k, they sat and conversed with me, full of joy and
happiness. So lovely were these ladies, that even a devotee, if he saw
them, would gladly consent to be their servant, and to comply with all
that they would desire. At the approach of night they all assembled
around me, and placed before me a table of fresh and dried fruits, with
other delicacies that the tongue cannot describe, and wine; and one
began to sing, while another played upon the lute. The wine-cups
circulated among us, and joy overcame me to such a degree as to
obliterate from my mind every earthly care, and make me exclaim: "This
is indeed a delightful life!" I passed a night of such enjoyment as I
had never before experienced; and on the morrow I entered the bath; and,
after I had washed myself, they brought me a suit of the richest
clothing, and we again sat down to a repast.

In this manner I lived with them a whole year; but on the first day of
the new year, they seated themselves around me, and began to weep, and
bade me farewell, clinging to my skirts. "What calamity hath befallen
you?" said I. "Ye are breaking my heart." They answered: "Would that we
had never known thee; for we have associated with many men, but have
seen none like thee. May God, therefore, not deprive us of thy company."
And they wept afresh. I said to them: "I wish that you would acquaint me
with the cause of this weeping." "Thou," they replied, "art the cause;
yet now, if thou wilt attend to what we tell thee, we shall never be
parted; but if thou act contrary to it, we are separated from this time;
and our hearts whisper to us that thou wilt not regard our warning."
"Inform me," said I, "and I will attend to your directions." And they
replied: "If then thou wouldst inquire respecting our history, know that
we are the daughters of kings: for many years it hath been our custom to
assemble here, and every year we absent ourselves during a period of
forty days; then returning, we indulge ourselves for a year in feasting
and drinking. This is our usual practice; and now we fear that thou wilt
disregard our directions when we are absent from thee. We deliver to
thee the keys of the palace, which are a hundred in number, belonging to
a hundred closets. Open each of these, and amuse thyself, and eat and
drink, and refresh thyself, excepting the closet that hath a door of red
gold; for if thou open this, the consequence will be a separation
between us and thee. We conjure thee, therefore