Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/261

239 brother shall have the wand and he who faileth shall have the cap.’ ‘O uncle,’ answered they, ‘we depute thee to make trial of us and do thou decide between us as thou seest fit.’ Quoth Hassan, ‘Will ye hearken to me and have regard to my words?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ Then said he, ‘I will take a stone and throw it and he who foregoeth his brother thereto and taketh it shall have the wand, and the other shall have the cap.’ And they said, ‘We consent to this.’

Then he took a stone and threw it with his might, that it disappeared from sight. The two boys ran after it and when they were at a distance, Hassan donned the cap and taking the wand in his hand, removed from his place, that he might prove the truth of that which the boys had said, with regard to their properties. The younger outran the elder and coming first to the stone, took it and returned with it to the place where they had left Hassan, but found no signs of him. So he called to his brother, saying, ‘Where is the man who was to judge between us?’ Quoth the other, ‘I see him not nor know I whether he hath flown up to the height of heaven or sunk into the nether earth.’ Then they sought for him, but saw him not, though all the while he was standing by them. So they reviled each other, saying, ‘The wand and the cap are both gone; they are neither mine nor thine: and indeed our father warned us of this very thing; but we forgot what he said.’ Then they retraced their steps and entered the city.

When Hassan was thus certified of the truth of their speech, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and returned to the city, with the cap on his head and the wand in his hand. None saw him and he entered the palace and went up into the lodging of Shewahi, who saw him not, because of the cap. Then he went up to a shelf over her head, on which were vessels of glass and chinaware, and shook it