The porter, very well satisfied with the money he had received,
was to have taken up his basket and be gone; but he could not
tell how to think on it. Do what he could, he found himself
stopped by the pleasure of seeing three such beauties, who
appeared to him equally charming; for Amine, having now laid
aside her veil, was as handsome as either of them. That which
surprised him most was, that he saw never a man about the house;
yet most of the provisions he brought in, as dry fruits, and
several sorts of cakes and confections, were fit chiefly for
those who could drink and make merry.
Zobeide thought at first that the porter staid only to take his
breath; but perceiving that he staid too long, What do you wait
for, says she, are you not well enough paid? And turning to
Amine, says, Sister, give him something more, that he may depart
satisfied. Madam, replies the porter, it is not that which stays
me. I am over and above paid; I am sensible that I am unmannerly
to stay longer than I ought, but, I hope you will be so good as
to pardon me, if I tell you that I am astonished to see that
there is no man with three ladies of such extraordinary beauty;
and you know that a company of women without men is as melancholy
a thing as a company of men without women. To this he added
several very pleasing things to prove what he said, and did not
forget the Bagdad proverb, 'That one is never well at a table,
unless there be four in company.
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