Meanwhile his brother abode，awaiting him，till mid-day，but he returned not： whereupon Amjeds heart fluttered and the tears welled from his eyes.The pangs of severance were sore upon him and he wept sore，exclaiming，Alas，my brother！Alas，my companion！Alas，my grief！I fear me we are separated！'Then he descended the mountain，with the tears running down his cheeks，and entering the city，made for the market.He asked the folk the name of the city and of its people，and they said，This is called the City of the Magians，and its people serve the Fire，not the Omnipotent King.'Then he enquired of the City of Ebony and they answered，It is a years journey thither by land and six months by sea： it was governed erst by a King called Armanous，but he took to son-in-law a prince called Kemerezzeman，distinguished for justice and loyalty，munificence and benevolence，and made him king in his stead.'When Amjed heard tell of his father，he groaned and wept and lamented and knew not whither to go.However，he bought food and carried it with him，till he came to a retired spot，where he sat down，thinking to eat： but，recalling his brother，he fell a-weeping and ate but a morsel to stay his stomach，and that against his will.Then he rose and walked about the city，seeking news of his brother，till he saw a Muslim，a tailor，sitting in his shop；so he sat down by him and told him his story；whereupon quoth the tailor，If he have fallen into the hands of any of the Magians，thou shalt hardly see him again： yet it may be God will reunite you. But thou，O my brother，'added he，wilt thou lodge with me？Yes，answered Amjed，and the tailor rejoiced at this.So Amjed abode with him many days，what while the tailor comforted him and exhorted him to patience and taught him his craft，till he became expert.One day，he went forth to the sea-shore and washed his clothes；after which he entered the bath and put on clean raiment.Then he walked about the streets，to divert himself，and presently fell in with a woman of surpassing beauty and symmetry，unequalled for grace and loveliness.When she saw him，she raised her face-veil and winked to him and ogled him，reciting the following verses：
Afar，I saw thee coming and cast mine eyes down straight，As if，loveling slender，thou wert the very sun.
Indeed，thou art the fairest of all beholden；yea，Even than thyself thourt fairer，since yesterday was done.
Were beauty but allotted，to every one his due，One-fifth of it were Josephs or but a part of one，And all the rest were surely thine own and only thine；May all men be thy ransom，yea，every mothers son！
When he heard this，his heart inclined to her and thehands of love sported with him： so he winked to her inanswer and repeated the following verses：
Over the rose of the cheek，the thorns of the eyelashes rise；So who shall adventure himself to gather the flowery prize？
Lift not your hands to the rose，for long have the lashes waged war And poured on us battle，because we lifted to it-ward our eyes.
Tell her the tyrant who plays and yet is temptation itself，（Though still more seductive shed be，if she dealt but in loyaller wise），I see that，for beauty like thine，exposures the surest of guards，For the veiling thy face but augments its seductions and adds to our sighs；
Like the sun，on whose visage undimmed the eye still refuses to look，And yet we may gaze at our ease，when the thinnest of clouds oer it lies.
The honeys protected，forsooth，by the sting of the bees of the hive： So question the guards of the camp why they stay us in this our emprise.
If my slaughter be what they desire，let them put off their rancours and stand From between us and leave her to deal with me and my life at her guise；
For，I wot，not so deadly are they，when they set on a foe with their swords，As the eyes of the fair with the mole，when her glances upon us she plies.
At this she sighed deeply and signing to him again，repeated the following verses：
Tis thou that hast trodden the road of aversion and coyness；not I Vouchsafe me the promised delight，for the time of fulfilment draws nigh.
O thou that makst morning to dawn with the lustre and light of thy brows And eke，with thy brow-locks unloosed，the night to sink down from the sky，Thou hast，with an idols aspéct，seduced me and made me thy slave And hast stirred me up troubles galore in many a season past by.
And yet it is just that my heart with the ardour of passion should burn，For the fire is their due who adore aught other than God the Most High.
Thou sellest the like of myself for nothing，yea，free，without price；If needs thou must sell，and no help，take a price，then，of those that would buy.
When he heard this，he said to her，Wilt thou come to my lodging or shall I go with thee to thine？At this，she hung her head bashfully and repeated the words of the Most High，Men shall have precedence over women，for that God hath preferred these over those.'[69] By this，Amjed understood that she wished to go with him and felt himself bounden to find a place wherein to receive her，but was ashamed to carry her to the house of his host，the tailor.So he walked on and she followed him from street to street，till she was tired and said to him，O my lord，where is thy house？But a little way before us，'answered he.
Then he turned aside into a handsome street，followed by the young lady，and walked on，till he came to the end，when he found it had no issue and exclaimed，There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High，the Supreme！'Then，raising his eyes，he saw，at the upper end of the street，a great door，with two stone benches；but it was locked.So he sat down on one of the benches and the lady on the other；and she said to him，O my lord，wherefore waitest thou？He bowed his head awhile，then raised it and answered，I am waiting for my servant，who has the key： for I bade him make me ready meat and drink and flowers for the wine-service against my return from the bath.'But he said in himself，Belike she will grow tired of waiting and go about her business，leaving me here，when I will go my own way.'
