Pagina 772 di 1116

I had not sat there long before the latticed window of one of the

houses opposite was thrown open, and there appeared at it a young

lady, as she were the full moon at its fullest; never in my life

saw I her like; and she began to water some flowers on the window

sill.[FN#603] She turned right and left and, seeing me watching

her, shut the window and went away. Thereupon fire was suddenly

enkindled in my heart; my mind was possessed with her and my

woman hate turned to woman love. I continued sitting there, lost

to the world, till sunset when lo! the Kazi of the city came

riding by with his slaves before him and his eunuchs behind him,

and dismounting entered the house in which the damsel had

appeared. By this I knew that he was her father; so I went home

sorrowful and cast myself upon my carpet bed in grief. Then my

handmaids flocked in and sat about me, unknowing what ailed me;

but I addressed no speech to them, and they wept and wailed over

me.