“And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what had betided me; and love of her gat so firm hold of my heart that all my wealth seemed a thing of naught in comparison with her. Then we fell to toying and groping and kissing till nightfall, when the handmaidens set before us meats and a complete wine service, and we sat carousing till the noon of night; when we lay down and I lay with her, never in my life saw I a night like that night. When morning morrowed I arose and took leave of her, throwing under the carpet-bed the kerchief wherein were the dinars[538] and as I went out she wept and said, "O my lord, when shall I look upon that lovely face again?" "I will be with thee at sunset," answered I, and going out found the donkey-boy, who had brought me the day before, awaiting at the door. So I mounted ass and rode to the Khan of Masrur where I alighted and gave the man a half-dinar, saying, "Return at sunset;" and he said "I will." Then I breakfasted and went out to seek the price of my stuffs; after which I returned, and taking a roast lamb and some sweetmeats, called a porter and put the provision in his crate, and sent it to the lady paying the man his hire.[539] I went back to my business till sunset, when the ass-driver came to me; and I took fifty dinars in a kerchief and rode to her house where I found the marble floor swept, the brasses burnisht, the branch-lights burning, the wax-candles ready lighted, the meat served up and the wine strained.[540] When my lady saw me she threw her arms about my neck, and cried, "Thou hast desolated me by thine absence." Then she set the tables before me and we ate till we were satisfied, when the slave girls carried off the trays and served up wine. We gave not over drinking till half the night was past; and, being well warmed with drink, we went to the sleeping-chamber and lay there till morning. I then arose and fared forth from her leaving the fifty dinars with her as before; and, finding the donkey-boy at the door, rode to the Khan and slept awhile. After that I went out to make ready the evening meal and took a brace of geese with gravy on two platters of dressed and peppered rice, and got ready colocasia[541]-roots fried and soaked in honey, and wax-candles and fruits and conserves and nuts and almonds and sweet-scented flowers; and I sent them all to her. As soon as it was night I again tied up fifty dinars in a kerchief and, mounting the ass as usual, rode to the mansion where we ate and drank and lay together till morning when I threw the kerchief and dinars[542] to her and rode back to the Khan. I ceased not doing after that fashion till, after a sweet night, I woke one fine morning and found myself beggared, dinar-less and dirham-less. So said I to myself "All this be Satan's work;" and began to recite these couplets:—”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
Order three pounds lamb from the fore-quarter, cut in pieces for serving. Wipe meat, put in kettle, cover with boiling water, and cook slowly until meat is tender. Remove from water, cool, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and sauté in butter or mutton fat. Arrange on platter, and pour around one and one-half cups Brown Sauce made from liquor in which meat was cooked after removing all fat. It is better to cook meat the day before serving, as then fat may be more easily removed.
Sources: The passage is from Unknown, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01, tr. Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Farmer, The Boston cooking-school cook book of 1896, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — teal cloth, lamp stamp.