Page:The Way of a Virgin.djvu/122

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THE WAY OF A VIRGIN.

smoothness of his body, it slipped down to his waist and thence to his navel and thence to his yard, whereupon her heart ached and her vitals quivered and lust was sore upon her, for that the desire of women is fiercer than the desire of men,[1] and she was ashamed of her own shamelessness.

Then she plucked his seal-ring from his finger, and put it on her own instead of the the ring he had taken, and bussed his inner lips and hands, nor did she leave any part of him unkissed; after which she took him to her breast and embraced him and, laying one of her hands under his neck and the other under his arm-pit, nestled close to him and fell asleep by his side.

...When Princess Budur fell asleep by the side of Kamar al-Zaman, after doing that which she did, quoth Maymunah to Dahnash:

"Sawst thou, O accursed, how proudly and coquettishly my beloved bore himself, and how hotly and passionately thy mistress showed herself to my dearling? There can be no doubt that my beloved is handsomer than thine; nevertheless I pardon thee."

...The two Ifrits went forward to Princess Budur and upraising her flew away with her; then, bearing her back to her place, they laid her on her own bed, while Maymunah abode alone with Kamar al-Zaman, gazing upon him as he slept, till the

  1. ...In hot-damp climates the venereal requirements and reproductive powers of the female greatly exceed those of the male....In cold-dry or hot-dry mountainous lands the reverse is the case; hence polygamy there prevails whilst the low countries require polyandry in either form, legal or illegal, i.e., prostitution. Note by Sir Richard Burton. See, also, excursus to this story, where the subject is dealt with at length.

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