s with which they were
imparted, the exquisite fragrance of the roses, all combined to inspire a
voluptuousness, which even Bababalouk himself was scarce able to
withstand.

He summoned up, however, his usual solemnity, and, in the peremptory tone
of authority, commanded the ladies instantly to leave the bath. Whilst
he was issuing these mandates the young Nouronihar, daughter of the Emir,
who was sprightly as an antelope, and full of wanton gaiety, beckoned one
of her slaves to let down the great swing, which was suspended to the
ceiling by cords of silk, and whilst this was doing, winked to her
companions in the bath, who, chagrined to be forced from so soothing a
state of indolence, began to twist it round Bababalouk, and tease him
with a thousand vagaries.

When Nouronihar perceived that he was exhausted with fatigue, she
accosted him with an arch air of respectful concern, and said: "My lord,
it is not by any means decent that the chief eunuch of the Caliph, our
Sovereign, should thus continue standing; deign but to recline your
graceful person upon this sofa, which will burst with vexation if it have
not the honour to receive you."

Caught by these flattering accents, Bababalouk gallantly replied:
"Delight of the apple of my eye! I accept the invitation of thy honeyed
lips; and, to say truth, my senses are dazzled with the radiance that
beams from thy charms."

"Repose, then, at your ease," replied the beauty, and placed him on the
pretended sofa, which, quicker than lightning, gave way all at once. The
rest of the women, having aptly conceived her design, sprang naked from
the bath, and plied the swing with such unmerciful jerks, that it swept
through the whole compass of a very lofty dome, and took from the poor
victim all power of respiration; sometimes his feet rased the surface of
the water, and at others the skylight almost flattened his nose; in vain
did he pierce the air with the cries of a voice that resembled the
ringing of a cracked basin, for their peals of laughter were still more
predominant.

Nouronihar, in the inebriety of youthful spirits, being used only to
eunuchs of ordinary harems, and having never seen anything so royal and
disgusting, was far more diverted than all of the rest; she began to
parody some Persian verses, and sang with an accent most demurely
piquant:

"O gentle white dove, as thou soar'st through the air,
Vouchsafe one kind glance on the mate of thy love;