The picture illustrates a scene from the story "ardeshir and hajat en-nufus"prince ardeshir, the son of king es-seif el-aasam of shiraz in india, is 15 years old when he hears that the enchanting hajat en-nufus, daughter of abd el-kadir, the king of iraq, hates men and, much to her father's displeasure, rejects all suitors. Ardeshir is immediately seized by the ambition to win the princess, which he succeeds in doing with cunning and deceit and not least because of his own beauty. Secretly, both royal children enjoy many nights together in the intoxication of bliss until the iraqi grand unuch discovers them both. The picture corresponds to the following passage on page 419f:"but the eunuch considered that the king might become angry, lifted the door from its bolts and walked to the princess's room. He was surprised to see candles and bottles as a sign of a feast and went to the bed, whose curtain he gently lifted up. And then he saw hayat en-nufus sleeping in the arms of an incomparably beautiful youth. Then he said to himself: 'what a clean behavior from one who hates men,' and remembered that once a couple of his molars were knocked out for her sake. ". Date: 1913. FvB-AN-420
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