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here am I!" [FN#437] O my lord," and came out unsteady of gait

after the pains and pleasures of the night; and she kissed his

hand, her face showing redoubled brightness and beauty for having

lain in the arms of that gazelle, her cousin. When her father,

the Wazir, saw her in such case, he asked her, "O thou accursed,

art thou rejoicing because of this horse-groom?", and Sitt

al-Husn smiled sweetly and answered, "By Allah, don't ridicule

me: enough of what passed yesterday when folk laughed at me, and

evened me with that groom-fellow who is not worthy to bring my

husband's shoes or slippers; nay who is not worth the paring of

my husband's nails! By the Lord, never in my life have I nighted

a night so sweet as yesternight!, so don't mock by reminding me

of the Gobbo." When her parent heard her words he was filled with

fury, and his eyes glared and stared, so that little of them

showed save the whites and he cried, "Fie upon thee! What words

are these?