eagerly
Kissed his deep crimsoned cheek, which filled his soul
With strange confusion. "When the king is dead,
O take me to thyself; see how I stand,
Body and soul devoted unto thee."
In his heart he said: "This never can be:
This is a demon's work--shall I be treacherous?
What! to my own dear father? Never, never;
I will not thus be tempted by the devil;
Yet must I not be cold to this wild woman,
For fear of further folly."

Saiawush then expressed his readiness to be united in marriage to her
daughter, and to no other; and when this intelligence was conveyed to
Kaus by Sudaveh herself, His Majesty was extremely pleased, and
munificently opened his treasury on the happy occasion. But Sudaveh
still kept in view her own design, and still laboring for its success,
sedulously read her own incantations to prevent disappointment, at any
rate to punish the uncomplying youth if she failed. On another day she
sent for him, and exclaimed:--

"I cannot now dissemble; since I saw thee
I seem to be as dead--my heart all withered.
Seven years have passed in unrequited love--
Seven long, long years. O! be not still obdurate,
But with the generous impulse of affection,
Oh, bless my anxious spirit, or, refusing,
Thy life will be in peril; thou shalt die!"
"Never," replied the youth; "O, never, never;
Oh, ask me not, for this can never be."

Saiawush then rose to depart precipitately, but Sudaveh observing him,
endeavored to cling round him and arrest his flight. The endeavor,
however, was fruitless; and finding at length her situation desperate,
she determined to turn the adventure into her own favor, by accusing
Saiawush of an atrocious outrage on her own person and virtue. She
accordingly tore her dress, screamed aloud, and rushed out of her
apartment to inform Kaus of the indignity she had suffered. Among her
women the most clamorous lamentations arose, and echoed on every side.
The king, on hearing that Saiawush had preferred Sudaveh to her
daughter, and that he had meditated so abominable an offence, thought
that death alone could expiate his crime. He therefore summoned him to
his presence; but satisfied that it would be difficult, if not
impossible, to ascertain the truth of the case from either party
concerned, he had recourse to a test which he thought would be
infallible and conclusive. He first smelt the hands of Saiawush, and
then his garments, which had the scent of rose-water