Firstly, her eyes, the sworders; second, the spearman, her shape,
And thirdly, her ringlets that clothe her in armour,[FN#29]
row upon row.
Quoth she (and indeed I question, for tidings of her I love, All
whom I meet, or townsman or Bedouin, high or low)
Quoth she unto me, "My dwelling is in thy heart; look there And
thou shalt see me." I answer, "And where is my heart?
Heigho!"
When Maimouneh heard this, she said, 'Thou hast done well, O
Dehnesh! But tell me, which of the two is the handsomer?' And
he answered, 'My mistress Budour is certainly handsomer than thy
beloved.' 'Thou liest, O accursed one!' cried Maimouneh. 'Nay,
my beloved is more beautiful than thine!' And they ceased not to
gainsay each other, till Maimouneh cried out at Dehnesh and would
have laid violent hands on him; but he humbled himself to her and
softening his speech, said to her, 'Let us leave talking, for we
do but contradict each other, and rather seek one who shall judge
fairly between us, whether of the two is fairer, and let us abide
by his sentence.' 'I agree to this,' answered she and smote the
earth with her foot, whereupon there came up a one-eyed Afrit,
hump-backed and scurvy, with eyes slit endlong in his face.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180