Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 4.djvu/338

308 Then said he to one of his slaves, “Harkye, Mesoud, take this thy lord and show him the two houses in such a place. Whichever pleases him of them, give him the key of it and come back.” So I went with the slave, till we came to a place where stood three houses, side by side, new and shut up. He opened the first and the second, and I looked at them; after which he said to me, “Of which of them shall I give thee the key?” “To whom does yon large house belong?” asked I. “To us,” answered he; and I said, “Open it, that I may view it.” Quoth he, “Thou hast no call to it.” “Wherefore?” asked I; and he, “Because it is haunted, and none lodges there but in the morning he is a dead man; nor do we use to open the door, to take out the corpse, but mount the roof of one of the other two houses and take it up thence. For this reason, my master has abandoned the house and says, ‘I will never again give it to any one.’” Quoth I, “Open it, that I may view it;” and I said in myself, “This is what I seek. I will pass the night there and in the morning be a dead man and be at peace from this miserable plight of mine.” So he opened it and I entered and found it a splendid house, without its like; and I said to the slave, “I will have none other than this house; give me the key.” But he answered, “I will not give thee this key till I consult my master,” and going to the latter, said to him, “The Egyptian merchant saith, ‘I will lodge in none but the great house.’”

When the merchant heard this, he rose and coming to Ali, said to him, ‘O my lord, thou hast no need of this house.’ But he replied, ‘I will lodge in none other than this; for I care nothing for this saying.’ ‘Then,’ said the other, ‘write me an acknowledgment that, if aught happen to thee, I am not responsible.’ ‘So be it,’ answered Ali; whereupon the merchant fetched an assessor