" She bowed her head a long while, then
turned to him and said, "Reassure thyself and be of good cheer;
for thou art my guest, and bread and salt have passed between us;
so art thou in my safeguard and under my protection. Have no
fear; by the virtue of the Messiah, if all the people of the
earth sought to harm thee, they should not come at thee till the
breath had left my body for thy sake; for thou art under my
protection and that of the Messiah." Then she sat down by his
side and began to sport with him, till his alarm subsided and he
knew that, had she been minded to kill him, she would have done
so on the past night. After awhile, she spoke in the Greek tongue
to one of her serving-women, who went away and returned in a
little with a goblet and a tray of food; but Sherkan abstained
from eating, saying in himself, "Maybe she hath put somewhat in
this meat." She knew what was in his thought; so she turned to
him and said, "By the virtue of the Messiah, the case is not as
thou deemest, nor is there aught in this food of what thou
suspectest! Were I minded to kill thee, I had done so before
now." Then she came to the table and ate a mouthful of every
dish, whereupon Sherkan came forward and fell to. She was pleased
at this, and they both ate till they were satisfied, after which
she let bring perfumes and sweet-smelling herbs and wines of all
colours and kinds, in vessels of gold and silver and crystal.
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