Then the Eunuch went out to Zau al-Makan and said to him, "Recite what verses thou knowest, for my lady is here hard by, listening to thee, and after I will ask thee of thy name and thy native country and thy condition." Replied he, "With love and gladness but, an thou ask my name, it is erased and my trace is unplaced and my body a waste. I have a story, the beginning of which is not known nor can the end of it be shown, and behold, I am even as one who hath exceeded in wine drinking and who hath not spared himself; one who is afflicted with distempers and who wandereth from his right mind, being perplexed about his case and drowned in the sea of thought." When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard this, she broke out into excessive weeping and sobbing, and said to the Eunuch, "Ask him if he have parted from one he loveth even as his mother or father." The Castrato asked as she bade him, and Zau al-Makan replied, "Yes, I have parted from every one I loved: but the dearest of all to me was my sister, from whom Fate hath separated me." When Nuzhat al- Zaman heard this, she exclaimed, "Allah Almighty reunite him with what he loveth!"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. When it was the Seventy-fifth Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat al-Zaman heard his words she said, "Allah reunite him with what he loveth!" Then quoth she to the Eunuch, "Tell him to let me hear somewhat anent his separation from his countrymen and his country." The Eunuch did so, and Zau al-Makan sighed heavily and began repeating these couplets,[FN#317] "Is not her love a pledge by all mankind confest? * The house that hometh Hinda be forever blest' Her love all levels; man can reck of naught beside; * Naught or before or after can for man have zest 'Tis though the vale is paved with musk and ambergris * That day when Hinda's footstep on its face is prest: Hail to the beauty of our camp, the pride of folk, * The dearling who en' Slaves all hearts by her behest: Allah on 'Time's Delight' send large dropped clouds that teem * With genial rain but bear no thunder in their breast." And also these, "I vow to Allah if at home I sight * My sister Nuzhat al-Zamani hight I'll pass the days in joyance and delight * Mid bashful minions, maidens soft and white: To sound of harps in various modes they smite * Draining the bowl, while eyes rain lively light 'Neath half closed lids, a sipping lips red bright * By stream bank flowing through my garden site."