Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 2.djvu/35

 Nur al-Di* Ali and tke Damsel Anis al-Jalts^ J kept my vow and brought thee down to the slave-market, because I swore an oath that I would carry thee from home to the bazar, and make brokers cry thee for sale. If thou do this, perhaps the device will impose"ipon the Wazir and the people, and they will believe that thou broughtest her not to the bazar but for the quittance of thine oath." He replied, " Such^were the best way." Then the broker left him and, returnjng into the midst of the market, took the damsel by the hand, and signed to the Wazir. and said, " O my lord, here is her owner." With this up came^ Nur al-Din Ali and, snatching the girl from the broker's hand, cuffed her soundly and said to her, " Shame on thee, O thou baggage ! I have brought thee to the bazar for quittance of mine oath ; now get thee home and thwart me no more as is thy wont. Woe to thee ! do I need thy price, that I should sell thee ? The furniture of my house would fetch thy value many times over ! " When Al-Mu'in saw this he said to Nur al-Din, 4< Out on thee ! Hast thou anything left for selling or buying ? " And he would have laid violent hands upon him, but the merchants interposed (for they all loved Nur al-Din), and the young man said to them, " Here am I in your hands and ye all know his tyranny." " By Allah," cried the Wazir,' " but for you I had slain him ! " Then all signed with significant eyes to Nur al-Din as much as to say, " Take thy wreak of him ; not one of us will come between thee and him." Thereupon Nur al-Din, who was stout of heart as he was stalwart of limb, went up to the Wazir and, dragging him over the pommel of his saddle, threw him to the ground. Now there was in that place a puddling-pit for brick-clay, 1 into the midst of which he fell, and Nur al-Din kept pummelling and fisti-cuffmg him, and one of the blows fell full on his teeth, and his beard was dyed with his blood. Also there were with the minister ten armed slaves who, seeing their master entreated after this fashion, laid hand on sword-hilt and would have bared blades and fallen on, Nur al-Din to cut him down ; but the merchants and bystanders I said to them, " This is a Wazir and that is the son of a Wazir ; * haply they will make friends some time or other, in which case ; you will forfeit the favour of both. Or perchance a blow may. befal your lord, and you will all die the vilest of deaths ; so it Arab. " Ma'janah," a place for making unbaked bricks (Tob == Span. Adobe) wirti chaff and bruised or charred straw. The use of this article in rainless lands dates from ages immemorial, and formed the outer walls of the Egyptian temple* VOL. H.