“Love with his painful pine doth rack this frame of me; * Melts
     heart and maims my vitals cruel agony;
And rail my tears like cloud that rains the largest drops; * And
     fails my hand to find what seek I fain to see: 
Thee I conjure, O Yusuf, by Him made thee King * O Sahl-son, Oh
     our dearest prop, our dignity,
This man methinks hath come to part us lovers twain * For in his
     eyes I see the flame of jealousy.”

And when Mubdi’ had sung her song, Ibrahim the Cup-companion and King Yusuf smiled and rejoiced and anon there befel them what there befel and the two slipt down aswoon;—­And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say.  Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!” quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was

The Seven Hundred and Third Night,

Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that King Yusuf and Ibrahim the Cup-companion hearing the song sung by Mubdi’, the third handmaiden, both fell to the floor aswoon; and when they revived after an hour or so, Ibrahim largessed to her one thousand dinars and a robe purfled with glistening gold.  Then she drained her cup and crowning it again passed it to her compeer whose name was Nasim[FN#281] and who took it and set it in front of her.  Then hending in hand the lute she played upon it with manifold modes and lastly spake these couplets,

“O Blamer, blaming me for draining lonely wine, * Stint carping,
     I this day to Holy War incline: 
Oh fair reflection she within her wine-cup shows * Her sight
     makes spirit dullest earthly flesh refine: 
How mention her?  By Allah ’tis forbid in writ * To note the
     meaner charms in Eden-garth divine.”

When the fourth handmaiden had ended her verse, Ibrahim gifted her with one thousand dinars and presented a sumptuous robe to her owner, then she drank off her cup and passed it to her compeer hight Al-Badr[FN#282] and she sang the following lines,

“One robbed of heart amid song and wine * And Love that smiteth
     with babe of eyne: 
His voice to the lute shall make vitals pain * And the wine shall
     heal all his pangs and pine: 
Hast e’er seen the vile drawing near such draught * Or miser
     close-fisted thereto incline? 
The wine is set free in the two-handed jar[FN#283] * Like sun of
     summer in Aries’ sign.

When she had finished Ibrahim bade reward her like the rest with gold and gear and she passed her cup to her compeer whose name was Radah.[FN#284] The sixth handmaiden drained it and performed in four-and-twenty modes after which she sang these couplets,