16. Night 51

新的故事要开始了，今晚说的是谁呢？俊男？美女？

"Sister? Tell a tale," begged Dinarzad.

"Willingly," said Scheherazade.

A king called Shah Riman wanted to see his son married before he died. He imagined an elaborate wedding and told his son, Qamar al-Zaman, who was but 15, about it. 

elaborate，精致的

Qamar al-Zaman, gentle and dutiful as well as a stunning gift to the eye, shook his head. "l won't marry. I've heard of women's treachery."

treachery，背叛

Shah Riman felt the world go dark. But he adored his son, so he waited two years before he repeated his request. Qamar al-Zaman fell to his knees. "The Almighty demands obedience from a son. And my affection presses me to obey. But, alas, I will not marry." He recited famous poetry about wily wives and afflicted husbands.

obedience，顺从

Baffled, Shah Riman consulted his vizier. The vizier stroked his long beard. "Wait a year. Then gather the amirs and soldiers. He cannot disobey in their presence."

amir，阿拉伯社会对贵族的称呼

A year later, Shah Riman gathered friends and summoned his son, who kissed the ground at his father's feet three times, then stood. "It is time to wed."

The young man hung his head. Not again. Was his father getting feeble-brained? And look how he'd filled the room with witnesses to coerce a yes. Unfair tactics!

coerce，强迫

"Never will I marry!"

Shah Riman's heart burst. Everyone was watching; the shame was unbearable. He shouted, "Seize him!"

The king's mamluks, his warriors, dragged Qamar al-Zaman to a tower. The flagstone floor and crumbling walls were dank.

warrior，战士

The terrified prince stared into the shadows beyond the lantern. He had never wanted to hurt his kind father. What a wretch he was. A servant brought in food. The boy ate listlessly, said his prayers, and stretched out on a mattress, his heavy head on the ostrich-feather pillow. He fell into a troubled sleep.

listlessly，无精打采地

Meanwhile, Shah Riman went numb as death. How had everything gone so wrong? "You caused public humiliation," he said to his vizier. "You made me close the light of my life in a tower. Fix it!"

humiliation，羞辱

"Leave your son in the tower for 15 days," said the vizier. "He will obey you then."

Tears pooled in the hollows of Shah Riman's eyes.

Near the tower was a well where the jinniya Maimuna lived. Maimuna stretched her wings, readying herself for a night of eavesdropping on angels, when she noticed light under the tower door. Curious, she slipped inside in her magic way. She lifted a silk sheet: A youth slept there, hair black as the ocean bed, ruddy lips, round cheeks, eyebrows curved like a new moon. Her mouth watered.

eavesdrop，偷听

First light glinted off the mirror. Scheherazade's hands had danced in the air as she talked. Now they folded together as if in prayer. Shah Rayar closed his hands around hers. He kissed her, on the cheek, on the nose, between the eyes. Her husband had kissed her often, but never between the eyes. And never so tenderly. 

"Qamar al-Zaman is right; marriage brings tragedy," said Shah Rayar. "And you knew this. For you made up his story."

"Not all marriages bring tragedy, my king." 

"But far too many do." Tears glistened on Shah Rayar's cheeks. Though her husband had kissed her many times before, Scheherazade had never kissed him back. Now she moved her face slowly slowly through the dawn air. She planted a whisper of a kiss on the spot of cheek above his beard, another on the tip of his nose, a third between his eyes. She knew he held his breath, for she could hear it cease. She knew his heart stopped beating, for that too she heard cease. 

glisten，闪光

"Not all, Husband." From under the bed came the sounds of Dinarzad, moving to get comfortable. But the girl didn't speak. She was growing wise beyond her years. 

"I look forward to the coming night's tale," said Shah Rayar. 

Scheherazade breathed easy again. 

"Even more, I look forward to our time before we fall asleep." 

"As I do," said Scheherazade.

And she realized she meant it. When Shah Rayar left the bedchamber, Scheherazade poured the rest of the tincture of silphium out the window before she could rethink her actions. Dinarzad came to her side.

silphium，古罗马人的避孕草药

"What was that? It made the world smell like fennel."

"Only for an instant. Smell again. See? It's gone." Sometimes we make terrible mistakes. Other times we take blessed action.

Scheherazade touched a fingertip to her cheek, to her nose, to the place between her eyes. May this moment be of the latter kind.

To be continued...