" Then she returned to
Nimeh and said to him, "I have seen thy slave-girl and find that
she longs for thee yet more than thou for her; for the Commander
of the Faithful is minded to foregather with her, but she refuses
herself to him. But if thou be stout of heart and firm of
courage, I will bring you together and venture myself for you and
make shift to bring thee to her in the Khalif's palace; for she
cannot come forth." And Nimeh answered, "God requite thee with
good!" Then she went back to Num and said to her, "Thy lord is
indeed dying of love for thee and would fain see thee and
foregather with thee. What sayst thou?" "And I also," answered
Num, "am dying for his sight." So the old woman took a parcel of
women's clothes and ornaments and repairing to Nimeh, said to
him, "Come apart with me into a privy place." So he brought her
into the room behind the shop, where she painted him and decked
his wrists and plaited his hair, after which she clad him in a
slave-girl's habit and adorned him after the fairest fashion of
woman's adornment, till he was as one of the houris of Paradise;
and when she saw him thus, she exclaimed, "Blessed be God, the
most excellent Creator! By Allah, thou art handsomer than the
damsel! Now, walk with thy left shoulder forward and swing thy
buttocks.
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