صفحة 728 من 1116

She spoke to her lady of thee and begged her to marry her to

thee; but she said, 'I will not do this, till I see the young

man; and, if he be worthy of thee, I will marry thee to him.' So

now we look for the moment to smuggle thee into the Palace and if

thou succeed in entering privily thou wilt win thy wish to wed

her; but if the affair get wind, the Lady Zubaydah will strike

off thy head.[FN#561] What sayest thou to this?" I answered, "I

will go with thee and abide the risk whereof thou speakest." Then

said he, "As soon as it is night, go to the Mosque built by the

Lady Zubaydah on the Tigris and pray the night prayers and sleep

there." "With love and gladness," cried I. So at nightfall I

repaired to the Mosque, where I prayed and passed the night. With

earliest dawn, behold, came sundry eunuchs in a skiff with a

number of empty chests which they deposited in the Mosque; then

all of them went their ways but one, and looking curiously at

him, I saw he was our go between.