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[Footnote 34] Abou Nuwas ibn Hani, the greatest poet of the time.

Aboulhusn abode with his wife in eating and drinking and all delight of life, till all that was with them was spent, when he said to her, “Harkye, O Nuzhet el Fuad!” “At thy service,” answered she, and he said, “I have it in mind to play a trick on the Khalif and thou shalt do the like with the Lady Zubeideh, and we will take of them, in a twinkling, two hundred dinars and two pieces of silk.” “As thou wilt,” answered she; “but what thinkest thou to do?” And he said,”We will feign ourselves dead and this is the trick. I will die before thee and lay myself out, and do thou spread over me a kerchief of silk and loose [the muslin of] my turban over me and tie my toes and lay on my heart a knife, and a little salt.[35] Then let down thy hair and betake thyself to thy mistress Zubeideh, tearing thy dress and buffeting thy face and crying out. She will say to thee, ‘What aileth thee?’ and do thou answer her, saying, ‘May thy head outlive Aboulhusn el Khelia! For he is dead.” She will mourn for me and weep and bid her treasuress give thee a hundred dinars and a piece of silk and will say to thee, ‘Go lay him out and carry him forth [to burial].’ So do thou take of her the hundred dinars and the piece of silk and come back, and when thou returnest to me, I will rise up and thou shalt lie down in my place, and I will go to the Khalif and say to him, ‘May thy head outlive Nuzhet el Fuad!’ and tear my dress and pluck at my beard. He will mourn for thee and say to his treasurer, ‘Give Aboulhusn a hundred dinars and a piece of silk.’ Then he will say to me, ‘Go; lay her out and carry her forth;’ and I will come back to thee.”

[Footnote 35] As a charm against evil spirits.

Therewith Nuzhet el Fuad rejoiced and said, “Indeed, this is an excellent device.” [Then Aboulhusn stretched himself out] forthright and she shut his eyes and tied his feet and covered him with the kerchief and did what [else] her lord had bidden her; after which she rent her dress and uncovering her head, let down her hair and went in to the Lady Zubeideh, crying out and weeping, When the princess saw her in this case, she said to her, “What plight is this [in which I see thee]? What is thy story and what maketh thee weep?” And Nuzhet el Fuad answered, weeping and crying out the while, “O my lady, may thy head live and mayst thou survive Aboulhusn el Khelia! For he is dead.” The Lady Zubeideh mourned for him and said, “Alas for Aboulhusn el Khelia!” And she wept for him awhile. Then she bade her treasuress give Nuzhet el Fuad a hundred dinars and a piece of silk and said to her, “O Nuzhet el Fuad, go, lay him out and carry him forth.”

So she took the hundred dinars and the piece of silk and returned to her dwelling, rejoicing, and went in to Aboulhusn and told him what had befallen, whereupon he arose and rejoiced and girt his middle and danced and took the hundred dinars and the piece of silk and laid them up. Then he laid out Nuzhet el Fuad and did with her even as she had done with him; after which he rent his clothes and plucked out his beard and disordered his turban [and went forth] and gave not over running till he came in to the Khalif, who was sitting in the hall of audience, and he in this plight, beating upon his breast. Quoth the Khalif to him, “What aileth thee, O Aboulhusn!” And he wept and said, “Would thy boon-companion had never been and would his hour had never come!” “Tell me [thy case,]” said the Khalif; and Aboulhusn said, “O my lord, may thy head outlive Nuzhet el Fuad!” Quoth the Khalif, “There is no god but God!” And he smote hand upon hand. Then he comforted Aboulhusn and said to him, “Grieve not, for we will give thee a concubine other than she.” And he bade the treasurer give him a hundred dinars and a piece of silk. So the treasurer gave him what the Khalif bade him, and the latter said to him,”Go, lay her out and carry her forth and make her a handsome funeral.” So Aboulhusn took that which he had given him and returning to his house, rejoicing, went in to Nuzhet el Fuad and said to her, “Arise, for the wish is accomplished unto us.” So she arose and he laid before her the hundred dinars and the piece of silk, whereat she rejoiced, and they added the gold to the gold and the silk to the silk and sat talking and laughing at one another.