well." Upon this the old woman came in and tied a kerchief over
my eyes according to custom and fared forth with me till we
reached the spot where she had been wont to remove the bandage.
Here she unbound it saying, "We'll expect thee to-morrow about
noontide and when thou comest to this place, thou shalt see me
awaiting thee." I left her and repaired to my mother whom I found
grieving and weeping at my absence; and upon seeing me she rose
up and threw her arms round my neck with tears of joy. I said,
"Weep not, O my mother, for the cause of my absence hath been a
certain matter which be thus and thus." I then related to her my
adventure and she on hearing it was rejoiced thereby and
exclaimed, "O my son, may Allah give thee gladness; but I pray
thee solace me[FN#85] at least every two days with a visit that
my longing for thee may be satisfied." I replied,"This shall be
done;" and thenceforth, O our lord the Sultan, I went to my shop
and busied myself as was my wont till noontide, when I returned
to the place appointed and found the old woman awaiting me. Nor
did I ever fare forth from the mansion without her binding my
eyes with the kerchief which she loosed only when we reached my
own house; and whenever I asked her of this she would answer, "On
our way be sundry houses whose doors are open and the women
sitting in the vestibules of their homes, so that haply thy
glance may alight upon some one of them, matron or maid: all
sniff up love like water,[FN#86] and we fear for thee lest thy
heart be netted in the net of amours."For thirty days, a whole
month, I continued to go and come after this fashion but, O our
lord the Sultan, at all times and tides I was drowned in thought
and wondered in my mind, saying, "What chance caused me forgather
with this damsel? What made me marry her? Whence this wealth
which is under her hand? How came I to win union with her?" For I