" They laughed at him and
gave him a lamp, wherewith he returned to his closet. Then he smote
the lock of the chest with a stone and broke it, and opening it, saw a
damsel like a houri lying asleep within. Now she had been drugged with
bhang, but at that moment she threw up the stuff and awoke. Then she
opened her eyes, and feeling herself confined and cramped, moved.
At this sight quoth Khalifah, "By Allah, O my lady, whence art
thou?" and quoth she, "Bring me jessamine, and narcissus." And
Khalifah answered, "There is naught here but henna flowers."
Thereupon she came to herself, and considering Khalifah, said to
him, "What art thou?" presently adding, "And where am I?" He said,
"Thou art in my lodging." Asked she, "Am I not in the palace of the
Caliph Harun al-Rashid?" And quoth he: "What manner of thing is
Al-Rashid? O madwoman, Thou art naught but my slave girl. I bought
thee this very day for a hundred dinars and one dinar, and brought
thee home, and thou wast asleep in this here chest." When she heard
these words she said to him, "What is thy name?" Said he: "My name
is Khalifah. How comes my star to have grown propitious, when I know
my ascendant to have been otherwise?" She laughed and cried: "Spare me
this talk! Hast thou anything to eat?" Replied he: "No, by Allah,
nor yet to drink! I have not eaten these two days, and am now in
want of a morsel.
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