Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/314

286 and five dirhems. Then he returned to Zureic’s shop and the fishmonger said to him, ‘What dost thou want, my master?’ He showed him the five dirhems and Zureic would have given him of the fish in the tray, but he said, ‘I must have hot fish.’ So he put fish in the pan and finding the fire dead, went in to relight it; whereupon Ali put out his hand to the purse and caught hold of the end of it. The bells and rings and rattles jingled and Zureic said, ‘Thy trick hath not deceived me. I knew thee by the grip of thy hand on the dish and the dirhems, for all thou art disguised as a groom.’ So saying, he threw the lead at him, but he avoided it and it fell into the pan full of hot fish and broke it and overturned it, fat and all, upon the shoulders of the Cadi, who was passing. The fat ran down inside his clothes to his privy parts and he cried out, saying, ‘O my privities! What a pickle you are in! Alas, unhappy that I am! Who hath played me this trick?’ ‘O my lord,’ answered the people, ‘it was some boy that threw a stone into the pan: but for God’s protection, it had been worse.’ Then they turned and seeing the piece of lead and that it was Zureic who had thrown it, said to him, ‘O Zureic, this is not allowed of God! Take down the purse, or it will be the worse for thee.’ ‘If it please God,’ answered he, ‘I will take it down.’

Meanwhile, Ali returned to the barrack and told his comrades what had passed and they said, ‘Thou hast exhausted two-thirds of his sharpness.’ Then he changed his groom’s dress for that of a merchant and going out, met a snake-charmer, with a bag of serpents and another of gear, to whom said he, ‘O charmer, come and amuse my lads, and thou shalt have largesse.’ So he accompanied him to the barrack, where he fed him and drugging him, took his clothes and put them on. Then he took the bags and repairing to Zureic’s shop, began to play the flute. Quoth Zureic, ‘God provide thee!’ But Ali took out the