Page:Tales from the Arabic, Vol 1.djvu/28

10 price of that which he had eaten and turning his eyes about upon everything in the shop.

Presently, he caught sight of an earthen pan turned over upon its mouth; so he raised it from the ground and found under it a horse’s tail, freshly cut off, and the blood oozing from it; whereby he knew that the cook adulterated his meat with horses’ flesh. When he discovered this default, he rejoiced therein and washing his hands, bowed his head and went out; and when the cook saw that he went and gave him nought, he cried out, saying, ‘Stay, O sneak, O slink-thief!’ So the lackpenny stopped and said to him, ‘Dost thou cry out upon me and becall [me] with these words, O cuckold?’ Whereat the cook was angry and coming down from the shop, said, ‘What meanest thou by thy speech, O thou that devourest meat and kouskoussou and bread and seasoning and goest forth with “Peace [be on thee!],” as it were the thing had not been, and payest down nought for it?’ Quoth the lackpenny, ‘Thou liest, O son of a cuckold!’ Wherewith the cook cried out and laying hold of the lackpenny’s collar, said, ‘O Muslims, this fellow is my first customer this day and he hath eaten my food and given me nought.’

So the folk gathered together to them and blamed the lackpenny and said to him, ‘Give him the price of that which thou hast eaten.’ Quoth he, ‘I gave him a dirhem before I entered the shop;’ and the cook said, ‘Be