' The syndic, who was none
other than Ghanim's benefactor, looked at her and said, 'O my
lady, wilt thou go to my house and look upon a strange youth I
have there and see how goodly and elegant he is?' (Now this
stranger was Ghanim, but the syndic had no knowledge of him and
thought him to be some unfortunate debtor, who had been despoiled
of his property, or a lover parted from his beloved.) When she
heard his words, her heart fluttered and her bowels yearned, and
she said to him, 'Send with me some one who shall bring me to thy
house.' So he sent a little boy, who led her thither and she
thanked him for this. When she reached the house, she went in and
saluted the syndic's wife, who rose and kissed the ground before
her, knowing her. Then said Cout el Culoub, 'Where is the sick
man who is with thee?' 'O my lady,' replied she, weeping, 'here
he is, lying on this bed. By Allah, he is a man of condition and
bears traces of gentle breeding!' So Cout el Culoub turned and
looked at him, but he was as if disguised in her eyes, being worn
and wasted till he was become as thin as a skewer, so that his
case was doubtful to her and she was not certain that it was he.
Nevertheless, she was moved to compassion for him and wept,
saying, 'Verily, strangers are unhappy, though they be princes in
their own land!' And his case was grievous to her and her heart
ached for him, though she knew him not to be Ghanim.
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