Then said she to him, "O elder, I would fain drink." So he arose
and brought her a gugglet of water; but she said to him, "Who
bade thee fetch that?" Quoth he, "Saidst thou not to me, 'I would
fain drink'?" And she answered, "I want not this; nay, I want
wine, the delight of the soul, so haply, O elder, I may solace
myself therewith." "God forbid," exclaimed the old man, "that
wine should be drunk in my house, and I a stranger in the land
and a Muezzin and an imam,[FN#32] who prayeth with the
true-believers, and a servant of the house of the Lord of the
Worlds! "Quoth she, "Why wilt thou forbid me to drink thereof in
thy house?" "Because," answered he, "it is unlawful." "O elder,"
rejoined she, "God hath forbidden [the eating of] blood and
carrion and hog's flesh. Tell me, are grapes and honey lawful or
unlawful?" Quoth he, "They are lawful;" and she said, "This is
the juice of grapes and the water of honey." But he answered,
"Leave this thy talk, for thou shall never drink wine in my
house." "O Sheikh," rejoined she, "folk eat and drink and enjoy
themselves and we are of the number of the folk and God is very
forgiving, clement."[FN#33] Quoth he, "This is a thing that may
not be." And she said, "Hast thou not heard what the poet saith
... ?" And she recited the following verses:

O son of Simeon, give no ear to other than my say. How bitter
from the convent 'twas to part and fare away!
Ay, and the monks, for on the Day of Palms a fawn there was Among
the servants of the church, a loveling blithe and gay.
By God, how pleasant was the night we passed, with him for third!
Muslim and Jew and Nazarene, we sported till the day.
The wine was sweet to us to drink in pleasance and repose, And in