第126章

When it wad the Two Hundred and Thirtysecond Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Bahadur，the Master of the Horse and the owner of the house，came to the door of the saloon and found it open，he entered slowly and softly and looking in，with head advanced and out stretched neck，saw Amjad and the girl sitting before the dish of fruit and the winejar in front of them. Now Amjad at that moment had the cup in his hand and his face turned to the door；and when his glance met Bahadur's eyes his hue turned pale yellow and his sidemuscles quivered，so seeing his trouble Bahadur signed to him with his finger on his lips，as much as to say，'Be silent and come hither to me.'Whereupon he set down the cup and rose and the damsel cried，'Whither away？'He shook his head and，signing to her that he wished to make water，went out into the passage barefoot. Now when he saw Bahadur he knew him for the master of the house；so he hastened to him and，kissing his hands，said to him，'Allah upon thee，O my lord，ere thou do me a hurt，hear what I have to say.'Then he told him who he was from first to last and acquainted him with what caused him to quit his native land and royal state，and how he had not entered his house of his free will，but that it was the girl who had broken the lockbolt and done all this.[390] When Bahadur heard his story and knew that he was a King's son，he felt for him and，taking compassion on him，said，'Hearken to me，O Amjad，and do what I bid thee and I will guarantee thy safety from that thou fearest；but，if thou cross me，I will kill thee.'Amjad replied，'Command me as thou wilt： I will not gainsay thee in aught；no，never，for I am the freedman of thy bounty.'Rejoined Bahadur，'Then go back forthwith into the saloon，sit down in thy place and be at peace and at shine ease；I will presently come in to thee，and when thou seest me （remember my name is Bahadur） do thou revile me and rail at me，saying，'What made thee tarry till so late？' And accept no excuse from me；nay，so far from it，rise and beat me；and，if thou spare me，I will do away thy life. Enter now and make merry and whatsoever thou seekest of me at this time I will bring thee forthwith；and do thou spend this night as thou wilt and on the morrow wend thy way. This I do in honour of thy strangerhood，for I love the stranger and hold myself bounder to do him devoir.'So Amjad kissed his hand，and，returning to the saloon with his face clad in its natural white and red，at once said to the damsel，'O my mistress，thy presence hath gladdened this shine own place and ours is indeed a blessed night.'Quoth the girl，'Verily I see a wonderful change in thee，that thou now welcomest me so cordially！'So Amjad answered，'By Allah，O my lady，methought my servant Bahadur had robbed me of some necklaces of jewels，worth ten thousand diners each；however，when I went out but now in concern for this，I sought for them and found them in their place. I know not why the slave tarrieth so long and needs must I punish him for it.'She was satisfied with his answer，and they sported and drank and made merry and ceased not to be so till near sundown，when Bahadur came in to them，having changed his clothes and girt his middle and put on shoes，such as are worn of Mamelukes. He saluted and kissed the ground；then held his hands behind him and stood，with his head hanging down，as one who confesseth to a fault. So Amjad looked at him with angry eyes and asked，'Why hast thou tarried till now，O most pestilent of slaves？'Answered Bahadur，'O my lord，I was busy washing my clothes and knew not of thy being here；for our appointed time was nightfall and not daytide.'But Amjad cried out at him，saying，'Thou liest，O vilest of slaves！ By Allah，I must needs beat thee.'So he rose and，throwing Bahadur prone on the ground，took a stick and beat him gently；but the damsel sprang up and，snatching the stick from his hand，came down upon Bahadur so lustily，that in extreme pain the tears ran from his eyes and he ground his teeth together and called out for succour；whilst Amjad cried out to the girl 'Don't'；and she cried out，'Let me satisfy my anger upon him！'till at last he pulled the stick out of her hand and pushed her away. So Bahadur rose and，wiping away his tears from his cheeks，waited upon them the while，after which he swept the hall and lighted the lamps；but as often as he went in and out，the lady abused him and cursed him till Amjad was wroth with her and said，'For Almighty Allah's sake leave my Mameluke；he is not used to this.'