Arabian Nights: 267th Night: Jullanar of the Sea -38

The following night Shahrazad said:

The queen said to Badr, "You love me and I love you, for you are my lot in life." When he heard this, he being drunk, replied, "Yes, this is how I felt." Then she embraced him, kissed him, and pretending to love him, lay down to sleep, and he lay beside her. 

In the middle of the night, she rose from bed, while Badr lay awake, pretending to be asleep, and taking care to follow her movement.  She took red sand from a bag and spread it on the floor of the room, and it became a running stream.  Then she took a handful of barley and strewed
it in the soil on the bank of the stream and watered it with the water from the stream and turned it into ears of barley. Then, she reaped the barley and ground it into flour. Then she laid the meal aside, and returning to bed, slept beside Badr till the morning. 

In the morning Badr went to see the old man. He narrated his experience of previous day to the old man.  The old man laughed and said, "This infidel is plotting mischief against you, but do not mind her."  Then he gave him half a pound of barley and said, "Take this with you, if she happens to see this she will ask, 'What will you do with this?'  Tell her, 'An extra blessing is a blessing,' and eat some of it. Then she will bring you her own meal and say to you, 'Eat some of this.'  But pretend to be eating of hers and eat this. Beware, if you eat of hers, you will come under her spell. She will bid you leave your form and take any form she wishes. If you do not eat of it you need not worry about her, her magic will have no power over you.  She will be abashed and tell you that she was teasing you and will make a show of affection. Then make a show of affection and tell her, "O my lady, and my darling, taste my barley meal."  Even she takes one grain of it, take water in your hand, and throw it in her face, and bid her leave her form and turn into any form you please. Then leave her and come to me, and I will take care of you."

King Badr bade the old man farewell.
He came to the palace of the queen.  She welcomed him happily, and kissed him and said, "O my lord, you have tarried too long." 
He replied, "I have been with my uncle, who gave me some of this barley meal.  She said, "We have better than this." She put his meal in one dish and hers in another and said to him, "Eat of this, for it is better than yours."  He pretended to eat of it, and she thought that he had eaten the barley meal, she took water in her hand and sprinkled on him, saying, "Leave this form, you vile and good for nothing, and turn into a mean, barren, ugly, lame mule."

But nothing happened.  And when she saw this, she went up to him and kissed him, saying, "O my beloved, I was teasing you to see what would you say."  He replied, "My lady, as long as you love me, nothing will change me towards you."

But morning overtook, and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.


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