Now the
chief reason of her sojourn with her son, King Herdoub, was on
account of the maidens at his court: for she was given to
tribadism and could not exist without it: so if any damsel
pleased her, she was wont to teach her the art and rub saffron on
her, till she fainted away for excess of pleasure. Whoso obeyed
her, she used to favour and spake interest for her with her son;
and whoso repelled her, she would contrive to destroy. This was
known to Merjaneh and Rihaneh and Utriyeh, the handmaids of
Abrizeh, and the princess loathed the old woman and abhorred to
lie with her because of the ill smell from her armpits and the
stench of her wind, more fetid than carrion, and the roughness of
her body, coarser than palm fibre. She was wont to bribe those
who served her desires with jewels and instruction; but Abrizeh
held aloof from her and sought refuge with the All-Wise, the
Omniscient; for well does the poet say:
O thou that abasest thyself to those that are rich and great And
lordest it with disdain o'er those of low estate,
Thou that thinkest to gild thy baseness by gathering gold, The
scenting of aught that's foul skills not its stench to
abate!
To continue. As soon as Dhat ed Dewahi had departed, her son went
in to Afridoun and said to him, "O King, we have no need of the
Chief Patriarch nor of his prayers, but will act according to my
mother's counsel and await what she will do of her craft without
end with the Muslim host, for they are on the march hither with
all their strength and will quickly be with us.
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