"However， come， if thou wilt； but know that this bout must be the last." Then they took hold of each other and he set to in earnest and warded himself against being thrown down： so they strained awhile， and the damsel found in him strength such as she had not before observed and said to him， "O Muslim， thou art on thy guard！" "Yes，" replied he； "thou knowest that there remaineth but this bout， and after each of us will go his own way." She laughed and he laughed too： then she seized the opportunity to bore in upon him unawares， and gripping him by the thigh， threw him to the ground， so that he fell on his back. She laughed at him and said， "Thou art surely an eater of bran； for thou art like a Bedouin bonnet， that falls at a touch， or a child"s toy， that a puff of air overturns. Out on thee， thou poor creature！ Go back to the army of the Muslims and send us other than thyself， for thou lackest thews， and cry us among the Arabs and Persians and Turks and Medes， "Whoso has might in him， let him come to us.""
Then she made a spring and landed on the other side of the stream and said to Sherkan， laughing， "It goes to my heart to part with thee； get thee to thy friends， O my lord， before the morning，lest the knights come upon thee and take thee on the points of their lances. Thou hast not strength enough to defend thee against women； so how couldst thou make head against men and cavaliers？" And she turned to go back to the monastery. Sherkan was confounded and called out to her， saying， "O my lady， wilt thou go away and leave the wretched stranger， the broken-hearted slave of love？" So she turned to him， laughing， and said， "What wouldst thou？ I grant thy prayer." "Have I set foot in thy country and tasted the sweetness of thy favours，" replied Sherkan， "and shall I return without eating of thy victual and tasting thy hospitality？ Indeed I am become one of thy servitors." Quoth she， "None but the base refuses hospitality； on my head and eyes be it！ Do me the favour to mount and ride along the bank of the stream， abreast of me， for thou art my guest." At this Sherkan rejoiced and hastening back to his horse， mounted and rode along the river-bank， keeping abreast of her， till he came to a drawbridge， that hung by pulleys and chains of steel，made fast with hooks and padlocks. Here stood the ten damsels awaiting the lady， who spoke to one of them in the Greek tongue and said to her， "Go to him and take his horse"s rein and bring him over to the monastery." So she went up to Sherkan and led him over the bridge to the other side and he followed her， amazed at what he saw and saying in himself， "Would the Vizier Dendan were with me， to look on these fair faces with his own eyes." Then he turned to the young lady and said to her， "O wonder of beauty，now art thou doubly bound to me， firstly， by the bond of comradeship， and secondly for that thou carriest me to thy house and I accept of thy hospitality and am at thy disposal and under thy protection. So do me the favour to go with me to the land of Islam， where thou shalt look upon many a lion-hearted prince and know who I am." His speech angered her and she said to him， "By the virtue of the Messiah， thou art keen of wit with me！ But I see now what depravity is in thy heart and how thou allowest thyself to say a thing that proves thee a traitor. How should I do what thou sayest， when I know that， if I came to thy King Omar ben Ennuman， I should never win free of him？ For he has not the like of me among his women nor in his palace， all lord of Baghdad and Khorassan as he is， with his twelve palaces， in number as the months of the year， and his concubines therein， in number as the days thereof； and if I come to him， he will not respect me， for that ye hold it lawful to take possession of the like of me， as it is said in your scripture， "That which your right hand possesses."[FN#10] So how canst thou speak thus to me？ As for thy saying， "Thou shalt look upon the champions of the Muslims，" by the Messiah， thou sayst that which is not true； for I saw your army， when it reached our country， these two days ago， and I did not see that your ordinance was that of kings， but beheld you only as a rabble of men collected together. And as for thy saying， "Thou shalt know who I am，" I did not show thee courtesy of any intent to honour thee， but out of pride in myself； and the like of thee should not say this to the like of me， even though thou be Sherkan himself， King Omar ben Ennuman"s son， who is renowned in these days." "And dost thou know Sherkan？" asked he.
"Yes，" replied she； "and I know of his coming with an army of ten thousand horse， for that he was sent by his father with these troops to the succour of the King of Constantinople." "O my lady，" rejoined Sherkan， "I conjure thee， as thou believest in thy religion， tell me the cause of all this， that I may know truth from falsehood and with whom the fault lies." "By the virtue of thy faith，" replied she， "were it not that I fear lest the news of me be bruited abroad that I am of the daughters of the Greeks， I would adventure myself and sally forth against the ten thousand horse and kill their chief， the Vizier Dendan， and take their champion Sherkan. Nor would there be any reproach to me in this， for I have read books and know the Arabic language and have studied good breeding and polite letters. But I have no need to vaunt my own prowess to thee， for thou hast tasted of my quality and proved my strength and skill and pre-eminence in wrestling； nor if Sherkan himself had been in thy place to-night and it had been said to him， "Leap this river，" could he have done so. And I could wish well that the Messiah would throw him into my hands here in this monastery， that I might go forth to him in the habit of a man and pull him from his saddle and take him prisoner and lay him in fetters." When Sherkan heard this，pride and heat and warlike jealousy overcame him and he was minded to discover himself and lay violent hands on her but her beauty held him back from her， and he repeated the following verse：
Their charms， whatever fault the fair commit， A thousand intercessors bring for it.
