Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/144

124 appearance. Hassan rose to him and would have kissed his hands; but he forbade him from this and said to him, ‘O Hassan, set on the melting-pot and mount the bellows.’ So he did as the stranger bade him and lighted the charcoal. Then said the other, ‘O my son, hast thou any copper?’ And he answered, ‘I have a broken dish.’ So he caused him cut it into small pieces with the shears and cast it into the crucible and blow up the fire with the bellows, till the copper became liquid, when he took from his turban a folded paper and opening it, sprinkled thereout into the pot about half a drachm of somewhat like eye-powder. Then he bade Hassan blow the bellows, and he did so, till the contents of the crucible became a lump of gold.

When he saw this, he was at his wits’ end for joy and taking the ingot [forth of the melting-pot], handled it and tried it with the file and found it pure gold of the finest quality: whereupon his reason fled and he was dazed with excess of delight and bent over the Persian’s hand to kiss it. But he forbade him, saying, ‘Carry the ingot to the market and sell it and take the price in haste and speak not.’ So Hassan went down into the market and gave the ingot to the broker, who took it and rubbed it [with the touchstone] and found it pure gold. So they opened the biddings at ten thousand dirhems and the merchants bid against one another for it up to fifteen thousand dirhems, at which price he sold it and taking the money, went home and told his mother what had passed, saying, ‘O my mother, I have learnt this art.’ But she laughed at him, saying, ‘There is no power and virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme!’ And she was silent for vexation.

Then, of his ignorance, he took a [brass] mortar and returning to the shop, laid it before the Persian, who was still sitting there and who said to him, ‘O my son, what