Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 4.djvu/395

365 rife and that half the sheep and goats will die, that grapes will be plentiful and honey scarce and cotton cheap.’ (Q.) ‘What if it fall on Tuesday?’ (A.) ‘That is Mars’s day and portends death of great men and much destruction and outpouring of blood and dearness of grain, lack of rain and scarcity of fish, which will anon be in excess and anon fail [altogether]. In this year, lentils and honey will be cheap and linseed dear and only barley will thrive, to the exception of all other grain: great will be the fighting among kings and death will be in the blood and there will be much mortality among asses.’ (Q.) ‘What if it fall on Wednesday?’ (A.) ‘That is Mercury’s day and portends great anarchy among the folk and much enmity and rotting of some of the green crops and moderate rains; also that there will be great mortality among cattle and infants and much fighting by sea, that wheat will be dear from Burmoudeh to Misra and other grains cheap: thunder and lightning will abound and honey will be dear, palm-trees will thrive and bear apace and flax and cotton will be plentiful, but radishes and onions will be dear.’ (Q.) ‘What if it fall on Thursday?’ (A.) ‘That is Jupiter’s day and portends equity in viziers and righteousness in Cadis and fakirs and the ministers of religion and that good will be plentiful: rain and fruits and trees and grain and fish will abound and flax, cotton, honey and grapes be cheap.’ (Q.) ‘What if it fall on Friday?’ (A.) ‘That day belongs to Venus and portends oppression in the chiefs of the Jinn and talk of forgery and calumny; there will be much dew, the autumn crops will be good in the land and there will be cheapness in one town and not in another: lewdness will be rife by land and sea, linseed will be dear, also wheat, in Hatour, but cheap in Amshir: honey will