men who are constantly mindful of God and women who are
constantly mindful, God hath prepared unto them forgiveness and a
mighty recompense].[FN#172]

As for that which hath befallen thee, verily, it hath befallen
[many] kings before thee and their women have played them false,
for all they were greater of puissance than thou, yea, and
mightier of kingship and more abounding in troops. If I would, I
could relate unto thee, O king, concerning the wiles of women,
that whereof I could not make an end all my life long; and
indeed, aforetime, in all these my nights that I have passed
before thee, I have told thee [many stories and anecdotes] of the
artifices of women and of their craft and perfidy; but indeed the
things abound on me;[FN#173] wherefore, if it like thee, O king,
I will relate unto thee [somewhat] of that which befell kings of
old time of the perfidy of their women and of the calamities
which overtook them by reason of these latter." "How so?" asked
the king. "Tell on." "Hearkening and obedience,"answered
Shehrzad."It hath been told me, O king, that a man once related
to a company and spoke as follows:





THE FAVOURITE AND HER LOVER.[FN#174]



One day, a day of excessive heat, as I stood at the door of my