The place was full of precious stuffs, and therein were chests
and stools set, on each of which latter lay a parcel of clothes
and a purse full of gold and silver. The floor was paved with
marble and the house bore witness in every part to its owner's
fortune. When Amjed saw all this, he was confounded and said in
himself, 'I am a lost man! Verily, we are God's and to God we
return!' As for the lady, she was transported at what she saw
and said to him, 'By Allah, O my lord, thy servant has not failed
of his duty; for see, he has swept the place and cooked the meat
and set on the fruit; and indeed I come at the best of times.'
But he paid no heed to her, his heart being taken up with fear of
the people of the house; and she said, 'Fie, O my lord, O my
heart! What ails thee to stand thus?' Then she sighed and
giving him a kiss, that sounded like the cracking of a walnut,
said, 'O my lord, and thou have bidden other than me, I will gird
my middle and serve her and thee.' Amjed laughed from an
angerful heart and sat down, panting and saying in himself,
'Alack, how I shall smart for it, when the owner of the house
returns!' She seated herself by him and fell to jesting and
laughing, whilst he sat careful and frowning, thinking a thousand
thoughts and saying in himself, 'The master of the house will
surely come and what shall I say to him? He will assuredly kill
me without mercy.
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