She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that whenas
Al-Malik al-Nasir said, " 'Give him his choice to take one of the
girls for the ten dinars that are due to him;' they brought me to
the captives' lodging and showed me all who were therein, and I
saw amongst them the Frankish damsel with whom I had fallen in
love at Acre and knew her right well. Now she was the wife of one
of the cavaliers of the Franks. So I said, 'Give me this one,'
and carrying her to my tent, asked her, 'Dost thou know me?' She
answered, 'No;' and I rejoined, 'I am thy friend, the sometime
flax-merchant with whom thou hadst to do at Acre and there befel
between us what befel. Thou tookest money of me and saidest,
'Thou shalt never again see me but for five hundred dinars.' And
now thou art become my property for ten ducats.' Quoth she, 'This
is a mystery. Thy faith is the True Faith and I testify that
there is no god but the God and that Mohammed is the Messenger of
God!' And she made perfect profession of Al-Islam. Then said I to
myself, 'By Allah, I will not go in unto her till I have set her
free and acquainted the Kazi.' So I betook myself to Ibn
Shaddad[FN#35] and told him what had passed and he married me to
her. Then I lay with her that night and she conceived; after
which the troops departed and we returned to Damascus. But within
a few days there came an envoy from the King of the Franks, to
seek the captives and the prisoners, according to the treaty
between the Kings. So Al-Malik al-Nasir restored all the men and
women captive, till there remained but the woman who was with me
and the Franks said, 'The wife of such an one the Knight is not
here.' Then they asked after her and making strict search for
her, found that she was with me; whereupon they demanded her of
me and I went in to her sore concerned and with colour changed;