He replied，'By Allah，OPrincess of fair ones，this is my house wherein I dwell；but it belongeth to an old man，a druggist of this city，who hath set it apart for me and lodged me therein.I told thee that I was a stranger and that I am of the sons of Cairo city.'She rejoined；'O my lord，the least of houses sufficeth till thy return to thy native place；but，Allah upon thee，O my lord，go now and fetch us somewhat of roast meat and wine and dried fruit and dessert.'
Quoth Nur al-Din，'By Allah，O Princess of fair ones，I had no money with me but the thousand dinars I paid down to thy price nor possess I any other good.The few dirhams I owned were spent by me yesterday.'Quoth she，'Hast thou no friend in the town，of whom thou mayst borrow fifty dirhams and bring them to me，that I may tell thee what thou shalt do therewith？'And he said，'I have no intimate but the druggist.'Then he betook himself forthright to the druggist and said to him，'Peace be with thee，O uncle！'
He returned his salam and said to him，'O my son，what hast thou bought for a thousand dinars this day？'Nur al-Din replied，'I have bought a slave-girl；'and the oldster rejoined，'O my son；art thou mad that thou givest a thousand dinars for one slave-girl？ Would I knew what kind of slave-girl she is？'Said Nur al-Din，'She is a damsel of the children of the Franks；'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night； She resumed，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Nur al-Din said to the ancient druggist，'The damsel is of the children of the Franks；'and the Shaykh said，'O my son，the best of the girls of the Franks are to be had in this our town for an hundred dinars，and by Allah，O my son，they have cheated thee in the matter of this damsel！ However，an thou have taken a fancy to her，lie with her this night and do thy will of her and to-morrow morning go down with her to the market and sell her，though thou lose by her two hundred dinars，and reckon that thou hast lost them by shipwreck or hast been robbed of them on the road.'Nur al-Din replied，'Right is thy rede，O uncle，but thou knowest that I had but the thousand dinars wherewith I purchased the damsel，and now I have not a single dirham left to spend；so I desire of thy favour and bounty that thou lend me fifty dirhams；to provide me withal，till to-morrow，when I will sell her and repay thee out of her price.'Said the old man，'Willingly，O my son，'and counted out to him the fifty dirhams.Then he said to him，'O my son，thou art but young in years and the damsel is fair，so belike thy heart will be taken with her and it will be grievous to thee to vend her.Now thou hast nothing to live on and these fifty dirhams will readily be spent and thou wilt come to me and I shall lend thee once and twice and thrice，and so on up to ten times；but，an thou come to me after this，I will not return thy salam[473] and our friendship with thy father will end ill.'Nur al-Din took the fifty dirhams and returned with them to the damsel，who said to him，'O my lord，wend thee at once to the market and fetch me twenty dirhams' worth of stained silk of five colours and with the other thirty buy meat and bread and fruit and wine and flowers.'So he went to the market and purchasing for her all she sought，brought it to her，whereupon she rose and tucking up her sleeves，cooked food after the most skilful fashion，and set it before him.He ate and she ate with him，till they had enough，after which she set on the wine，and she drank and he drank，and she ceased not to ply him with drink and entertain him with discourse，till he became drunken and fell asleep.Thereupon she arose without stay or delay and taking out of her bundle a budget of Taifi leather，[474] opened it and drew forth a pair of knitting needles，wherewith she fell to work and stinted not till she had made a beautiful zone，which she folded up in a wrapper after cleaning it and ironing it，and laid it under her pillow.Then she doffed her dress till she was mother-naked and lying down beside Nur al-Din shampoo'd him till he awoke from his heavy sleep.He found by his side a maiden like virgin silver，softer than silk and delicater than a tail of fatted sheep，than standard more conspicuous and goodlier than the red camel，[475] in height five feet tall with breasts firm and full，brows like bended bows，eyes like gazelles' eyes and cheeks like blood-red anemones，a slender waist with dimples laced and a navel holding an ounce of the unguent benzoin，thighs like bolsters stuffed with ostrich-down，and between them what the tongue fails to set forth and at mention whereof the tears jet forth.Brief it was as it were she to whom the poet alluded in these two couplets；'From her hair is Night，from her forehead Noon * From her side-face Rose；from her lip wine boon：
From her Union Heaven，her Severance Hell： * Pearls from her teeth；from her front full Moon.'
And how excellent is the saying of another bard，[476]
'A Moon she rises，Willow-wand she waves * Breathes ambergris and gazeth a gazelle.
Meseems that sorrow wooes my heart and wins * And when she wends makes haste therein to dwell.
Her face is fairer than the Stars of Wealth[477] * And sheeny brows the crescent Moon excel.'
And quoth a third also；'They shine fullest Moons，unveil Crescent-bright；*
Sway tenderest Branches and turn wild kine；
'Mid which is a Dark-eyed for love of whose charms *
The Sailors[478] would joy to be ground low-li'en.'
