So he took off his clothes and sitting down by the
basin, fell to pouring water on his head, till he was tired, when
he went out to the room in which was the tank of cold water.
Finding none there, he shut himself up [in a cabinet] and taking
out a piece of hashish, swallowed it. The fumes of the drug
spread through his brain and he rolled over on to the marble
floor. Then the hashish made it appear to him as if a great lord
were kneading him and as if two slaves stood at his head, one
bearing a bowl and the other washing gear and all the requisites
of the bath. When he saw this, he said to himself, 'Meseems these
are mistaken in me; or else they are of the company of us
hashish-eaters.' Then he stretched out his legs and it seemed to
him that the bathman said to him, 'O my lord, the time of thy
going forth draws near and it is to-day thy turn of service (at
the palace).' At this he laughed and said, 'As God wills, O
hashish!' Then he sat and said nothing, whilst the bathman took
him by the hand and raising him up, girt his middle with a
waist-cloth of black silk, after which the two slaves followed
him, with the bowls and implements, till they brought him into a
cabinet, wherein they set perfumes burning. He found the place
full of various kinds of fruits and sweet-scented flowers, and
they cut him a melon and seated him on a stool of ebony, whilst
the bathman stood to wash him and the slaves poured water on him;
after which they rubbed him down well and said, 'O our lord the
Vizier, may the bath profit thee and mayst thou come to delight
everlasting!' Then they went out and shut the door on him; and he
took up the waist-cloth and laughed till he well-nigh lost his
senses.
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