Page:Tales from the Arabic, Vol 1.djvu/97

77 the time of thy straitness.’ So he took them, joyful and contented, and addressed himself to sew eight of them in his gown, keeping the two others in his mouth; but a thief saw him and went and advertised his mates of him; whereupon they gathered together upon him and took his gown and departed from him. When they were gone away, he arose, saying, ‘These two pearls [in my mouth] will suffice me,’ and made for the [nearest] city, where he brought out the pearls [and repairing to the jewel-market, gave them to the broker], that he might sell them.

Now, as destiny would have it, a certain jeweller of the town had been robbed of ten pearls, like unto those which were with the merchant; so, when he saw the two pearls in the broker’s hand, he said to him, ‘To whom do these pearls belong?’ and the broker answered, ‘To yonder man.’ [The jeweller looked at the merchant and] seeing him in sorry case and clad in tattered clothes, misdoubted of him and said to him (purposing to surprise him into confession), ‘Where are the other eight pearls?’ The merchant thought he asked him of those which were in the gown and answered, ‘The thieves stole them from me.’ When the jeweller heard his reply, he doubted not but that it was he who had taken his good; so he laid hold of him and haling him before the chief of the police, said to him, ‘This is the man who stole my pearls: I have found two of them upon him and he confesseth to the other eight.’

Now the magistrate knew of the theft of the pearls; so he bade clap the merchant in prison. Accordingly they imprisoned him and flogged him, and he abode in