第103章 ALAEDDIN ABOU ESH SHAMAT.(13)

Meanwhile，Cout el Culoub，having taken up her lodging in Alaeddins house，with her women，forty in all，besides eunuchs，called two of the latter and said to them，Sit ye on stools，one on the right and another on the left hand of the door；and when Alaeddin comes home，kiss his hands and say to him，'Our mistress Cout el Culoub bids thee to her in the upper chamber，for the Khalif hath given her to thee，her and her women.'We hear and obey，'answered they and did as she bade them. So，when Alaeddin returned，he found two of the Khalifs eunuchs sitting at the door and was amazed and said to himself，Surely，this is not my own house；or else what can have happened？When the eunuchs saw him，they rose and kissing his hands，said to him，We are of the Khalifs household and servants to Cout el Culoub，who salutes thee，giving thee to know that the Khalif hath bestowed her on thee，her and her women，and craves thy company.'Quoth Alaeddin，Say ye to her，'Thou art welcome；but so long as thou abidest with me，I will not enter thy lodging，for it befits not that what was the masters should become the servants；'and ask her also what was the sum of her days expense in the Khalifs palace.'So they went in to her and did his errand to her，and she replied，A hundred dinars a day；whereupon quoth he in himself，There was no need for the Khalif to give me Cout el Culoub，that I should be put to such an expense for her；but there is no help for it.'So she abode with him awhile and he assigned her daily a hundred dinars for her maintenance，till，one day，he absented himself from the Divan and the Khalif said to Jaafer，O Vizier，I gave Cout el Culoub unto Alaeddin，that she might console him for his wife；but why doth he still hold aloof from us？O Commander of the Faithful，'answered Jaafer，he spoke sooth who said，'Whoso findeth his beloved，forgetteth his friends.'Belike he hath excuse for his absence，'rejoined the Khalif；but we will pay him a visit.'（Now some days before this，Alaeddin had said to Jaafer，I complained to the Khalif of my grief for the loss of my wife Zubeideh，and he gave me Cout el Culoub.'And Jaafer replied，Except he loved thee，he had not given her to thee.'Hast thou gone in to her？No，by Allah！answered Alaeddin. I know not her length from her breadth.'And why？asked Jaafer. O Vizier，'replied Alaeddin，what befits the master befits not the servant.'） Then the Khalif and Jaafer disguised themselves and went privily to visit Alaeddin；but he knew them and rising to them，kissed the hands of the Khalif，who looked at him and read trouble in his face. So he said to him，O Alaeddin，whence cometh this trouble in which I see thee？Hast thou gone in to Cout el Culoub？O Commander of the Faithful，answered he，what befits the master befits not the servant. No，I have not gone in to her nor do I know her length from her breadth；so do thou quit me of her.'Quoth the Khalif，I would fain see her and question her of her case.'And Alaeddin replied，I hear and obey，O Commander of the Faithful.'So the Khalif went in to Cout el Culoub，who rose and kissed the ground before him，and said to her，Hath Alaeddin gone in to thee？No，O Commander of the Faithful，'answered she；I sent to bid him to me，but he would not come.'So he bade carry her back to the harem and saying to Alaeddin，Do not absent thyself from us，returned to his palace. Accordingly，next morning，Alaeddin mounted and rode to the Divan，where he took his seat as Chief of the Sixty. Presently the Khalif bade his treasurer give the Vizier Jaafer ten thousand dinars and said to the latter，I charge thee to go down to the slave-market and buy Alaeddin a slave-girl with this sum.'So Jaafer took Alaeddin and went down with him to the bazaar. As change would have it，that very day，the Amir Khalid，Chief of the Baghdad Police，had gone down to the market to buy a slave-girl for his son Hebezlem Bezazeh. Now this son he had by his wife Khatoun，and he was foul of favour and had reached the age of twenty，without learning to ride，albeit his father was a valiant cavalier and a doughty champion and delighted in battle and adventure. One night，he had a dream of dalliance in sleep and told his mother，who rejoiced and told his father，saying，Fain would I find him a wife，for he is now apt for marriage.'Quoth Khalid，He is so foul of favour and withal so evil of odour，so sordid and churlish，that no woman would accept of him.'And she answered，We will buy him a slave-girl.'So it befell，for the accomplishment of that which God the Most High had decreed，that the Amir and his son went down，on the same day as Jaafer and Alaeddin，to the market，where they saw a beautiful girl，full of grace and symmetry，in the hands of a broker，and the Vizier said to the latter，O broker，ask her owner if he will take a thousand dinars for her.'The broker passed by the Amir and his son with the slave and Hebezlem took one look of her，that cost him a thousand sighs；and he fell passionately in love with her and said，O my father，buy me yonder slave-girl.'So the Amir called the broker，who brought the girl to him，and asked her her name. My name is Jessamine，replied she；and he said to Hebezlem，O my son，an she please thee，bid for her.'Then he asked the broker what had been bidden for her and he replied，A thousand dinars.'She is mine for a thousand and one，'said Hebezlem，and the broker passed on to Alaeddin，who bid two thousand dinars for her；and as often as Hebezlem bid another dinar，Alaeddin bid a thousand.