书城公版Volume Three
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第58章 KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.(20)

The King was transported for joy at her recovery and kissed her between the eyes,for he loved her very dearly;then turning to Kemerezzeman,he asked him who he was and whence he came.The prince told him his name and rank and that he was the son of King Shehriman,and related to him the whole story from beginning to end;whereat Gha?our marvelled and said,Verily,your story deserves to be recorded in books and read after you,generation after generation.'Then he summoned Cadis and witnesses forthright and married the two lovers;after which he bade decorate the city seven days long.So they decorated the city and held high festival,and all the troops donned their richest clothes,whilst the drums beat and the criers announced the glad tidings.Then they spread the tables with all manner meats and unveiled the princess before Kemerezzeman,and behold,each was like unto the other in beauty and elegance and amorous grace.So the King rejoiced in the issue of her affair and in her marriage and praised God for that He had made her to fall in love with a goodly youth of the sons of the kings.Then Kemerezzeman went in to her and lay with her that night and took his will of her,whilst she in like manner fufilled her desire of him and enjoyed his beauty and grace;and they clipped each other till the morning.On the morrow,the King made a banquet and spreading the tables with the richest meats,kept open house a whole month to all comers from the Islands of the Inner and the Outer Seas.

Now,when Kemerezzeman had thus attained his desire and had tarried awhile with the princess Budour,he bethought him of his father and saw him in a dream,saying,O my son,is it thus thou dealest with me?and reciting the following verses:

The moon o the dark by his neglect my spirit doth appal And to the watching of his stars hath made my eyelids thrall.

But soft,my heart!It may be yet he will return to thee;And patience,soul,beneath the pain hes smitten thee withal!

Kemerezzeman awoke in the morning,afflicted and troubled at what he had seen,whereupon the princess questioned him and he told her his dream.Then they both went in to King Gha?our and telling him what had passed,besought his leave to depart.He gave the prince the leave he sought;but the princess said,O my father,I cannot endure to be parted from him.'Quoth Gha?our,Then go thou with him,'and gave her leave to be absent a whole year,charging her to visit him once in every year thereafterward.So she kissed his hand and Kemerezzeman did the like;after which he proceeded to equip them for the journey,furnishing them with horses and dromedaries of choice and a litter for his daughter,besides mules and camels laden with victual and all manner of travelling gear.Moreover,he gave them slaves and eunuchs to serve them and bestowed on Kemerezzeman ten splendid suits of cloth of gold,embroidered with jewels,together with a treasury[42] of money and ten riding horses and as many she-camels.When the day of departure arrived,the King accompanied them to the farthest limits of his islands,where,going in to his daughter Budour in the litter,he kissed her and strained her to his bosom,weeping and repeating the following verses:

O thou that seekest parting,stay thy feet,For sure embraces are a lovers right.

Softly,for fortunes nature is deceit And parting is the end of love-delight.

Then,leaving her,he kissed her husband and commended his daughter to his care;after which he bade him farewell and giving the signal for departure,returned to his capital with his troops.The prince and princess and their suite fared on without stopping a whole month,at the end of which time they came to a spacious champaign,abounding in pasturage,where they alighted and pitched their tents.They ate and drank and rested,and the princess Budour lay down to sleep.Presently,Kemerezzeman went in to her and found her lying asleep,in a shift of apricot-coloured silk,that showed all it should have covered,and a coif of cloth of gold embroidered with pearls and jewels.

The breeze raised her shift and showed her breasts and navel and a belly whiter than snow,each one of whose dimples contained an ounce of benzoin ointment.[43] At this sight,his love and passion for her redoubled,and he recited the following verses:

If,whilst within my entrails the fires of hell did stir And flames raged high about me,twere spoken in my ear,'Which wilt thou have the rather,a draught of water cold Or sight of her thou lovest?'Id say,'The sight of her.'