" And I replied, "I will well; but in
private." So he signed to his attendants, who withdrew to a
distance, and I told him the case, adding, "I promised to bring
thee to visit her." And he said, "Thou didst well." Then we spent
the day in our usual pleasures, but Mamoun's heart was taken with
the lady, and hardly was the appointed time come, when we set
out. As we went along, I cautioned him, "Look that thou call me
not by my name before her; but do thou sing and I will accompany
thee." He assented to this, and we fared on till we came to the
house, where we found two baskets hanging ready. So we sat down
in them and were drawn up to the usual place, where the damsel
came forward and saluted us. When Mamoun saw her, he was amazed
at her beauty and grace; and she began to entertain him with
stories and verses. Presently, she called for wine and we fell to
drinking, she paying him especial attention and delighting in him
and he repaying her in kind. Then he took the lute and sang an
air, after which she said to me, "And is thy cousin also a
merchant?" "Yes," answered I, and she said, "Indeed, ye resemble
one another nearly." But when Mamoun had drunk three pints, he
grew merry with wine and called out saying, "Ho, Isaac!" "At thy
service, O Commander of the Faithful," answered I.
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