' 'Out on thee!'
said she. 'Do I not use to take great store of costly stuffs of
thee, at a greater profit than thou askest, and send thee the
money?' 'Yes,' rejoined he; 'but I am in pressing need of the
price to-day.' With this she took the piece of stuff and threw it
back into his lap, saying, 'You merchants have no respect for any
one!' Then she turned to go, and I felt as if my soul went with
her; so I rose and stopped her, saying, 'O my lady, favour me by
retracing thy gracious steps!' She smiled and saying, 'For thy
sake, I will return,' came back and sat down in the shop opposite
me. Then I said to Bedreddin, 'What is the price set upon this
piece?' And he replied, 'Eleven hundred dirhems.' 'The other
hundred shall be thy profit,' rejoined I. 'Give me a piece of
paper and I will write thee a discharge for it! So I wrote him a
docket to that effect and gave the piece of stuff to the lady,
saying, 'Take it and, if thou wilt, bring me the price next
market-day; or, better still, accept it as a gift from me to
thee.' 'May God requite thee with good,' answered she, 'and make
thee my husband and master of my property!'[FN#77] (And God heard
her prayer.) 'O my lady,' replied I, 'this piece of stuff is
thine and another like it, if thou wilt but let me see thy face.'
So she lifted her veil, and I took one look at her face, that
caused me a thousand regrets, and fell so violently in love with
her, that I was no longer master of my reason.
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