I entered and sat down; but hardly
had I done so, when the lady came up to me, crowned with a diadem
of pearls and jewels and having her eyebrows pencilled and her
hands stained with henna. When she saw me, she smiled on me and
embraced me and pressed me to her bosom; and she set her mouth to
mine and sucked my tongue, and I did the like with her. Then she
said, 'Can it be true that thou art indeed come to me?' 'I am thy
slave,' answered I; and she said, 'Welcome, a thousand times! By
Allah, since I first saw thee, sleep has not been sweet to me nor
food pleasant!' Quoth I, 'So has it been with me also.' Then we
sat down to converse, and I bowed my head for bashfulness.
Presently, she set before me a tray of the most exquisite meats,
such as ragouts and fritters soaked in honey and fricassees and
fowls stuffed with sugar and pistachio-nuts, and we ate till we
were satisfied. Then they brought ewer and basin and I washed my
hands, after which we scented ourselves with rose-water mingled
with musk and sat down again to converse. We complained to each
other of the sufferings we had undergone, and my love for her
took such hold on me, that all my wealth was of little account to
me, in comparison with her. We passed the time in toying and
kissing and dalliance, till nightfall, when the damsels set
before us a banquet of food and wine and we sat carousing half
the night.
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