Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/252

230 shop, at the corner of a dark lane, and went away. After awhile, there came up a Christian, the Sultan’s broker, who had sallied forth, in a state of intoxication, intending for the bath, for in his drunkenness he thought that matins were near. He came staggering along, till he drew near the hunchback and squatted down over against him to make water, when, happening to look round, he saw a man standing against the wall. Now some one had snatched off the broker’s turban early in the night, and seeing the hunchback standing there, he concluded that he meant to play him the same trick. So he clenched his fist and smote him on the neck. Down fell the hunchback, whilst the broker called to the watchman of the market and fell on the dead man, pummelling and throttling him in the excess of his drunken rage. Presently, the watchman came up and finding a Christian kneeling on a Muslim and beating him, said to the former, ‘What is the matter?’ ‘This fellow tried to snatch off my turban,’ answered the broker; and the watchman said, ‘Get up from him.’ So he rose, and the watchman went up to the hunchback and finding him dead, exclaimed, ‘By Allah, it is a fine thing that a Christian should kill a Muslim!’ Then he seized the broker and tying his hands behind him, carried him to the house of the prefect of police, where they passed the night; and all the while the broker kept saying, ‘O Messiah! O Virgin! how came I to kill this man? Indeed, he must have been in a great hurry to die of one blow with the fist!’ And his drunkenness left him and reflection came in its stead. As soon as it was day, the prefect came out and commanded to hang the supposed murderer and bade the executioner make proclamation of the sentence. So they set up a gallows, under which they made the broker stand, and the hangman put the rope round his neck and was about to hoist him up, when behold, the controller of the Sultan’s