Then she made a spring and landed on the other side of the stream and said to Sharrkan，laughing，'Parting with thee is right grievous to me，O my lord；but get thee to thy mates before dawn，lest the Knights come upon thee and pick thee up on their lance points.Thou hast no strength to defend thee against a woman，so how couldst thou hold thine own amongst men of might and Knights？' Sharrkan was confounded and called to her （as she turned from him making towards the convent），'O my lady，wilt thou go away and leave the miserable stranger，the broken hearted slave of love？' So she turned to him laughing and said，'What is thy want？I will grant thee thy prayer.' 'Have I set foot in thy country and tasted the sweetness of thy courtesy，' replied he，'and shall I return without eating of thy victual and tasting thy hospitality；I who have become one of thy servitors！' 'None baulk kindliness save the base，' she rejoined，'honour us in Allah's name，on my head and eyes be it！Mount thy steed and ride along the brink of the stream over against me，for now thou art my guest.' At this Sharrkan was glad and，hastening back to his horse，mounted and walked him abreast of her，and she kept faring on till they came to a drawbridge[180] built of beams of the white poplar，hung by pullies and steel chains and made fast with hooks and padlocks.When Sharrkan looked，he saw awaiting her upon the bridge the same ten handmaids whom she had thrown in the wrestling bouts；and，as she came up to them，she said to one in the Greek tongue，'Arise and take the reins of his horse and conduct him across into the convent.' So she went up to Sharrkan and led him over，much puzzled and perturbed with what he saw，and saying to himself，'O would that the Wazir Dandan were here with me that his eyes might look upon these fairest of favours.'
Then he turned to the young lady and said to her，'O marvel of loveliness，now I have two claims upon thee；first the claim of good fellowship，and secondly for that thou hast carried me to thy home and offered me thy hospitality.I am now under thy commandance and thy guidance；so do me one last favour by accompanying me to the lands of Al-Islam；where thou shalt look upon many a lion hearted warrior and thou shalt learn who I am.'
When she heard this she was angered and said to him，'By the truth of the Messiah，thou hast proved thyself with me a man of keen wit；but now I see what mischief there is in thy heart，and how thou canst permit thyself a speech which proveth thy traitorous intent.How should I do as thou sayest，when I wot that if I came to that King of yours，Omar bin al- Nu'uman，I
should never get free from him？For truly he hath not the like of me or behind his city walls or within his palace halls，Lord of Baghdad and of Khorasan though he be，who hath built for himself twelve pavilions，in number as the months of the year，and in each a concubine after the number of the days；and if I come to him he would not prove shy of me，for your folk believe I
am lawful to have and to hold as is said in your writ，'Or those women whom your right hand shall possess as slaves.'[181] So how canst thou speak thus to me？As for thy saying，'Thou shalt look upon the braves of the Moslems，' by the truth of the Messiah，thou sayest that which is not true，for I saw your army when it reached our land，these two days ago；and I did not see that your ordinance was the ordinance of Kings，but I beheld only a rabble of tribesmen gathered together.And as to thy words，'Thou shalt know who I am，' I did not do thee kindness because of thy dignity but out of pride in myself；and the like of thee should not talk thus to the like of me，even wert thou Sharrkan，Omar bin al- Nu'uman's son，the prowess name in these days！'
'Knowest thou Sharrkan？' asked he；and she answered Yes！ and I know of his coming with an army numbering ten thousand horsemen；also that he was sent by his sire with this force to gain prevalence for the King of Constantinople.''O my lady，' said Sharrkan，'I adjure thee by thy religion，tell me the cause of all this，that sooth may appear to me clear of untruth，and with whom the fault lies.' 'Now by the virtue of thy faith，' she replied，'did I not fear lest the news of me be bruited abroad that I am of the daughters of Roum，I would adventure myself and sally forth single handed against the ten thousand horsemen and slay their leader，the Wazir Dandan and vanquish their champion Sharrkan.[182] Nor would aught of shame accrue to me thereby，for I have read books and studied the rules of good breeding in the language of the Arabs.But I have no need to vaunt my own prowess to thee，more by token as thou hast proved in thy proper person my skill and strength in wrestling；and thou hast learnt my superiority over other women.Nor，indeed，had Sharrkan himself been here this night and it were said to him，'Clear this stream，' could he have done it；and I only long and lust that the Messiah would throw him into my hands in this very convent，that I might go forth to him in the habit of a man and drag him from his saddle seat and make him my captive and lay him in bilboes.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-eighth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when the Nazarene damsel said to Sharrkan （and he listening impatiently enow），'Verily if Sharrkan fell into my hands，I would go forth to him in the habit of a man and drag him from his saddle seat and make him my captive and lay him in bilboes，' pride and passion and knightly jealousy took possession of him and he desired to discover and declare himself and to lay on load；but her loveliness restrained him and he began repeating，'An faulty of one fault the Beauty prove，Her charms a thousand advocates shall move.'
So she went up and Sharrkan after her；and，when he saw the maiden's back and hinder cheeks that clashed against each other，like rollers in the rolling sea，he extemporised these couplets：--'For her sins is a pleader that brow，And all hearts its fair pleading must bow：
