第16章

whereupon Mahmud turned to the other youths and said to them，'If ye will incline Ala al-Din's mind to journeying with me，I will give each of you a dress worth a power of money.' Then he returned from them to the men's party； and，as the youths were sitting，Ala al-Din suddenly came back，when all rose to receive him and seated him in the place of highest honour.Presently，one of them said to his neighbour，'O my lord Hasan，tell me whence came to thee the capital--whereon thou trades'.' He replied，'When I grew up and came to man's estate，I said to my sire，'O my father，give me merchandise.' Quoth he，'O my son，I have none by me； but go thou to some merchant and take of him money and traffic with it； and so learn to buy and sell，give and take.' So I went to one of the traders and borrowed of him a thousand dinars，wherewith I bought stuffs and carrying them to Damascus，sold them there at a profit of two for one.Then I bought Syrian stuffs and carrying them to Aleppo，made a similar gain of them；

after which I bought stuffs of Aleppo and repaired with them to Baghdad，where I sold them with like result，two for one； nor did I cease trading upon my capital till I was worth nigh ten thousand ducats.' Then each of the others told his friend some such tale，till it came to Ala al-Din's turn to speak，when they said to him，'And thou，O my lord Ala al-Din？' Quoth he，'I was brought up in a chamber underground and came forth from it only this week； and I do but go to the shop and return home from the shop.' They remarked，'Thou art used to wone at home and wottest not the joys of travel，for travel is for men only.' He replied，'I reck not of voyaging and wayfaring cloth not tempt me.'

Whereupon quoth one to the other，'This one is like the fish：

when he leaveth the water he dieth.' Then they said to him，'O Ala al Din，the glory of the sons of the merchants is not but in travel for the sake of gain.' Their talk angered him； so he left them weeping-eyed and heavy-hearted and mounting his mule returned home.Now his mother saw him in tears and in bad temper and asked him，'What hath made thee weep，O my son？'； and he answered，'Of a truth，all the sons of the merchants put me to shame and said，'Naught is more glorious for a merchant's son than travel for gain and to get him gold.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Fifty-third Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Ala al-Din said to his mother，'Of a truth all the sons of the merchants put me to shame and said，'Naught is more honourable for a merchant's son than travel for gain.' 'O my son，hast thou a mind to travel？' 'Even so！' 'And whither wilt thou go？' 'To the city of Baghdad； for there folk make double the cost price on their goods.' 'O my son，thy father is a very rich man and，if he provide thee not with merchandise，I will supply it out of my own monies.' 'The best favour is that which is soonest bestowed； if this kindness is to be，now is the time.' So she called the slaves and sent them for cloth packers，then，opening a store house，brought out ten loads of stuffs，which they made up into bales for him.Such was his case； but as regards his father，Shams al-Din，he looked about and failed to find Ala al-Din in the garden and enquiring after him，was told that he had mounted mule and gone home； so he too mounted and followed him.Now when he entered the house，he saw the bales ready bound and asked what they were； whereupon his wife told him what had chanced between Ala al-Din and the sons of the merchants； and he cried，'O my son，Allah's malison on travel and stranger-hood！ Verily Allah's Apostle （whom the Lord bless and preserve！） hath said，'It is of a man's happy fortune that he eat his daily bread in his own land'，and it was said of the ancients，'Leave travel，though but for a mile.'Then quoth he to his son，'Say，art thou indeed resolved to travel and wilt thou not turn back from it？' Quoth the other，'There is no help for it but that I journey to Baghdad with merchandise，else will I doff clothes and don dervish gear and fare a-wandering over the world.' Shams al-Din rejoined，'I am no penniless pauper but have great plenty of wealth；' then he showed him all he owned of monies and stuffs and stock-in-trade and observed，'With me are stuffs and merchandise befitting every country in the world.' Then he showed him among the rest，forty bales ready bound，with the price，a thousand dinars，written on each，and said，'O my son take these forty loads，together with the ten which thy mother gave thee，and set out under the safeguard of Almighty Allah.But，O my child，I fear for thee a certain wood in thy way，called the Lion's Copse，[39] and a valley highs the Vale of Dogs，for there lives are lost without mercy.' He said，'How so，O my father？'； and he replied，'Because of a Badawi bandit named Ajlan.' Quoth Ala al-Din，'Such is Allah's luck； if any share of it be mine，no harm shall hap to me.' Then they rode to the cattle bazar，where behold，a cameleer[40] alighted from his she mule and kissing the Consul's hand，said to him，'O my lord，it is long，by Allah，since thou hast employed us in the way of business.' He replied，'Every time hath its fortune and its men，[41] and Allah have truth on him who said，'And the old man crept o'er the worldly ways*So bowed，his beard o'er his knees down flow'th：

Quoth I，'What gars thee so doubled go？'*Quoth he （as to me his hands he show'th）

'My youth is lost，in the dust it lieth；*And see，I bend me to find my youth.'[42]

Now when he had ended his verses，he said，'O chief of the caravan，it is not I who am minded to travel，but this my son.'

Quoth the cameleer，'Allah save him for thee.' Then the Consul made a contract between Ala al-Din and the man，appointing that the youth should be to him as a son，and gave him into his charge，saying，'Take these hundred gold pieces for thy people.'