Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 7.djvu/303

275 am a poor man, and whoever told thee that I had a hundred dinars lied against me; for I have nought of this.” Thereupon he will commit me to the chief of the police, saying, “Strip him of his clothes and torment him with beating, till he confesses and gives up the hundred dinars in his possession.” Wherefore meseems the best thing I can do, to provide against this predicament, is to rise forthright and baste myself with the whip, so to use myself to beating.’ And the fumes of the hashish [he had eaten] said to him, ‘Rise, put off thy clothes.’

So he arose and putting off his clothes, proceeded to belabour himself with a whip, laying every other blow upon a leathern pillow he had by him and roaring out the while, ‘Alas! Alas! By Allah, O my lord, it is a false saying and they have lied against me; for I am a poor fisherman and have nought of the goods of the world!’ [sic] The noise of the blows falling on the cushion and on his body resounded in the night and the folk heard it, and amongst others the merchants, and said, ‘What can ail yonder poor fellow, that he crieth and we hear the noise of blows falling on him? It would seem robbers have broken in upon him and are tormenting him.’ So they all came forth of their lodgings, at the noise of the blows and the crying, and repaired to Khelifeh’s door, but found it locked and said to each other, ‘Belike the robbers have come in upon him from the back of the [adjoining] saloon. It behoves us to climb over by the roofs.’

So they climbed over the roofs and coming down through the ventilator, saw him naked and flogging himself and said to him, ‘What ails thee, O Khelifeh?’ ‘Know, O folk,’ answered he, ‘that I have gotten some dinars and fear lest my case be reported to the Commander of the Faithful and he send for me and demand them of me; whereupon I should deny, and I fear that, if I deny, he will torture me: so I am torturing myself, by