Note 155
The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.
"Nothing for nothing" is a fixed idea with the Eastern woman: not so much for greed as for a sexual point d' honneur when dealing with the adversary—man.
When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application addressed to them they said, "Thou knowest that we have laid out all our monies on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer us in return for entertainment? For surely we will not suffer thee to sit in our company and be our cup companion, and gaze upon our faces so fair and so rare without paying a round sum.[FN#155] Wottest thou not the saying:—
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