And he said， "The fortunate man is he to whom God sufficeth and who hath no need of other than Him." "By the virtue of the Messiah，" replied she， "did I not fear to have thy death at my hand， I would give a cry that would fill the meadow on thee with horse and foot； but I have pity on the stranger： so if thou seek booty， I require of thee that thou dismount from thy horse and swear to me， by thy faith， that thou wilt not approach me with aught of arms， and we will wrestle， I and thou. If thou throw me，lay me on thy horse and take all of us to thy booty； and if I throw thee， thou shalt be at my commandment. Swear this to me，for I fear thy perfidy， since experience has it that， as long as perfidy is in men"s natures， to trust in every one is weakness.
But if thou wilt swear， I will come over to thee." Quoth Sherkan （and indeed he lusted after her and said to himself， "She does not know that I am a champion of the champions."）， "Impose on me whatever oath thou deemest binding， and I will swear not to draw near thee till thou hast made thy preparations and sayest， "Come and wrestle with me." If thou throw me， I have wealth wherewith to ransom myself， and if I throw thee， I shall get fine purchase." Then said she， "Swear to me by Him who hath lodged the soul in the body and given laws to mankind， that thou wilt not beset me with aught of violence， but by way of wrestling； else mayst thou die out of the pale of Islam." "By Allah，" exclaimed Sherkan， "if a Cadi should swear me， though he were Cadi of the Cadis， he would not impose on me the like of this oath！" Then he took the oath she required and tied his horse to a tree， sunken in the sea of reverie and saying in himself， "Glory to Him who fashioned her of vile water！"[FN#8] Then he girt himself and made ready for wrestling and said to her， "Cross the stream to me."
Quoth she， "It is not for me to come to thee： if thou wilt， do thou cross over to me." "I cannot do that，" replied he， and she said， "O boy， I will come to thee." So she gathered her skirts and making a spring， landed on the other side of the river by him； whereupon he drew near to her， wondering at her beauty and grace， and saw a form that the hand of Omnipotence had tanned with the leaves of the Jinn and which had been fostered by Divine solicitude， a form on which the zephyrs of fair fortune had blown and over whose creation favourable planets had presided. Then she called out to him， saying， "O Muslim， come and wrestle before the day break！" and tucked up her sleeves， showing a fore-arm like fresh curd； the whole place was lighted up by its whiteness and Sherkan was dazzled by it. Then he bent forward and clapped his hands and she did the like， and they took hold and gripped each other. He laid his hands on her slender waist， so that the tips of his fingers sank into the folds of her belly， and his limbs relaxed and he stood in the stead of desire， for there was displayed to him a body， in which was languishment of hearts， and he fell a-trembling like the Persian reed in the hurricane. So she lifted him up and throwing him to the ground， sat down on his breast with buttocks like a hill of sand， for he was not master of his reason. Then she said to him， "O Muslim， it is lawful among you to kill Christians； what sayst thou to my killing thee？" "O my lady，" replied he， "as for killing me， it is unlawful； for our Prophet （whom God bless and preserve！） hath forbidden the slaying of women and children and old men and monks." "Since this was revealed unto your prophet，" rejoined she， "it behoves us to be even with him therein； so rise： I give thee thy life， for beneficence is not lost upon men." Then she got off his breast and he rose and brushed the earth from his head， and she said to him， "Be not abashed； but， indeed， one who enters the land of the Greeks in quest of booty and to succour kings against kings， how comes it that there is no strength in him to defend himself against a woman？" "It was not lack of strength in me，" replied he； "nor was it thy strength that overthrew me， but thy beauty： so if thou wilt grant me another bout， it will be of thy favour." She laughed and said， "I grant thee this： but these damsels have been long bound and their arms and shoulders are weary， and it were fitting I should loose them，since this next bout may peradventure be a long one." Then she went up to the girls and unbinding them， said to them in the Greek tongue， "Go and put yourselves in safety， till I have brought to nought this Muslim"s craving for you." So they went away， whilst Sherkan looked at them and they gazed at him and the young lady. Then she and he drew near again and set breast against breast； but， when he felt her belly against his， his strength failed him， and she feeling this， lifted him in her hands， swiftlier than the blinding lightning， and threw him to the ground. He fell on his back， and she said to him， "Rise， I give thee thy life a second time. I spared thee before for the sake of thy prophet， for that he forbade the killing of women，and I do so this second time because of thy weakness and tender age and strangerhood； but I charge thee， if there be， in the army sent by King Omar ben Ennuman to the succour of the King of Constantinople， a stronger than thou， send him hither and tell him of me， for in wrestling there are divers kinds of strokes and tricks， such as feinting and the fore-tripe and the back-tripe and the leg-crick and the thigh-twist and the jostle and the cross-buttock." "By Allah， O my lady，" replied Sherkan， （and indeed he was greatly incensed against her）， "were I the chief Es Sefedi or Mohammed Caimal or Ibn es Seddi，[FN#9] I had not observed the fashion thou namest； for， by Allah， it was not by thy strength that thou overthrewest me， but by filling me with the desire of thy buttocks， because we people of Chaldaea love great thighs， so that nor wit nor foresight was left in me. But now if thou have a mind to try another fall with me， with my wits about me， I have a right to this one bout more， by the rules of the game， for my presence of mind has now returned to me." "Hast thou not had enough of wrestling， O conquered one？" rejoined she.
