Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/29

13 what had passed, saying, ‘Take these thousand dinars and provide thyself and my brothers withal, whilst I journey to Morocco with the Moor, for I shall be absent four months, and great good will betide me; so pray for me, O my mother!’ ‘O my son,’ answered she, ‘thou desolatest me and I fear for thee.’ ‘O my mother,’ rejoined he, ‘no harm can befall him who is in God’s keeping, and the Moor is a man of worth.’ And he went on to praise his fashion to her. ‘May God incline his heart to thee!’ said she. ‘Go with him, O my son: peradventure, he will give thee somewhat.’ So he took leave of her and rejoined the Moor Abdussemed, who said to him, ‘Hast thou consulted thy mother?’ ‘Yes,’ answered Jouder; ‘and she blessed me.’ ‘Then mount behind me,’ said the Moor.

So Jouder mounted behind him on the mule, and they rode on from noon till the time of afternoon prayer,afternoon-prayer, [sic] when the fisherman was anhungred, but seeing no victual with the Moor, said to him, ‘O my lord the pilgrim, belike thou hast forgotten to bring aught to eat by the way?’ ‘Art thou hungry?’ asked the Moor. ‘Yes,’ answered Jouder. So Abdussemed alighted and made Jouder alight and take down the saddle-bags; then he said to him, ‘O my brother, what wilt thou have?’ ‘Anything,’ replied Jouder. ‘God on thee,’ rejoined the Moor, ‘tell me what thou hast a mind to.’ ‘Bread and cheese,’ said Jouder; and the other, ‘O good fellow, bread and cheese befit thee not; wish for something good.’ ‘Just now,’ replied Jouder, ‘everything is good to me.’ Quoth the Moor, ‘Dost thou like fricasseed fowl?’ ‘Yes,’ answered Jouder. ‘Dost thou like rice and honey?’ asked he, and Jouder said, ‘Yes.’ And the Moor went on to ask him if he liked this dish and that, till he had named four-and-twenty kinds of meats; and Jouder thought to himself, ‘He must be mad. Where are all these dishes to come from, seeing he hath neither cook nor kitchen?’ And he said to him, ‘Enough: thou makest