第35章

Then she called out to him，'O Moslem，come on and let us wrestle ere the break of morning，' and tucked up her sleeves from a forearm like fresh curd，which illumined the whole place with its whiteness；and Sharrkan was dazzled by it.Then he bent forwards and clapped his palms by way of challenge，she doing the like，and caught hold of her，and the two grappled and gripped and interlocked hands and arms.Presently he shifted his hands to her slender waist，when his finger tips sank into the soft folds of her middle，breeding languishment，and he fell a trembling like the Persian reed in the roaring gale.So she lifted him up and，throwing him to the ground，sat upon his breast with hips and hinder cheeks like mounds of sand，for his soul had lost mastery over his senses.Then she asked him，'O Moslem！ the slaying of Nazarenes is lawful to you folk；what then hast thou to say about being slain thyself？'；and he answered，'O my lady，thy speech as regards slaying me is not other than unlawful；for our prophet Mohammed （whom Allah bless and preserve！） prohibited the slaying of women and children，old men and monks！' 'As it was thus revealed to your Prophet，' she replied，'it behoveth us to render the equivalent of his mercy；so rise.I give thee thy life，for generosity is never lost upon the generous.' Then she got off his breast and he rose and stood shaking the dust from his head against the owners of the curved rib，even women；and she said to him，'Be not ashamed；but verily one who entereth the land of Roum in quest of booty，and cometh to assist Kings against Kings，how happeneth it that he hath not strength enough to defend himself from one made out of the curved rib？''Twas not for lack of strength in me，' he answered；'nor didst thou throw me by thy force；it was thy loveliness overthrew me；so if thou wilt grant me another bout，it will be of thy courtesy.' She laughed and said，'I grant thee thy request： but these handmaids have long been pinioned and their arms and sides are weary，and it were only right I should loose them，for haply this next wrestling bout will be long.' Then she went to the slave girls and，unbinding them，said to them in the tongue of Greece，'Get ye to some safe place，till I foil this Moslem's lust and longing for you.' So they went away，whilst Sharrkan kept gazing at them and they kept turning to look at the two.Then each approached the adversary and he set his breast against hers，but when he felt waist touch waist，his strength failed him；and she，waxing ware of this，lifted him with her hands swiftlier than the blinding leven-flash，and threw him to the ground.He fell on his back，[174] and then she said to him，'Rise： I give thee thy life a second time.I spared thee in the first count because of thy Prophet，for that he made unlawful the slaying of women；and I do so on the second count because of thy weakliness and the greenness of thine years and thy strangerhood；but I charge thee，if there be in the Moslem army sent by Omar bin al-Nu'uman to succour the King of Constantinople，a stronger than thou，send him hither and tell him of me： for in wrestling there are shifts and trips，catches and holds，such as the feint or falsing and the snap or first grip，the hug，the feet-catch，the thigh Lite，[175] the jostle and the leg-lock.' 'By Allah，O my lady，' quoth Sharrkan （and indeed he was highly incensed against her），'had I been Master al-Safdi，Master Mohammed Kimal or Ibn al-Saddi，[176] as they were in their prime，I had kept no note of these shifts thou mentionest；for O my mistress，by Allah，thou hast not grassed me by thy strength，but by the blandishments of thy back parts；for we men of Mesopotamia so love a full formed thigh that nor sense was left me nor foresight.But now，an thou wish，thou shalt try a third fall with me while my wits are about me，and this last match is allowed me by the laws of the game which sayeth the best of three： moreover I have regained my presence of mind.' When she heard his words she said to him，'Hast thou not had a belly full of this wrestling，O vanquished one？However come on，an thou wilt；but know that this must be the last round.' Then she bent forward and challenged him and Sharrkan did likewise，setting to it in real earnest and being right cautious about the throw： so the two strove awhile and the damsel found in him a strength such as she had not observed before and said to him，'O Moslem，thou art now on thy mettle.' 'Yes，' he replied，'thou knowest that there remaineth to me but this one round，after which each of us will wend a different way.' She laughed and he laughed too；[177] then she overreached at his thigh and caught firm hold of it unawares，which made him greet the ground and fall full on his back.She laughed at him and said，'Art thou an eater of bran？Thou are like a Badawi's bonnet which falleth off with every touch or else the Father of Winds[178] that droppeth before a puff of air.Fie upon thee，O thou poor thing！' adding，'Get thee back to the Moslem army and send us other than thyself，for thou fairest of thews；and proclaim for us，among the Arabs and Persians，the Turks and Daylamites，[179] whoso hath might in him，let him come to us.'