Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/321

309 me. God on thee, O my brother, look for the purse under my head and take five paras from it and buy me something to eat, for I am sore anhungred.’

The porter put out his hand and taking the purse, found it empty and said to the barber, ‘The purse is empty; there is nothing in it.’ Whereupon Abousir knew that the dyer had taken that which was therein and fled and said to the porter, ‘Hast thou not seen my friend?’ ‘I have not seen him these three days,’ answered the porter, ‘and indeed methought you had departed, thou and he.’ ‘Not so,’ said Abousir; ‘but he coveted my money and seeing me sick, took it and fled.’ Then he fell a-weeping and lamenting, but the porter said to him, ‘No harm shall come to thee, and God will requite him his deed.’ So saying, he went away and cooked him a mess of broth, whereof he ladled out a platterful and brought it to him; nor did he cease to tend him and maintain him with his own monies for two months’ space, at the end of which time he sweated and God made him whole of his sickness. Then he stood up and said to the porter, ‘So God the Most High enable me, I will surely requite thee thy kindness to me; but none requiteth save God of His bounty!’ ‘Praised be He for thy recovery!’ answered the porter. ‘I dealt not thus with thee but of desire for the favour of God the Bountiful.’

Then the barber went forth of the khan and walked about the markets of the town, till chance brought him to that wherein was Aboukir’s dyery, and he saw the vari-coloured stuffs spread before the shop and the people crowding to look upon them. So he questioned one of the townsmen and said to him, ‘What place is this and how comes it that I see the folk crowding together?’ And the man answered, saying, ‘This is the Sultan’s dyery, which he set up for a foreigner, by name Aboukir; and whenever he dyes a [new] piece of stuff, we all flock to