第24章 THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT(22)
When she had finishedI said to her'O my cousinlet thy mourning suffice thee： for weeping profiteth nothing.'She replied'Thwart me notor I will kill myself.'So I held my peace and let her go her way： and she ceased not to mourn and weep for the space of another year. At the end of the third year，I came into the mausoleum one dayvexed at something that had crossed me and weary of this excessive afflictionand found her by the tomb under the domesaying'O my lordI never hear thee speak to menonot one word. Why dost thou not answer meO my lord？'And she recited the following verses：
O tombO tombhave his beauties ceasedor does thy light indeedThe sheen of the radiant countenanceno more in thee abound？
O tombO tombthou art neither earth nor heaven unto me： How comes it then that sun and moon at once in thee are found？
When I heard thisit added wrath to my wrathand I said'Alas！
how much more of this mourning？'and I repeated the following[parody of her] verses：
O tombO tombhas his blackness ceasedor does thy light indeedThe sheen of the filthy countenanceno more in thee abound？
O tombthou art neither kitchen-stove nor sewer-pool for me！How comes it then that mire and coal at once in thee are found？
When she heard thisshe sprang to her feet and said'Out on theethou dog！it was thou that didst thus with me and woundedst the beloved of my heart and hast afflicted me and wasted his youthso that these three years he hath lainneither dead nor alive！'O foulest of harlots and filthiest of whorish doxies of hired slaves，'answered I'it was indeed I who did this！'And I drew my sword and made at her to kill her；but she laughed and said'Avauntthou dog！Thinkst thou that what is past can recur or the dead come back to life？ VerilyGod has given into my hand him who did this to me and against whom there was in my heart fire that might not be quenched and insatiable rage.'Then she stood up and pronouncing some words I did not understandsaid to me'Let one half of thee by my enchantments become stone and the other half remain man.'And immediately I became as thou seest me and have remained ever since neither sitting nor standing and neither dead nor alive. Then she enchanted the city with all its streets and gardens and turned it into the lake thou wottest of，and the inhabitantswho were of four religionsMuslims，ChristiansMagians and Jewsshe changed to fish of various coloursthe Muslims whitethe Christians bluethe Magians red and the Jews yellow；and the four islands she turned into four mountains encompassing the lake. Moreoverthe condition to which she has reduced me does not suffice her： but every day she strips me and gives me a hundred lashes with a whipso that the blood runs down me and my shoulders are torn. Then she clothes my upper half in a shirt of hair-cloth and over that she throws these rich robes.'And he wept and repeated the following verses：
LordI submit myself to Thee and eke to FateContentif so Thou pleaseto suffer and to wait.
My enemies oppress and torture me full sore： But Paradise at lastbelikeshall compensate.
Though Fate press hard on meI trust in the ElectThe Accepted One of Godto be my advocate.
With this the King turned to him and said'O youthafter having rid me of one troublethou addest another to me： but tell me，where is thy wife and where is the wounded slave？'The slave lies in the tomb under the dome，'answered the youth'and she is in the chamber over against the gate. Every day at sunriseshe comes out and repairs first to me and strips off my clothes and gives me a hundred strokes with the whip；and I weep and cry out，but cannot stir to keep her off. When she has done torturing me，she goes down to the slave with the wine and broth on which she feeds him；and to-morrow at sunrise she will come.'O youth，'rejoined the King'by AllahI will assuredly do thee a service by which I shall be remembered and which men shall chronicle to the end of time！'Then he sat down by the youth and talked with him till nightfallwhen they went to sleep. At peep of daythe King rose and put off his clothes and drawing his swordrepaired to the mausoleumwhereafter noting the paintings of the place and the candles and Lamps and perfumes burning therehe sought for the slave till he came upon him and slew him with one blow of the sword；after which he took the body on his back and threw it into a well that was in the palace. Then he returned to the dome and wrapping himself in the black's clotheslay down in his placewith his drawn sword by his side. After awhilethe accursed enchantress came out andgoing first to her husband，stripped him and beat him with the whipwhilst he cried out，'Alas！the state I am in suffices me. Have mercy on meO my cousin！'But she replied'Didst thou show me any mercy or spare my beloved？'And beat him till she was tired and the blood ran from his sides. Then she put the hair shirt on him and the royal robes over itand went down to the dome with a goblet of wine and a bowl of broth in her hands. When she came to the tombshe fell a-weeping and wailing and said'O my lordspeak to me！'
And repeated the following verse：
How long ere this rigour pass sway and thou relent？ Is it not yet enough of the tears that I have spent？'