Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 6.djvu/48

28 of all this?’ ‘By Allah, I know not,’ replied Selim. ‘But knowest thou any who will tell us the truth of the case?’ And Salim said, ‘None will tell us but our mother.’

So they laid a plot and going in to their mother one day, in Jouder’s absence, said to her, ‘O our mother, we are hungry.’ ‘Rejoice,’ answered she; ‘[for ye shall presently be satisfied;]’ and going into the saloon, sought of the servant of the saddle-bags hot meats, which she took out and set before her sons. ‘O our mother,’ said they, ‘this meat is hot; yet hast thou not cooked, neither kindled a fire.’ Quoth she, ‘It comes from the saddle-bags;’ and they, ‘What manner of thing are these saddle-bags?’ ‘They are enchanted,’ replied she and told them their virtue, enjoining them to secrecy. Quoth they, ‘O our mother, the secret shall be kept; but teach us the manner of this.’ So she taught them the fashion thereof and they fell to putting their hands into the saddle-bags and taking forth whatever they had a mind to.

Then quoth Salim [privily] to Selim, ‘O my brother, how long shall we abide with Jouder servant-wise and eat of his charity? Shall we not cast about to get the saddle-bags from him and make off with them?’ ‘And how shall we make shift to do this?’ asked Selim. ‘We will sell him to the galleys,’ replied Salim; and Selim said, ‘How shall we do that?’ Quoth Salim, ‘We will go to the Captain [of the galleys] of the Sea of Suez and bid him to an entertainment, with two of his company. What I say to Jouder do thou confirm, and at the end of the night I will show thee what I will do.’

So they agreed upon this and going to the captain’s lodging, said to him, ‘O captain, we have come to thee on an errand that will content thee.’ ‘Good,’ answered he; and they, ‘We two are brethren, and we have a third brother, a lewd, good-for-nothing fellow. When our father died, he left us some money, which we shared amongst