Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/107

95 and a blackener of the face of hoariness; he acts the foulest of lies; and the tongue of his case reciteth the following verses:

And how excellent is the saying of the poet:

When the old man with the dyed beard heard this, he was exceeding wroth and said to the broker, ‘O most ill-omened of brokers, what aileth thee to bring this crack-brained wench into our market, to gibe at all who are therein, one after other, and flout them with mocking verses and idle jests?’ And he came down from his shop and smote the broker on the face. So he took her and carried her away, in a rage, saying to her, ‘By Allah, never in my life saw I a more impudent wench than thyself! Thou hast spoilt my trade and thine own this day and all the merchants will bear me a grudge on thine account.’

Then they saw in the way a merchant called Shihabeddin, who bid ten dinars more for her, and the broker asked her leave to sell her to him. Quoth she, ‘Let me see him and question him of a certain thing, which if he have in his house, I will be sold to him; and if not, not.’ So the broker left her standing there and going up to Shihabeddin, said to him, ‘O my lord, know that yonder damsel tells me she hath a mind to ask thee of somewhat, which if thou have in thy house, she will be sold to thee. Now thou hast heard what she said to thy fellows the