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Presently, in came Mesrour the eunuch to him and saluted him and seeing Nuzhet el Fuad stretched out, uncovered her face and said, “There is no god but God! Our sister Nuzhet el Fuad is dead. How sudden was the [stroke of] destiny! May God have mercy on thee and acquit thee of responsibility!” Then he returned and related what had passed before the Khalif and the Lady Zubeideh, and he laughing. “O accursed one,’ said the Khalif, “is this a time for laughter? Tell us which is dead of them.” “By Allah, O my lord,” answered Mesrour, “Aboulhusn is well and none is dead but Nuzhet el Fuad.” Quoth the Khalif to Zubeideh, “Thou hast lost thy pavilion in thy play,” and he laughed at her and said to Mesrour, “O Mesrour, tell her what thou sawest.” “Verily, O my lady,” said the eunuch, “I ran without ceasing till I came in to Aboulhusn in his house and found Nuzhet el Fuad lying dead and Aboulhusn sitting at her head, weeping. I saluted him and condoled with him and sat down by his side and uncovered the face of Nuzhet el Fuad and saw her dead and her face swollen. So I said to him, ‘Carry her out forthright [to burial], so we may pray over her.’ He answered, ‘It is well;’ and I left him to lay her out and came hither, that I might tell you the news.”

The Khalif laughed and said, “Tell it again and again to thy lady lack-wit.” When the Lady Zubeideh heard Mesrour’s words [and those of the Khalif,] she was wroth and said, “None lacketh wit but he who believeth a black slave.” And she reviled Mesrour, whilst the Khalif laughed. Mesrour was vexed at this and said to the Khalif, “He spoke sooth who said, ‘Women lack wit and religion.'” Then said the Lady Zubeideh to the Khalif, “O Commander of the Faithful, thou sportest and jestest with me, and this slave hoodwinketh me, to please thee; but I will send and see which is dead of them.” And he answered, saying, “Send one who shall see which is dead of them.” So the Lady Zubeideh cried out to an old woman, a stewardess, and said to her, “Go to the house of Nuzhet el Fuad in haste and see who is dead and loiter not.” And she railed at her.

The old woman went out, running, whilst the Khalif and Mesrour laughed, and gave not over running till she came into the street. Aboulhusn saw her and knowing her, said to his wife, “O Nuzhet el Fuad, meseemeth the Lady Zubeideh hath sent to us to see who is dead and hath not given credence to Mesrour’s report of thy death; so she hath despatched the old woman, her stewardess, to discover the truth; wherefore it behoveth me to be dead in my turn, for the sake of thy credit with the Lady Zubeideh.” Accordingly, he lay down and stretched himself out, and she covered him and bound his eyes and feet and sat at his head, weeping.

Presently, the old woman came in to her and saw her sitting at Aboulhusn’s head, weeping and lamenting; and when she saw the old woman, she cried out and said to her, “See what hath betided me! Indeed, Aboulhusn is dead and hath left me alone and forlorn!” Then she cried out and tore her clothes and said to the old woman, “O my mother, how good he was!” Quoth the other, “Indeed thou art excused, for thou wast used to him and he to thee.” Then she considered what Mesrour had reported to the Khalif and the Lady Zubeideh and said to her, “Indeed, Mesrour goeth about to sow discord between the Khalif and the Lady Zubeideh.” “And what is the [cause of] discord, O my mother?” asked Nuzhet el Fuad. “O my daughter,” answered the old woman, “Mesrour came to the Khalif and the Lady Zubeideh and gave them news of thee that thou wast dead and that Aboulhusn was well. “And Nuzhet el Fuad said to her, “O my aunt, I was with my lady but now and she gave me a hundred dinars and a piece of silk; and now see my condition and that which hath befallen me! Indeed, I am bewildered, and how shall I do, and I alone, forlorn? Would God I had died and he had lived!”