Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 5.djvu/115

 KHUSRAU AND SHIRIN AND THE FISHERMAN

King Khusrau [FN#128] Shahinshah of Persia loved fish; and one day, as he sat in his saloon, he and Shirin his wife, there came a fisherman, with a great fish, and he laid it before the King, who was pleased and ordered the man four thousand dirhams. [FN#129]  Thereupon Shirin said to the King, Thou hast done ill.  Asked he, And why?, and she answered, Because if, after this, though give one of thy courtiers a like sum, he will disdain it and say, He hath but given me the like of what he gave the fisherman.  And if thou give him less, the same will say, He despiseth me and giveth me less than he gave the fisherman.  Rejoined Khusrau, Thou art right, but it would dishonour a king to go back on his gift; and the thing is done.  Quoth Shirin, If thou wilt, I will contrive thee a means to get it back from him.  Quoth he, How so?; and she said, Call back, if thou so please, the fisherman and ask him if the fish be male or female. If he say, Male, say thou, We want a female, and if he say, Female, say, We want a male.  So the King sent for the fisherman, who was a man of wit and astuteness, and said to him, Is this fish male or female? whereupon the fisherman kissed the ground and answered, This fish is an hermaphrodite, [FN#130] neither male nor female.  Khusrau laughed at his clever reply and ordered him other four thousand dirhams. So the fisherman went to the treasurer and, taking his eight thousand dirhams, put them in a sack he had with him. Then, throwing it over his shoulder, he was going away, when he dropped a dirham; so he laid the bag off his back and stooped down to pick it up. Now the King