recited the lines aforesaid. Now the Princesses were standing at
the door and when they heard his verses, they said to her, "O
King's daughter, hearest thou the words of this mortal? How
canst thou blame us, seeing that he maketh poetry for love of
thee and indeed he hath so done a thousand times."[FN#77] When
she heard this she rejoiced and was glad and felt happy and Hasan
abode with her forty[FN#78] days in all solace and delight,
joyance and happiest plight, whilst the damsels renewed
festivities for him every day and overwhelmed him with bounty and
presents and rarities; and the King's daughter became reconciled
to her sojourn amongst them and forgot her kith and kin. At the
end of the forty days, Hasan saw in a dream, one night, his
mother mourning for him and indeed her bones were wasted and her
body had waxed shrunken and her complexion had yellowed and her
favour had changed the while he was in excellent case. When she
saw him in this state, she said to him, "O my son, O Hasan, how
is it that thou livest thy worldly life at thine ease and
forgettest me? Look at my plight since thy loss! I do not
forget thee, nor will my tongue cease to name thy name till I
die; and I have made thee a tomb in my house, that I may never
forget thee. Would Heaven I knew[FN#79] if I shall live, O my
son, to see thee by my side and if we shall ever again foregather
as we were." Thereupon Hasan awoke from sleep, weeping and
wailing, the tears railed down his cheeks like rain and he became
mournful and melancholy; his tears dried not nor did sleep visit
him, but he had no rest, and no patience was left to him. When
he arose, the Princesses came in to him and gave him good-morrow
and made merry with him as was their wont; but he paid no heed to
them; so they asked his wife concerning his case and she said, "I
ken not." Quoth they, "Question him of his condition." So she