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What mishap hath betided thee?" "No mishap hath befallen me" she

answered, "save that my breast was straitened[FN#210] and my

heart heavy with sadness! so I drank a little wine to broaden it

and to hearten myself; then I rose to obey a call of Nature, but

the wine had gotten into my head and I fell against the alcove."

"Thou liest, like the whore thou art!" shrieked the Ifrit; and he

looked around the hall right and left till he caught sight of my

axe and sandals and said to her, "What be these but the

belongings of some mortal who hath been in thy society?" She

answered, "I never set eyes upon them till this moment: they must

have been brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments." Quoth

the Ifrit, "These words are absurd; thou harlot! thou strumpet!"

Then he stripped her stark naked and, stretching her upon the

floor, bound her hands and feet to four stakes, like one

crucified;[FN#211] and set about torturing and trying to make her

confess.