' 'And who
and what is this youth?' asked the Afrit. 'Know, O Dehnesh,'
answered she, 'that there hath befallen him the like of what
befell thy mistress; for his father pressed him again and again
to marry, but he refused, till at length his father waxed wroth
and imprisoned him in the tower where I dwell: and I came up
to-night and saw him.' 'O my lady,' said Dehnesh, 'show me the
youth, that I may see if he be indeed handsomer than my mistress,
the Princess Budour, or not; for I cannot believe that there
lives her equal.' 'Thou liest, O accursed one!' rejoined
Maimouneh. 'O most ill-omened of Marids and vilest of Satans!
Sure am I that there is not in this world the like of my beloved.
Art thou mad to even thy beloved with mine?' 'I conjure thee by
Allah, O my lady,' said Dehnesh, 'to go back with me and see my
mistress, and after I will return with thee and look upon thy
beloved.' 'It must needs be so, O accursed one!' answered she.
'Yet, for that thou art a knavish devil, I will not go with thee
nor shalt thou come with me, save upon surety and condition of
pledge. If thy beloved prove handsomer than mine, the pledge
shall be thine against me; but if my beloved prove the fairer,
the pledge shall be mine against thee.
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