Page:Islam, Turkey, and Armenia, and How They Happened.djvu/66

60 cat and tie it to the tail of the camel and take them into the market place and wait for the buyers. When they ask the price say, 'The camel is for one mite, and the cat is for a thousand piastres, but I don't sell them separately.' If they buy them for this price you will lose nothing; if they don't buy you will be free from your oath."

Another man came to a mufti and said hesitatingly, "My lord, while feeding in the pasture your ox hit and killed mine, and I came to ask your excellency whether you are obliged to repair my loss or not." The mufti, shaking his head as if feeling very sorry, opened the hand-book of the law and read with a loud voice the proposition that "the action of the animal is null," and turning to the man said, "My son, they were both mute animals and could not realize what they did. I am sorry for the loss, but the law, as you have heard, does not oblige me to undertake the responsibility. Do not be grieved; whatsoever happens it is from God. Your ox was destined from eternity to die in this way. Neither you nor I could change it." The man returned hastily and said, "Oh I I beg your pardon, my lord, it was my ox that killed yours, and I was confused in my haste and made the mistake." The pious mufti, with a changed face and tone, said, "Wait a little; the question has got confused. I must consult with the larger book."

When Sultan Aziz, the dethroned and murdered uncle of the present Sultan, intended to visit Europe, a puzzling difficulty arose in regard to the demands of the