Then the gardener filled and drank and the cup went round，till it came to Nur al-Din's turn，whereupon the man filled and handed it to him；but he said，'This thing I wot it not nor have I ever drunken thereof，for therein is great offence and the Lord of All-might hath forbidden it in His Book.'Answered the gardener；'O my Lord Nur al-Din，an thou forbear to drink only by reason of the sin，verily Allah （extolled and exalted be He！） is bountiful；of sufferance great，forgiving and compassionate and pardoneth the mortalest sins： His mercy embraceth all things，Allah's ruth be upon the poet who saith；'Be as thou，wilt，for Allah is bountiful * And when thou sinnest feel thou naught alarm：
But'ware of twofold sins nor ever dare * To give God partner or mankind to harm.'
Then quoth one of the sons of the merchants，'My life on thee，O my lord Nur al-Din，drink of this cup！'And another conjured him by the oath of divorce and yet another stood up persistently before him，till he was ashamed and taking the cup from the gardener，drank a draught，but spat it out again，crying，'Tis bitter.'Said the young gardener，'O my lord Nur al-Din，knowest thou not that sweets taken by way of medicine are bitter？ Were this not bitter，'twould lack of the manifold virtues it possesseth；amongst which are that it digesteth food and disperseth cark and care and dispelleth flatulence and clarifieth the blood and cleareth the complexion and quickeneth the body and hearteneth the hen-hearted and fortifieth the sexual power in man；but to name all its virtues would be tedious.Quoth one of the poets；'We'll drink and Allah pardon sinners all * And cure of ills by sucking cups I'll find：
Nor aught the sin deceives me；yet said He *'In it there be advantage[419] to mankind.'
Then he sprang up without stay or delay and opened one of the cupboards in the pavilion and taking out a loaf of refined sugar；broke off a great slice which he put into Nur al-Din's cup；saying，'O my lord，an thou fear to drink wine，because of its bitterness，drink now，for'tis sweet.'So he took the cup and emptied it： whereupon one of his comrades filled him another；saying，'O my lord Nur al-Din，I am thy slave，'and another did the like，saying，'I am one of thy servants，'and a third said；'For my sake！'and a fourth，'Allah upon thee，O my lord Nur al-Din，heal my heart！'And so they ceased not plying him with wine，each and every of the ten sons of merchants till they had made him drink a total of ten cups.Now Nur al-Din's body was virgin of wine-bibbing，or never in all his life had he drunken vine-juice till that hour，wherefore its fumes wrought in his brain and drunkenness was stark upon him and he stood up （and indeed his tongue was thick and his speech stammering） and said；'O company，by Allah，ye are fair and your speech is goodly and your place pleasant；but there needeth hearing of sweet music；
for drink without melody lacks the chief of its essentiality；even as saith the poet；'Pass round the cup to the old and the young man，too，And take the bowl from the hand of the shining moon，[420]But without music，I charge you，forbear to drink；I see even horses drink to a whistled tune.'[421]
Therewith up sprang the gardener lad and mounting one of the young men's mules，was absent awhile，after which he returned with a Cairene girl，as she were a sheep's tail，fat and delicate，or an ingot of pure silvern ore or a dinar on a porcelain plate or a gazelle in the wold forlore.She had a face that put to shame the shining sun and eyes Babylonian[422] and brows like bows bended and cheeks rose-painted and teeth pearly-hued and lips sugared and glances languishing and breast ivory white and body slender and slight，full of folds and with dimples dight and hips like pillows stuffed and thighs like columns of Syrian stone，and between them what was something like a sachet of spices in wrapper swathed.Quoth the poet of her in these couplets；'Had she shown her shape to idolaters'sight，* They would gaze on her face and their gods detest：
And if in the East to a monk she'd show'd，* He'd quit Eastern posture and bow to West.[423]
An she crached in the sea and the briniest sea * Her lips would give it the sweetest zest.'
And quoth another in these couplets；'Brighter than Moon at full with kohl'd eyes she came * Like Doe；on chasing whelps of Lioness intent：
Her night of murky locks lets fall a tent on her * A tent of hair[424] that lacks no pegs to hold the tent；
And roses lighting up her roseate cheeks are fed * By hearts and livers flowing fire for languishment：
An'spied her all the Age's Fair to her they'd rise *
Humbly，[425] and cry'The meed belongs to precedent！'
And how well saith a third bard，[426]'Three things for ever hinder her to visit us，for fear Of the intriguing spy and eke the rancorous envier；
Her forehead's lustre and the sound of all her ornaments And the sweet scent her creases hold of ambergris and myrth.
Grant with the border of her sleeve she hide her brow and doff Her ornaments，how shall she do her scent away from her？'
She was like the moon when at fullest on its fourteenth night；and was clad in a garment of blue，with a veil of green；overbrown flower-white that all wits amazed and those of understanding amated.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying his permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night； She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the gardener brought a girl whom we have described，possessed of the utmost beauty and loveliness and fine stature and symmetrical grace as it were she the poet signified when he said，[427]'She came apparelled in a vest of blue；That mocked the skies and shamed their azure hue；
I thought thus clad she burst upon my sight；Like summer moonshine on a wintry night.'
And how goodly is the saying of another and how excellent；'She came thick veiled，and cried I，'O display * That face like full moon bright with pure-white ray.'
