Pagina 261 di 1116

Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and

said, "O lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall,

thy very bondsman;" and he began reciting:-

"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door * Lauding thy

generous boons and gifts galore Beauty! may he come in awhile to

'joy * Thy charms? for Love and I part nevermore!"

She said to him, "Drink; and health and happiness attend thy

drink." So he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these

lines in sing song:

"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks * Blushed red or

flame from furnace flaring up: She bussed the brim and said with

many a smile * How durst thou deal folk's cheek for folk to sup?

"Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct * Is heart

blood sighs have boiled in the cup."

She answered him in the following couplet:-

"An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed * Suffer me sup

them, by thy head and eyes!"