whereupon she rose and taking a knife， said， "I will slaughter thee like a he-goat； and that will be less than thy desert， for thy behaviour to me and to thy cousin before me." When I found myself at the mercy of her women， with my cheeks stained with dust， and saw her sharpen the knife， I made sure of death and cried out to her for mercy. But she only redoubled in inhumanity and ordered the maids to bind my hands behind me， which they did，and throwing me on my back， sat down on my stomach and held my head. Then two of them sat on my shins， whilst other two held my hands， and she bade a third pair beat me. So they beat me till I lost my senses and my voice failed. When I revived， I said to myself， "It were easier and better for me to have my throat cut than to be beaten thus！" And I remembered how my cousin used to say to me， "God keep thee from her mischief！" and cried out and wept， till my voice failed and I remained without breath or motion. Then she sharpened the knife and said to the girls，"Uncover him." With this God inspired me to repeat to her the two words my cousin had bequeathed me， and I said， "O my lady，dost thou not know that faith is fair and perfidy foul？" When she heard this， she cried out and said， "God pity thee， Azizeh，and give thee Paradise in exchange for thy wasted youth！ Verily，she served thee in her lifetime and after her death， and now she has saved thee alive out of my hands with these two words.
Nevertheless， I cannot leave thee thus， but I must e"en set my mark on thee， to spite yonder shameless baggage， who has kept thee from me." Then she called out to the damsels and bade them bind my feet with cords and sit on me. They did her bidding，whilst I lay insensible， and she fetched a pan of copper and setting it on a brazier， poured into it oil of sesame， in which she fried cheese.[FN#139] Then she came up to me and unfastening my trousers， tied a cord round my cullions and giving it to two of her women， bade them pull at it. They did so， and I swooned away and was for excess of pain in a world other than this. Then she came with a steel scalpel and cut off my yard， so that I remained like a woman： after which she seared the wound with the boiling oil and rubbed it with a powder， and I the while unconscious. When I came to myself， the blood had ceased to flow；
so she bade the damsels unbind me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. Then said she to me， "Go now to her whom thou hast married and who grudged me a single night， and the mercy of God be on thy cousin Azizeh， who discovered not her secret！ Indeed she was the cause of thy preservation， for hadst thou not repeated those words to me， I had surely slain thee. Rise and go to whom thou wilt， for thou hadst nothing of mine， save what I have cut off，and now I have no part in thee， nor have I any further care or occasion for thee： so begone about thy business and bless thy cousin"s memory！" With that， she gave me a push with her foot，and I rose， hardly able to walk， and went little by little， till I came to the door of my wife"s house I found it open， so I threw myself within it and fell down in a swoon； whereupon my wife came out and lifting me up， carried me into the saloon and found that I was like unto a woman. Then I fell into a deep sleep； but when I awoke， I found myself thrown down at the gate of the garden. I rose， groaning for pain and misery， and made my way to my mother"s house， where I found her weeping for me and saying， "O my son， would I knew where thou art！" So I drew near and threw myself upon her， and when she saw me， she knew that I was ill，for my face was at once pale and livid. Then I called to mind my cousin and all the kind offices she had been wont to do me and knew that she had indeed loved me； so I wept for her and my mother wept also. Presently， she said to me， "O my son， thy father is dead." At this my anguish redoubled， and I wept till I lost my senses. When I came to myself， I looked at the place where Azizeh had been used to sit and wept anew， till I all but fainted for excess of grief； and I ceased not to weep and lament thus till midnight， when my mother said to me， "Thy father has been dead these ten days." "I shall never think of any one but my cousin Azizeh，" answered I； "and indeed I deserve all that hath befallen me， in that I abandoned her who loved me so dear." "What hath befallen thee？" asked my mother. So I told her all that had happened， and she wept awhile， then rose and set meat and drink before me. I ate a little and drank， after which I repeated my story to her， and she exclaimed， "Praised be God that she did but this to thee and forbore to slay thee！" Then she tended me and medicined me till I regained my health： and when my recovery was complete， she said to me， "O my son， I will now bring out to thee that which thy cousin committed to me in trust for thee； for it is thine. She made me swear not to give it thee， till I should see thee recalling her to mind and weeping over her and thine affections severed from other than her； and now I see these conditions fulfilled in thee." So she arose and opening a chest，took out the piece of linen， with the figures of gazelles worked thereon， which I had given Azizeh； and I opened it and found written therein the following verses：
Who moved thee， fairest one， to use this rigour of disdain And slay， with stress of love， the souls that sigh for thee in vain？
If thou recall me not to mind beyond our parting-day， God knows the thought of thee with me for ever shall remain！
Thou smitest me with cruel words， that yet are sweet to me： Wilt thou one day， though but in dreams， to look upon me deign？
I had not thought the ways of Love were languishment and woe And stress of soul until， alas！ to love thee I was fain.
I knew not weariness till I the captive of thine eyes Became and all my soul was bound in passion"s fatal chain.
Even my foes have ruth on me and pity my distress： But thou， O heart of steel， wilt ne"er have mercy on my pain.
By God， although I die， I"ll ne"er forget thee， O my hope， Nor comfort take， though life itself for love should waste and wane！
