Here I beheld the lady stripped of her clothing, and with blood flowing from her sides; and tears trickled from my eyes. The 'Efreet then took hold of her, and said, Vile woman, this is thy lover:--whereupon she looked at me, and replied, I know him not, nor have I ever seen him until this instant. The 'Efreet said to her, With all this torture wilt thou not confess? She answered, Never in my life have I seen him before, and it is not lawful in the sight of God that I should speak falsely against him.[III_57]--Then, said he, if thou know him not, take this sword and strike off his head. She took the sword, and came to me, and stood over my head: but I made a sign to her with my eyebrow, while tears ran down my cheeks. She replied in a similar manner, Thou art he who hath done all this to me:--I made a sign to her, however, that this was a time for pardon, conveying my meaning in the manner thus described by the poet:--[III_58] Our signal in love is the glance of our eyes; and every intelligent person understandeth the sign. Our eyebrows carry on an intercourse between us: we are silent; but love speaketh. And when she understood me, she threw the sword from her hand, O my mistress, and the 'Efreet handed it to me, saying, Strike off her head, and I will liberate thee, and do thee no harm. I replied, Good:--and, quickly approaching her, raised my hand; but she made a sign as though she would say, I did no injury to thee:--whereupon my eyes poured with tears, and, throwing down the sword, I said, O mighty 'Efreet, and valiant hero, if a woman, deficient in sense and religion,[III_59] seeth it not lawful to strike off my head, how is it lawful for me to do so to her, and especially when I have never seen her before in my life? I will never do it, though I should drink the cup of death and destruction.--There is affection between you, said the 'Efreet, and, taking the sword, he struck off one of the hands of the lady; then, the other; after this, her right foot; and then, her left foot: thus with four blows he cut off her four extremities, while I looked on, expecting my own death. She then made a sign to me with her eye; and the 'Efreet, observing her, exclaimed, Now thou hast been guilty of incontinence with thine eye!--and, with a blow of his sword, struck off her head; after which, he turned towards me, and said, O man, it is allowed us by our law, if a wife be guilty of incontinence, to put her to death. This woman I carried off on her wedding-night, when she was twelve years of age, and she was acquainted with no man but me; and I used to pass one night with her in the course of every ten days in the garb of a foreigner; and when I discovered of a certainty that she had been unfaithful to me, I killed her: but as for thee, I am not convinced that thou hast wronged me with respect to her; yet I must not leave thee unpunished: choose, therefore, what injury I shall do to thee. [Illustration]