Arabian Nights: 265th Night: Jullanar of the Sea- 36

The following night Shahrazad said:

Day and night for forty days king Badr and queen Lab lived a life of eating and drinking and pleasure seeking.

There was a break on the forty first day.  When Badr woke up, ready for a fun, Lab was not in the bed. Keeping his charge ready, he waited, but she did not come. "Where could she have gone?" He felt lonely, and getting out of bed, put on his clothes and went out into the garden. He came by the bank of a stream. The gurgle of water flowing along the rocky surface caught his attention. He moved close to it. There were two birds, a black one and a white one engaged in courtship rituals.  The black bird fanned his tail, and spread his wings, took off into the air and hoaverd around above the white bird. His serenades, like singing and chirping evoked equal serenades from his beloved, hopping on the boulder in the stream. The black bird flew down and stood on its claws beside the white bird, and it crouched allowing her beloved to mount on her. As these rituals progressed, the young Badr found that it was not a bird, but his beloved, and the black bird was a black Mamluk.  He realised that queen Lab enchanted the black man into a bird so that she can enjoy pleasure unnoticed. King Badr was seized of jealousy, and he was resentful and angry with the queen.  He returned and lay down on the bed. A little later queen Lab came to him, kissed him, and joked with him. But his anger was doubled and he did not utter a single word to her.  Queen Lab guessed the reason for his anger, and she knew that he had seen the black bird mount her.  But she kept it to herself and did not make any noise. 

When it was broad daylight Badr said to her, "O I wish you to give me leave to go to my uncle's shop, for I have not seen him for forty days.  I wish to see him."  

She replied, "O Badr, go, but do not stay long.  I cannot bear to be without you, or wait a single hour." 
He replied, "I will return shortly."

Mounting his horse, he rode on to the old man's shop. 

Morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.

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