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

"Can you keep a secret, my nurse?" To which she answered, "And how could I not keep a secret? I am one of the best of the free-born¹!" Then the maiden pulled out the scroll on which she had written the verses and said, "Carry this letter to Uns al-Wujud and bring me his reply." The nurse took the letter and, going to Uns al-Wujud, kissed his hands and greeted him very politely. Then she gave him the paper; he read it, and understanding its contents, wrote these verses on the back:

I try to soothe my heart and push my love away,
But my condition reveals my love all too well.
When tears flow, I say my eyes are merely ill,
Lest a critic original: "censor" see and guess my secret.
I was once free of such feelings and knew nothing of Love;
But then I fell in love, and fell into madness.
I show you my situation and complain of my pain,
The longing and ecstasy that demand your pity original: "ruth".
I write to you with the tears from my eyes, so perhaps
They can explain the love that has come to conquer my heart.
May God guard a face that is veiled with such charms,
That makes a slave of the moon and the stars as well.
In all her beauty, I have never seen her equal;
From her graceful movement, the branches learn how to sway.
I beg you, if it is not too much trouble,
To visit²; it would be a favor without equal.
I give you my soul, which I hope you will take;
To be with you is Heaven; to be apart is Hell.

Then he folded the letter, and after kissing it, gave it to the messenger and said to her, "O nurse, win your lady's heart for me." "To hear is to obey," she answered, and carried the letter to her mistress. Rose-in-Hood kissed the paper and laid it on her head. Then she opened it, read it, and understood it, writing these verses at the bottom of it:

O you whose heart is captured by our beauty,
Have patience, and you may eventually gain everything!
When we realized that your love was a true affection,
And that what pained our heart also pained yours,
We would have granted your wish to visit, and more;
But the chamberlain original: "chamberlain"; a high-ranking official who manages access to the household prevented us from doing so.
When the night grows dark, through the intensity of our love,
Fire burns our very souls with all its might.

1 The person who finds a woman who admits she cannot keep a secret will be the greatest explorer in the world.
2 The original text is very plain and direct—and so is my translation.