"Payne Volume VIII" - читать интересную книгу автора (Paynes Versions)

ааааа Harkye, O man! Desist from this thou dost design Nor to the crooked ways of frowardness incline.
ааааа Love is a net, and if thou fall into its snare, The day thereafterward for weariness thou'lt pine
ааааа Occasion to our spy thou'lt give for talk and all The people will reproach me with this love of thine.
ааааа Small marvel 'tis if thou a fair one love: gazelles Thou seest lions chase and in their snares entwine.
And he answered her with these:
ааааа O cassia-branch, delight of garth and knoll, Spare thou my heart, who dost possess my soul.
ааааа The cup of death for love thou'st made me drain, Clad me in wede of abjectness and dole.
ааааа How shall I be consoled, since thou hast taken My heart, for love of thee a red-hot coal!
'Away from me!' cried she. 'Quoth the adage, "He who giveth loose to his eyes wearieth his heart." By Allah, I am tired of discourse with thee and chiding, and indeed thy soul coveteth that which shall never be thine; nay, though thou gavest me my weight in gold, thou shouldst not get thy wish of me; for, by the bounty of God the Most High, I know nought of the things of the world, save pleasant life.' 'O my lady Zein el Mewasif,' answered he, 'ask of me what thou wilt of the goods of the world.' Quoth she, 'What shall I ask of thee? For sure thou wilt go out into the highway [and discover my case to the folk] and I shall become a laughing-stock among them and they will make a byword of me in verse, me who am the daughter of the chief of the merchants and whose father is known of the notables of the people. I have no need of money or raiment and this love will not be hidden from the folk and I shall be brought to shame, I and my family.'
With this Mesrour was confounded and could make her no answer; but presently she said, 'Indeed, the skilful thief, if he steal, stealeth not but what is worth [the adventuring of] his neck, and every woman who doth lewdness with other than her husband is styled a thief; so, if it must be thus and no help, thou shalt give me whatsoever my heart desireth of money and raiment and trinkets and what not.' Quoth he, 'An thou soughtest of me the world and all that is therein, from East to West, it were but a little thing, compared with thy favour.' And she said, 'I will have of thee three suits, each worth a thousand dinars, and pearls and jewels and jacinths, and I require of thee, to boot, that thou swear to me that thou wilt keep my secret nor discover it to any and that thou wilt company with none but me; and I in turn will swear to thee a true oath that I will never play thee false.'
So he swore to her the oath she required and she swore to him, and they agreed upon this; after which she said to her nurse Huboub, 'To-morrow go thou with Mesrour to his lodging and seek somewhat of musk and ambergris and aloes and rose-water and see what he hath. If he be a man of condition, we will take him into favour; else will we leave him.' Then said she to him, 'O Mesrour, I desire somewhat of musk and ambergris and aloes-wood; so do thou send it me by Huboub.' And he answered, 'I hear and obey; my shop is at thy commandment.' Then the wine went round between them and their session was pleasant; but Mesrour's heart was troubled for the passion and longing that possessed him; and when Zein el Mewasif saw him in this plight, she said to her slave-girl Sukoub, 'Arouse Mesrour from his stupor; mayhap he will awake.' 'Willingly,' answered Sukoub and sang the following verses:
ааааа An if thou be in love, bring gold and gear and in thy lays Set forth thy love, so thou mayst win the aim of thine essays
ааааа And taste the favours of a fawn, soft-eyed and smiling-lipped, Whose shape is as the cassia-branch, when to the breeze it sways.
ааааа Look on her; in her charms thou'lt see matter for wonderment And pour thy life out, ere the term appointed to thy days.
ааааа These be the attributes of love, an thou but knewst thereof; But, if the gold delude thee, leave the gold and go thy ways.
Mesrour apprehended [her meaning] and said, 'I hear and understand. Never was stress but after came relief, and He who afflicteth will order [the issue].' Whereupon Zein el Mewasif recited the following:
ааааа Awake, O Mesrour, from love's stupor; for lo, I fear lest our love bring thee travail and woe.
ааааа Sure proverbs on us East and West shall be made And the folk our report for a wonder shall know.
ааааа Leave loving my like, or for sure thou'lt have blame.--Why cleav'st thou to me of all women? I trow,
ааааа One well-born shouldst thou love.--Thou'lt a byword become And find not a pitying friend high or low
ааааа I'm a Pharisee's child and the folk fear my wrath: Would the term of my life were accomplished, heigho!
And Mesrour answered her with these verses:
ааааа Leave me to my affliction; to love thee I'm content; And blame me not, for censure my passion doth augment.
ааааа Over my heart ye lord it in tyrant-wise, whilst I Fare westward neither eastward for very languishment.
ааааа Forbidden 'tis to slay me of passion's law; they say, 'The slain of love's a victim, oppressed and innocent.'
ааааа Were there a judge in passion, to him I'd make my moan, Mayhap he'd do me justice in his arbitrament.
They ceased not from chiding and discourse till the morning beamed, when Zein el Mewasif said to him, 'O Mesrour, it is time for thee to depart, lest one of the folk see thee and foul befall us.' So he arose and going forth, fared on, accompanied by Huboub, till they came to his lodging, where he talked with her and said to her, 'All thou seekest of me thou shalt presently have, so but thou wilt bring me to her enjoyment.' Quoth Huboub, 'Comfort thy heart;' whereupon he rose and gave her a hundred dinars, saying, 'O Huboub, I have by me a dress worth a hundred dinars.' 'O Mesrour,' answered she, 'make haste with the dresses and what not else thou didst promise her, ere she change her mind, for we may not avail to take her save with craft and beguilement, and she loveth the recitation of verses.' Quoth he, 'I hear and obey,' and bringing her the musk and ambergris and aloes-wood and rose-water, returned with her to Zein el Mewasif and saluted her. She returned his greeting with the sweetest of speech, and he was confounded at her beauty and improvised the following verses:
ааааа O sun, midmost the dark that shinest in the skies, O thou that hast benumbed my wit with great black eyes,
ааааа O loveling sweet, that com'st with neck surpassing fair, Whose cheek the garden-rose eclipses and outvies,
ааааа Blind not with thy disdain our sights, for thy disdain A grievous matter is, the heart that terrifies.
ааааа Passion took up its stead with me, and 'tis forbid To it to carry off the life's last lingering sighs.
ааааа Indeed, the love of you doth lord it in my heart, And save to you, I find no issue anywise.
ааааа Yet haply thou'lt relent towards a lover sad; So shall his darkness flee and morning bright arise.
When she heard his verses, she cast at him a look, that bequeathed him a thousand regrets and his heart and soul were ravished thereby and answered him as follows:
ааааа Think not from her, of whom thou art enamoured, aye To win delight; so put desire from thee away.
ааааа Leave that thou hop'st, for 'gainst her rigours whom thou lov'st Among the fair, in vain is all thou canst essay.
ааааа My looks to lovers bring discomfiture and woe: Indeed, I make no count of that which thou dost say.
When he heard this, he dissembled and took patience, saying in himself, 'There is nothing for it but patience against calamity;' and on this wise they abode till night-fall, when she called for food and they set before her a tray, wherein were all manner meats, quails and pigeons and mutton and so forth, of which they ate till they had enough. Then she bade take away the tables and they did so and brought washing gear. So they washed their hands, after which she ordered her women to bring the candlesticks, and they set on candlesticks and candles therein of camphorated wax.
Then said she, 'By Allah, my breast is straitened to night and I am fevered.' Quoth Mesrour, 'May God dilate thy breast and do away thy trouble!' And she aaid, 'O Mesrour, I am used to play at chess: knowest thou aught of the game?' 'Yes,' answered he, 'I am skilled therein;' whereupon she bade her maid Huboub fetch her the chessboard. So she went away and presently returning with the board, set it before her, and behold, it was of ebony inlaid with ivory, with squares traced out in glittering gold, and its pieces were of pearl and ruby. Mesrour was amazed at this and she said to him, 'Wilt thou have red or white?' 'O princess of fair ones and adornment of the morning,' answered he, 'do thou take the red, for they are handsome and fitter for the like of thee, and leave me the white.' 'So be it,' answered she and taking the red pieces, ranged them opposite the white, then put out her hand to make the first move.
He looked at her fingers, which were white as paste, and was confounded at their beauty and elegant shape; whereupon she turned to him and said, 'O Mesrour, be not bewildered, but take patience and calm thyself.' 'O thou whose beauty puts the moons to shame,' answered he, 'how shall a lover look on thee and have patience?' 'Checkmate!' (7) said she and beat him; wherefore she knew that he was mad for love of her and said to him, 'O Mesrour, I will not play with thee save for a set stake.' 'I hear and obey,' answered he and she said, 'Swear to me and I will swear to thee that neither of us will cheat the other.' So they swore this and she said, 'O Mesrour, if I beat thee, I will have ten dinars of thee, and if thou beat me, I will give thee nothing.' 'O my lady,' rejoined he, 'be not false to thine oath, for I see thou art an over match for me at this game!' 'Agreed,' said she and they ranged their men and fell again to playing.
Now she had on her head a kerchief of blue brocade; so she laid it aside and tucking up her sleeve, showed a wrist like a shaft of light and passed her hand over the red pieces, saying to him, 'Look to thyself.' But he was dazzled at her beauty and the sight of her charms bereft him of reason, so that he became dazed and stupefied and put out his hand to the white men, but it lit upon the red. 'O Mesrour,' said she, 'where are thy senses? The red are mine and the white thine.' And he replied, 'Who can look on thee, without losing his senses?' Then, seeing how it was with him, she took the white from him and gave him the red, and they played and she beat him.
He ceased not to play with her and she to beat him, whilst he paid her each time ten dinars, till, seeing him to be distracted for love of her, she said to him, 'O Mesrour, thou wilt never come to thy desire, except thou beat me; and henceforth, I will not play with thee save for a stake of a hundred dinars a game.' 'With all my heart,' answered he and they went on playing, whilst she still beat him and he won not a single game, but paid her a hundred dinars each time; and on this wise they abode till the morning, when he rose. Quoth she, 'What wilt thou, O Mesrour?' And he replied, 'I mean to go to my lodging and fetch somewhat of money: it may be I shall attain my desire.' 'Do as seemeth good to thee,' said she. So he went home and taking all the money he had, returned to her, reciting the following verses:
ааааа Methought I caught a bird in sleep, as I did deem, All in a garden fair with smiling flowers agleam.
ааааа That I shall get of thee the amorous delight, Th' interpretation is, me-seems, of this my dream.
Then they fell a-playing again; but she still beat him and he could not beat her once; and on this wise they abode three days, till she had gotten of him all his money: whereupon, 'O Mesrour,' said she, 'what wilt thou do now?' And he answered, 'I will stake thee a druggist's shop.' 'What is its worth?' asked she; and he replied, 'Five hundred dinars.' So they played and she won the shop of him in five bouts. Then he staked slave-girls and lands and houses and gardens, and she won them all, till she had gotten of him all he had; whereupon she turned to him and said, 'Hast thou aught left to stake?' 'By Him who made me fall into the snare of thy love,' answered he, 'I have neither money nor aught else left, little or much!' 'O Mesrour,' said she, 'the end of that whose beginning was contentment shall not be repentance; wherefore, if thou repent thee, take back thy good and begone from us, and I will hold thee quit towards me.' 'By Him who decreed these things to us,' replied Mesrour, 'though thou soughtest to take my life, it were a little thing, compared to thine approof, for I love none but thee!'
Then said she, 'Go and fetch the Cadi and the witnesses and make over to me by deed all thy lands and possessions.' 'Willingly,' replied he and going out forthright, returned with the Cadi and the witnesses. When the magistrate saw her, his reason fled and his mind was troubled by reason of the beauty of her fingers, and he said to her, 'O my lady, I will not draw up the deed of conveyance, save upon condition that thou purchase the lands and houses and slave-girls and that they all pass under thy control and into thy possession.' 'We are agreed upon that,' replied she; 'write me a deed, whereby all Mesrour's houses and lands and slave-girls and all his hand possesseth shall pass to Zein el Mewasif and become her property at such a price.' So he wrote out the deed and the witnesses set their hands thereto; whereupon she took it from the Cadi and said to Mesrour, 'Now go thy ways.' But her slave-girl Huboub turned to him and said, 'Recite us some verses.' So he improvised the following verses upon [his own case and] the game of chess:
ааааа Of Fate I plain me and for that which hath befall'n me sigh And make my moan of loss by chess and by the [evil] eye,
ааааа For love of one, a damsel fair, slender and delicate; Female or male, there's not her like of all beneath the sky.
ааааа Arrows upon me from her looks she launched and 'gainst me brought Troops that would conquer all the world and all men, far and nigh;
ааааа Red men and white men, ay, and knights for shock of battle ranged; Then came she forth to me and did to single fight defy.