第48章

Since the belov？d's gone，O soul，forswear the sweet of life Nor covet its continuance，for，wanting him，'twere vain.

List，O my friend，unto the tale of love，and God forbid That I should speak and that thy heart to hearken should not deign！

As'twere El Asmai himself，of passion I discourse Fancies rare and marvellous，linked in an endless chain.'[167]

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Twenty-third Night； She continued，When Hasan went in to his wife he saw his children and heard her repeating the verses afore mentioned.[168] Then she turned right and left，seeking the cause of her children's crying out，'O our father！'but saw no one and marvelled that her sons should name their sire at that time and call upon him.But when Hasan heard her verses，he wept till he swooned away and the tears railed down his cheeks like rain.Then he drew near the children and raised the cap from his head unseen of his wife；whereupon they saw him and they knew him and cried out，saying；'O our father！'Their mother fell a-weeping again，when she heard them name their sire's name and said，'There is no avoiding the doom which Almighty Allah hath decreed！'adding，'O Strange！

What garreth them think of their father at this time and call upon him，albeit it is not of their wont？'Then she wept and recited these couplets；'The land of lamping moon is bare and drear；* O eyne of me pour forth the brimming tear！

They marched： how shall I now be patient？ * That I nor heart nor patience own I swear！

O ye，who marched yet bide in heart of me，* Will you，O lords of me，return to that we were？

What harm if they return and I enjoy * Meeting，and they had ruth on tears of care？

Upon the parting-day they dimmed these eyne，* For sad surprise；and lit the flames that flare.

Sore longed I for their stay，but Fortune stayed * Longings and turned my hope to mere despair.

Return to us （O love！） by Allah，deign！ * Enow of tears have flowed for absence-bane.'

Then Hasan could no longer contain himself，but took the cap from his head；whereupon his wife saw him and recognising him screamed a scream which startled all in the palace，and said to him，'How camest thou hither？ From the sky hast thou dropped or through the earth hast thou come up？'And her eyes brimmed with tears and Hasan also wept.Quoth she，'O man，this be no time for tears or blame.Fate hath had its course and the sight was blinded and the Pen hath run with what was ordained of Allah when Time was begun： so，Allah upon thee，whencesoever thou comest，go hide；lest any espy thee and tell my sister and she do thee and me die！'Answered he，'O my lady and lady of all Queens，I have adventured myself and come hither，and either I will die or I will deliver thee from this strait and travel with thee and my children to my country，despite the nose of this thy wickedest sister.'But as she heard his words she smiled and for awhile fell to shaking her head and said，'Far，O my fife，far is it from the power of any except Allah Almighty to deliver me from this my strait！ Save thyself by flight and wend thy ways and cast not thyself into destruction；for she hath conquering hosts none may withstand.Given that thou tookest me and wentest forth，how canst thou make thy country and escape from these islands and the perils of these awesome places？ Verily，thou hast seen on thy way hither，the wonders，the marvels，the dangers and the terrors of the road，such as none may escape，not even one of the rebel Jinns.Depart，therefore，forthright and add not cark to my cark and care to my care，neither do thou pretend to rescue me from this my plight；for who shall carry me to thy country through all these vales and thirsty wolds and fatal steads？'Rejoined Hasan；'By thy life，O light of mine eyes，I will not depart this place nor fare but with thee！'Quoth she，'O man！ How canst thou avail unto this thing and what manner of man art thou？ Thou knowest not what thou sayest！ None can escape from these realms，even had he command over Jinns，Ifrits，magicians，chiefs of tribes and Marids.Save thyself and leave me；perchance Allah will bring about good after ill.'Answered Hasan，'O lady of fair ones，I came not save to deliver thee with this rod and with this cap.'And he told her what had befallen him with the two boys；

but，whilst he was speaking，behold，up came the Queen and heard their speech.Now when he was ware of her，he donned the cap and was hidden from sight，and she entered and said to the Princess；'O wanton，who is he with whom thou wast talking？'Answered Manar al-Sanar，'Who is with me that should talk with me，except these children？'Then the Quee took the whip and beat her，whilst Hasan stood by and looked on，nor did she leave beating her till she fainted；whereupon she bade transport her to another place.So they loosed her and carried her to another chamber whilst Hasan followed unseen.There they cast her down，senseless，and stood gazing upon her，till she revived and recited these couplets，[169]

'I have sorrowed on account of our disunion with a sorrow that made the tears to overflow from my eyelids；

And I vowed that if Fortune reunite us，I would never again mention our separation；

And I would say to the envious，Die ye with regret；By Allah I have now attained my desire！

Joy hath overwhelmed me to such a degree that by its excess it hath made me weep.

O eye，how hath weeping become thy habit？ Thou weepest in joy as well，as in sorrows.'

When she ceased her verse the slave-girls went out from her and Hasan took off the cap；whereupon his wife said to him，'See，O man，all this befel me not save by reason of my having rebelled against thee and transgressed thy commandment and gone forth without thy leave.[170] So，Allah upon thee blame me not for my sins and know that women never wot a man's worth till they have lost him.Indeed，I have offended and done evil；