Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 9.djvu/210

184 speak with the Cadi, for thy wife hath complained of thee to him and her favour is thus and thus.’ He knew her [by their description] and saying, ‘May God the Most High torment her!’ accompanied them to the Cadi’s presence, where he found Fatimeh standing, weeping and wiping away her tears, with her arm bound up and her face-veil besmeared with blood. ‘Harkye, sirrah,’ said the Cadi, ‘hast thou no fear of God the Most High? Why hast thou beaten this good woman and broken her arm and knocked out her tooth and entreated her thus?’ ‘If I beat her or put out her tooth,’ answered Marouf, ‘sentence me to what thou wilt; but in truth the case was thus and thus and the neighbours made peace between me and her.’ And he told him the story from first to last.

Now this Cadi was a benevolent man; so he brought out to him a quarter dinar, saying, ‘O man, take this and get her vermicelli with bees’ honey and do ye make peace, thou and she.’ Quoth Marouf, ‘Give it to her.’ So she took it and the Cadi made peace between them, saying, ‘O wife, obey thy husband, and thou, O man, deal kindly with her.’ Then they left the court, reconciled at the Cadi’s hands, and she went one way, whilst her husband returned by another way to his shop and sat there, when, behold, the [two] serjeants came up to him and said, ‘Give us our fee.’ Quoth he, ‘The Cadi took not of me aught: on the contrary, he gave me a quarter dinar.’ But they answered, saying, ‘It is none of our concern whether the Cadi took of thee or gave to thee, and if thou give us not our fee, we will take it in despite of thee.’ And they fell to dragging him about the market. So he sold his tools and gave them half a dinar, whereupon they let him go and went away, whilst he put his hand to his cheek and sat sorrowful, for that he had no tools to work withal.

Presently, up came two ill-looking fellows and said to him, ‘Come, O man, and speak with the Cadi; for thy