And this worthy man here is my wife's father. Greet them, therefore, and
then be content to eat and drink with us!"
Then Musli approached Janaki and saluted him on the shoulder, then,
turning towards Guel-Bejaze, he touched with his hand first the earth and
next his forehead, sat down beside Janaki on the cushions that had been
drawn into the middle of the room, and made merry with them.
And now Janaki sent the slave he had brought with him to the
pastry-cook's while Musli skipped homewards and brought with him a
tambourine of chased silver, which he could beat right cunningly and
also accompany it with a voice not without feeling; and thus Halil's
bridal evening flowed pleasantly away with an accompaniment of wine and
music and kisses.
And all this time the worthy Berber-Bashi was looking on at this
junketing through the trellised window, and could scarce restrain
himself from giving expression to his astonishment when he perceived
that Guel-Bejaze no longer collapsed like a dead thing at the contact of
a kiss, or even at the pressure of an embrace, as she was wont to do in
the harem, indeed her face had now grown rosier than the dawn.
At last his curiosity completely overcame him, and turning the handle of
the door he appeared in the midst of the revellers.
He wore the garb of a common woodcutter, and his simple, foolish face
corresponded excellently to the disguise. Nobody in the world could have
taken him for anything but what he now professed to be, and it was with
a very humble obeisance that he introduced himself.
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