Volume Five-第115章

Thereupon all said，'Yes，indeed！ thou soldest him thy slave-girl before us for ten thousand dinars，O Nur al-Din and we will all bear witness against thee of the sale.Come，take the money and deliver him the girl，and Allah will give thee a better than she in her stead.Doth it irk thee，O Nur al-Din，that thou boughtest the girl for a thousand dinars and hast enjoyed for a year and a half her beauty and loveliness and taken thy fill of her converse and her favours？ Furthermore thou hast gained some ten thousand golden dinars by the sale of the zones which she made thee every day and thou soldest for twenty sequins，and after all this thou hast sold her again at a profit of nine thousand dinars over and above her original price.And withal thou deniest the sale and belittlest and makest difficulties about the profit！ What gain is greater than this gain and what profit wouldst thou have profitabler than this profit？ An thou love her thou hast had thy fill of her all this time： so take the money and buy thee another handsomer than she；at a dowry of less than half this price，and the rest of the money will remain in thy hand as capital.'And the merchants ceased not to ply him with persuasion and special arguments till he took the ten thousand dinars，the price of the damsel，and the Frank straightway fetched Kazis and witnesses；who drew up the contract of sale by Nur al-Din of the handmaid hight Miriam the Girdle-girl.Such was his case；but as regards the damsel's，she sat awaiting her lord from morning till sundown and from sundown till the noon of night；and when he returned not，she was troubled and wept with sore weeping.The old druggist heard her sobbing and sent his wife，who went in to her and finding her in tears，said to her，'O my lady，what aileth her and finding her in tears，said to her，'O my lady，what aileth thee to weep？'Said she，'O my mother，I have sat waiting the return of my lord，Nur al-Din all day；but he cometh not，and I fear lest some one have played a trick on him，to make him sell me，and he have fallen into the snare and sold me.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.