Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/278

250 poignard and seal-ring.’ Accordingly, he brought out to her what she sought and she took of him a thousand dinars’ worth of jewellery, saying, ‘I will take these on approval; and what pleases them, they will keep and I will bring thee the price and leave the boy with thee till then.’ ‘Be it as thou wilt,’ answered he. So she took the jewellery and made off to her own house, where her daughter asked her how she had sped. She told her all she had done and Zeyneb said, ‘Thou wilt never be able to walk abroad again in the town.’

Meanwhile, the maid went in to her mistress and said to her, ‘O my lady, Umm el Khair salutes thee and rejoices with thee, and will come, she and her daughters, on the day of the assembly and give the customary presents.’ Quoth her mistress, ‘Where is thy young master?’ ‘I left him with her,’ answered the maid, ‘lest he should cling to thee, and she gave me this, as largesse for the singing-women.’ So the lady said to the chief of the singers, ‘Take thy money;’ and she took it and found it a brass token; whereupon quoth the lady to the maid, ‘O baggage, go down and look to thy young master.’ Accordingly, she went down and finding neither boy nor old woman, shrieked aloud and fell on her face, and their joy was changed into mourning.

When the Provost came in, his wife told him what had befallen and he went out in quest of the child, whilst the other merchants also went forth and sought, each his own road. Presently, the Provost espied the boy seated, naked, in the Jew’s shop and said to the latter, ‘This is my son.’ ‘It is well,’ answered the Jew. So he took him up, without asking for his clothes, of the excess of his joy at finding him; but the Jew laid hold of him, saying, ‘God succour the Khalif against thee!’ Quoth the Provost, ‘What ails thee, O Jew?’ And he answered, saying, ‘The old woman took of me a thousand dinars’ worth of