书城公版Volume Six
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第124章

And when she ended her recitation she said,'O my cousin,give me this piece of linen.'So I gave it to her and she took it and unfolding it,saw what was therein.When the tryst time came for my going to my lover,the daughter of my uncle said to me,'Go,and peace attend thee;and when thou art about to leave her,recite to her the verse I taught thee long ago and which thou didst forget.'Quoth I,'Tell it me again';and she repeated it.

Then I went to the garden and entered the pavilion,where I found the young lad,awaiting me.When she saw me,she rose and kissed me and made me sit in her lap;and we ate and drank and did our desire as before.In the morning,I repeated to her my cousin's verse which was this,'Ho,lovers all!by Allah say me sooth What shall he do when Love sor'vexeth youth?'

When she heard this,her eyes filled with tears and she answered and said,'Strive he to cure his case,to hide the truth,Patiently humble self and sue for rush!'

I committed it to memory and returned home rejoicing at having done my cousin's bidding.When I entered the house I found her lying down and my mother at her head weeping over her case;but as soon as I went in to her my mother said to me,'A foul plague on such a cousin!How couldst thou leave the daughter of thy uncle ailing and not ask what ailed her?'But when my cousin saw me she raised her head and sat up and asked me,'O Aziz,didst thou repeat to her the couplet I taught thee?'I answered,'Yes,and when she heard it she wept and recited in answer another couplet which I committed to memory.'Quoth my cousin,'Tell it me.'I did so;and when she heard it she wept with much weeping and repeated the following verses,'How shall youth cure the care his life undo'th,And every day his heart in pieces hew'th?

In sooth he would be patient,but he findeth Naught save a heart which love with pains imbu'th.'

Then added my cousin,'When thou goest to her as of wont,repeat to her also these two couplets which thou hast heard.'I replied,'Hearkening and obedience!'and I went at the wonted time,to the garden,where there passed between my mistress and myself what tongue faileth to describe.When I was about to leave her,I repeated to her those two couplets of my cousin's;whereupon the tears streamed from her eyes and she replied,'If he of patience fail the truth to hide For him no cure save Death my vision view'th!'

I committed them to memory and returned home,and when I went in to my cousin I found her fallen into a fit and my mother sitting at her head.When she heard my voice,she opened her eyes and asked,'O Aziz! didst thou repeat the two couplets to her?'

whereto I answered,'Yes;but she wept on hearing them and she replied with this couplet beginning,If he of patience fail,to the end.'And I repeated it;whereupon my cousin swooned again,and when she came to herself,she recited these two couplets,'Hearkening,obeying,with my dying mouth I greet who joy of union ne'er allow'th:

Pair fall all happy loves,and fair befal The hapless lover dying in his drowth!'

Again when it was night,I repaired to the garden as usual where I found the young lady awaiting me.We sat down and ate and drank,after which we did all we wanted and slept till the morning;and,as I was going away,I repeated to her the saying of my cousin.When she heard the couplet she cried out with a loud cry and was greatly moved and exclaimed,'Awah!

Awah![517]By Allah,she who spake these lines is dead!'Then she wept and said to me,'Woe to thee!How is she who spoke thus related to thee?'Replied I,'She is the daughter of my father's brother.''Thou liest,'rejoined she;'by Allah,were she thy cousin,thou hadst borne her the same love as she bore thee!It is thou who hast slain her and may the Almighty kill thee as thou killedst her!By Allah,hadst thou told me thou hadst a cousin,I would not have admitted thee to my favours!'Quoth I,'Verily it was she who interpreted to me the signs thou madest and it was she who taught me how to come to thee and how I should deal with thee;and,but for her,I should never have been united to thee.'

She then asked me,'Did thy cousin then know of us?';and I answered,'Yes;'whereupon she exclaimed,'Allah give thee sorrow of thy youth,even as thou hast sorrowed her youth!'Then she cried to me,'Go now and see after her.'So I went away troubled at heart,and ceased not walking till I reached our street,when I heard sounds of wailing,and asking about it,was answered,'Azizah,we found her dead behind the door.'I entered the house,and when my mother saw me,she said,'Her death lieth heavy on thy neck and may Allah not acquit thee of her blood!'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Twentieth Night,She said,It hath reached me,O auspicious King,that the young merchant continued to Taj al-Muluk:'So I entered the house and when my mother saw me she said,'Her death lieth heavy on thy neck and may Allah not acquit thee of her blood!A plague on such a cousin!'Then came my father,and we laid her out and get ready her bier and buried her;and we had recitations of the whole Koran over her tomb and we abode by her grave three days,after which we returned to our home,and I grieving for her grievously.Then my mother came to me and said,'I would fain know what thou didst to her,to break her heart[518] for,O my son,I questioned her at all times of the cause of her complaint,but she would tell me nothing nor let me know aught of it.So Allah upon thee,tell me what thou hast been doing to her that she died.'Quoth I,'I did nothing.'Quoth my mother,'Allah avenge her on thee!Verily she told me naught,but kept her secret till she died of her love longings for thee;but when she died I was with her and she opened her eyes and said to me;'O wife of my uncle may Allah hold thy son guiltless of my blood and punish him not for what he hath done by me!