The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Vol. 5

When she had finished her verses, she wrote them on a sheet of paper, which she folded in a piece of gold-embroidered silk and placed under her pillow. Now, one of her nurses had seen her; so she approached her and kept her in conversation until she fell asleep. Then, she stole the scroll from under her pillow and, after reading it, realized that she had fallen in love with Uns al-Wujud.

The nurse returned the scroll to its place, and when her mistress awoke, she said to her, "Oh my lady, I am indeed a true counselor to you and am tenderly concerned on your account. Know that love is a tyrant; hiding it melts iron and brings about sickness and unease. For whoever confesses it, there is no reason for reproach."

Rose-in-Hood replied, "And what is the cure for passion, my nurse?"

The nurse answered, "The cure for passion is fulfillment original: "enjoyment"."

She asked, "And how can one achieve fulfillment?"

The other replied, "Through letters and messages, my lady; through whispered compliments and by public greetings¹; all this brings lovers together and makes difficult matters easy. So if you have anything on your heart, my mistress, I am the best person to keep your secret, carry out your desires, and deliver your letters."

Now, when the young woman heard this, she was overjoyed and nearly lost her senses; but she restrained herself from speaking until she could see how the matter would turn out, saying to herself, "No one else knows this about me, and I will not trust this woman with my secret until I have tested her."

Then the woman said, "Oh my lady, I saw in my sleep as if a man came to me and said: 'Your mistress and Uns al-Wujud love each other; so serve their cause by carrying their messages, fulfilling their desires, and keeping their secrets; and much good shall happen to you.' So now I have told you my vision, and it is for you to decide."

Rose-in-Hood said, after she heard of the dream—And Shahrazad noticed the break of day and stopped speaking her permitted words.

Now when it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-second Night,

She said, It has reached me, Oh fortunate King, that Rose-in-Hood asked her nurse after hearing about the dream, "Tell me,

---

1 This is done by the man passing his fingers over his brow, as if to wipe off sweat; the woman acknowledges it by adjusting her head-veil with both hands. As a rule in the Muslim East, women make the first advances; and it is truly absurd to see a large, bearded man blushing at being flirted with. During the Crimean War, the women of Constantinople began with these flirtations but found them so readily accepted by the foreigners original: "Giaours" - a derogatory term for non-Muslims, especially Christians that they were forced to stop.