Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/161

141 the young Muslim, to make him enter the hide of a camel that he had killed and skinned. Hassan came behind him, without his knowledge, and cried out at him, saying, ‘Hold thy hand, O accursed! O enemy of God and of the Muslims! O dog! O traitor! O thou that servest the fire and walkest in the way of the wicked, worshipping the fire and the light and swearing by the shade and the heat!’

When the Magian heard this, he was startled and disconcerted; so he turned and seeing Hassan, thought to wheedle him and said to him, ‘O my son, how madest thou thine escape and who brought thee down to earth?’ ‘God the Most High delivered me,’ answered Hassan, ‘He who hath appointed the taking of thy life to be at my hand, and I will torture thee even as thou torturedst me the whole way long. O misbeliever, O heretic, thou hast fallen into perdition and hast wandered from the way; and neither mother nor brother shall avail thee, nor friend nor solemn covenant; for thou saidst, “Whoso is faithless to bread and salt, may God do vengeance upon him!” And thou hast broken the bond of bread and salt; wherefore God hath delivered thee into my hands, and small chance hast thou of escape from me.’ ‘By Allah, O my son,’ rejoined Behram, ‘thou art dearer to me than my soul and the light of mine eyes!’ But Hassan stepped up to him and smote him hastily between the shoulders, that the sword issued gleaming from the tendons of his throat and God hurried his soul to the fire, and evil is the abiding-place [to which he went].

Then Hassan took the Magian’s bag and opening it, took out the drum and beat it with the strap, whereupon up came the dromedaries like lightning. So he loosed the young man from his bonds and setting him on one of the camels, loaded him another with victual and water. Then he bade him go whither he would and he departed,