The Scented Garden

The Innocence and Reputation of Man. 45 III THE AMBASSADORS White ships come over the sea from the Sultan of Ind ;1 it is their mission to enquire about the reputation of thy podex, O Habib ! Caravans of camels, laden with presents, come from Damascus and Samarkand, Bukhara and Baghdad ; for rich men and men of war,2 princes and amirs, wise men and even holy mullahs, hav- ing heard of the black-violet3 mole upon thy but- tocks, cannot endure the sweet pain, and lay all their homage below those twin crescents, thy curv- ing feet, like the tusks of a young elephant. But no crone in Shiraz can seduce thee, O vir- tuous one ! Thou openest, it is true, thy podex, which appears like the sun through a dissolving mist upon Friday,4 but it is only to admit the dra- gon of El Qahar. Then there is an eclipse5 of all things : Allah is the uniter.6 1. About as vague a personage as we find in Mandeville, Malory, or Moore. It is a curious lite- rary phenomenon that in all countries poets will talk about “ Cashmere ” and “ Cathay ” and so on without the smallest fact to guide them. Yet there is a certain consistency in the conception. 2. [Persian text] Ghazi warrior ; sometimes used only of one who has slain an infidel. A common piece of mild chaff to a harlot (male or female) is : “ Why have you stuck rouge ([Persian text] Gha-