk.' I replied,'To hear is to obey! go on;' and I walked with her till we drew near my house,when she said to me,'Wait here till I come back to thee.''And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

同类推荐
  • 天仙道戒忌须知

    天仙道戒忌须知

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大威力乌枢瑟摩明王经

    大威力乌枢瑟摩明王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 玄都律文

    玄都律文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 高上玉皇本行经髓

    高上玉皇本行经髓

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说頞多和多耆经

    佛说頞多和多耆经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 逆天狂女:废材六小姐

    逆天狂女:废材六小姐

    一场阴谋,她家破人亡,为了报仇,她与仇人同归于尽。一朝穿越,她成了秦家胆小懦弱的废柴六小姐秦霜。再次睁眼,暴打跋扈四小姐、智退三姨娘、理抗家主、手扇各种天才,传闻四起,轰动天下。他是城主之子,却天生废体相貌其丑无比,无颜示人,被赠以废柴之名。可谁知他是名扬天下的千变邪君,时而俊美绝伦,时而奇丑无比,神鬼难辨。成亲当夜,她突然发现了的某些东西,于是一脸阴沉道:“你到底是人是鬼?”某男笑道:“娘子,为夫当然是人了。”某女又问:“那你是男是女?为什么一会是男一会是女,一会老人一会小孩子的?”猛然翻身,某人便被压在下方:“等会洞房了你就不知道了。”
  • 荒天

    荒天

    天地唾弃,万般道劫。尘世浮沉,红尘万丈。他,始终坚信;朗朗乾坤,唯我独尊。八方不败,千秋万代。神挡杀神,佛挡杀佛。
  • 复仇天使之蔷薇之恋

    复仇天使之蔷薇之恋

    她是天之骄女,他是玩市不恭的霸气冷少,他们碰撞到一起会产生怎样的火花.
  • 我就是剩女怎么地

    我就是剩女怎么地

    剩女?剩女怎么了,难道快30了就得把自己打发出去了?我偏不!我不是女王,但至少是公主。我要求不高,但至少是男人。so,不要拿着那无聊的镜子照耀我们,我们就是剩女怎么地?伟大的剩女万岁qq读者群:159027380欢迎各位亲们加入
  • 玄天武域

    玄天武域

    他一路走来,遇强则强;练无上神功,灭无尽敌人;最终超脱于凡事间。
  • 莫道不从容

    莫道不从容

    他如今春风得意。他如今事业有成。都说如花美眷抵不过似水流年,此经一别,时隔了年岁,他却仍似是最初的模样。莫燃知道,她永远都不可能无坚不摧。回忆是用来缅怀的,而记忆里尔雅的少年,隔着时光跟她微笑致意。莫燃,向前走,不要回头。
  • 西凉铁骑

    西凉铁骑

    在英雄如林、谋士如雨的三国,一个个普普通通的现代人,是如何脱颖而出,成为一方军阀;而后扫平诸雄、荡清宇内,成就不朽帝业!铁骑过处,四方臣服;荡平诸雄,一统江山!
  • 九龙决之风云再起

    九龙决之风云再起

    宇宙浩瀚无垠,蕴含着无限的资源,生活着无数的种族,龙灭就是这无数种族中龙族的龙子,却被一个巨大的阴谋陷害,让他脱离了龙族来到了地球……己身成人的龙灭却再次被算计在另一场巨大的阴谋中,从小就在孤儿院长大的他对自己的真正身份一概不知……成立了由十三位美女组成的星宿组织,还是挡不住其他美女对他的好奇心,面对越来越多的美女,他又该如何应对?风云已然再起,他又如何能够破除这让整个宇宙都颤抖的双重阴谋?
  • 光明圣主

    光明圣主

    我的第一部玄幻类小说,希望大家一起进步。
  • 职工饮食健康手册(最新职工职业健康指导丛书)

    职工饮食健康手册(最新职工职业健康指导丛书)

    这些知识内容包括了职业健康的各个方面,具有很强的系统性、科学性和实用性,简明扼要,易学好懂,十分便于操作和实践,是广大企事业单位用以指导现代职业健康的良好读物。