The usual ground of such a proceeding is a sudden fit of passion or jealousy. That is followed by repentance, and the lady is taken back. "But here," he added, "the law has interposed to prevent the abuse of this indulgence by capricious husbands. If a man pronounces three divorces against a free woman, or two against a slave,[102] he can lawfully wed neither of them again unless they have been espoused by another, and this second husband dies, or shall divorce them." When it happens that a husband wishes to recover his wife whom he had divorced in a passion, a convenient husband is sought; but the law forbids a mockery being made of such marriages. They may be short in duration, but the parties must live during the period they are united as man and wife. The consequence of this law is, that none but those who add to caprice and passion, doting fondness for the lady, will ever seek a re-union that is attended with such indelicacy and shame. Nevertheless, this proceeding sometimes takes place, and no doubt often gives rise to extraordinary incidents. These become the groundwork of many an amusing tale, in which the imagination of the narrator has ample range for exaggeration without exceeding the bounds of possibility. In all the stories I ever heard, grounded on divorces, the lady is always young and beautiful, the husband old, ugly, rich, and passionate; and the person chosen to be the medium of regaining the wife is, though apparently in such distress that a few piastres will tempt him to act the part required, usually a lover in disguise, or one who becomes, like the Cymon of our great poet, animated by love of the object with whom he is united, to a degree that transforms the supposed clod into a perfect hero of romance, who rather than give up the fair lady, who prefers him, to her old mate, suffers every hardship, and braves every danger in pursuance of her plans and intrigues to prevent their separation. The framing of the plot is invariably given to the female, and it is often such as to do honour to the genius of the sex. In the Arabian Tales on this subject Hâroon-oor-Rasheed, and his vizier Bermekee, are employed to aid the lovers in their night wanderings in Bagdad. In Persia Shâh Abbas the Great, and his minister, act the part of the caliph and his vizier, and both parties are described as promoting by their advice, generosity, and power, the happiness of the new married couple, and bringing to shame the old hunks of a husband and the corrupt ministers of justice, whom his wealth had bribed to lend their endeavours to compel the lovers by all kinds of threats and punishments to consent to a separation. The stories on this subject are of infinite variety, nor will a well practised story-teller give any tale twice in the same words, or with the same incidents.