And the two
sisters encircled their necks with necklaces of jewels of price, in
the like whereof Iskandar rejoiced not, for therein were great
jewels such as amazed the wit and dazzled the eye. And the imagination
was bewildered at their charms, for indeed each of them was brighter
than the sun and the moon. Before them they lighted brilliant
flambeaux of wax in candelabra of gold, but their faces outshone the
flambeaux, for that they had eyes sharper than unsheathed swords and
the lashes of their eyelids bewitched all hearts. Their cheeks were
rosy red and their necks and shapes gracefully swayed and their eyes
wantoned like the gazelle's. And the slave girls came to meet them
with instruments of music. Then the two Kings entered the hammam bath,
and when they came forth, they sat down on a couch set with pearls and
gems, whereupon the two sisters came up to them and stood between
their hands, as they were moons, bending and leaning from side to side
in their beauty and loveliness.
Presently they brought forward Scheherazade and displayed her, for
the first dress, in a red suit, whereupon King Shahryar rose to look
upon her and the wits of all present, men and women, were bewitched
for that she was even as saith of her one of her describers:
A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed,
Clad in her cramoisy-hued chemisette.
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