第18章

And lo and behold！ this was a troop of wild Arabs under a chief called Ajlan Abu Naib，Shaykh of the Arabs，and when they neared the camp and saw the bales and baggage，they said one to another，'O night of loot！' Now when Kamal-al-Din heard these their words he cried，'Avaunt，O vilest of Arabs！' But Abu Naib so smote him with his throw spear in the breast，that the point came out gleaming from his back，and he fell down dead at the tent door.

Then cried the water carrier，[48] 'Avaunt，O foulest of Arabs！' and one of them smote him with a sword upon the shoulder，that it issued shining from the tendons of the throat，and he also fell down dead.（And all this while Ala Al-Din stood looking on.） Then the Badawin surrounded and charged the caravan from every side and slew all Ala al-Din's company without sparing a man： after which they loaded the mules with the spoil and made off.Quoth Ala al-Din to himself，'Nothing will slay thee save thy mule and thy dress！'； so he arose and put off his gown and threw it over the back of a mule，remaining in his shirt and bag trousers only； after which he looked towards the tent door and，seeing there a pool of gore flowing from the slaughtered，wallowed in it with his remaining clothes till he was as a slain man drowned in his own blood.Thus it fared with him； but as regards the Shaykh of the wild Arabs，Ajlan，he said to his banditti，'O Arabs，was this caravan bound from Egypt for Baghdad or from Baghdad for Egypt？'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when the Badawi asked his banditti，'O Arabs，was this caravan bound from Egypt for Baghdad or from Baghdad for Egypt？'； they answered，'Twas bound from Egypt for Baghdad；' and he said，'Return ye to the slain，for methinks the owner of this caravan is not dead.'

So they turned back to the slain and fell to prodding and slashing them with lance and sword till they came to Ala al-Din，who had thrown himself down among the corpses.And when they came to him，quoth they，'Thou dost but feign thyself dead，but we will make an end of thee，' and one of the Badawin levelled his javelin and would have plunged it into his breast when he cried out，'Save me，O my lord Abd al-Kadir，O Saint of Gilan！' and behold，he saw a hand turn the lance away from his breast to that of Kamal-al-Din the cameleer，so that it pierced him and spared himself.[49] Then the Arabs made off； and，when Ala al-Din saw that the birds were flown with their god send，he sat up and finding no one，rose and set off running； but，behold！ Abu Naib the Badawi looked back and said to his troop，'I see somewhat moving afar off，O Arabs！' So one of the bandits turned back and，spying Ala al-Din running，called out to him，saying，'Flight shall not forward thee and we after thee；' and he smote his mare with his heel and she hastened after him.Then Ala al-Din seeing before him a watering tank and a cistern beside it，climbed up into a niche in the cistern and，stretching himself at full length，feigned to be asleep and said，'O gracious Protector，cover me with the veil of Thy protection which may not be torn away！' And lo！ the Badawi came up to the cistern and，standing in his stirrup irons put out his hand to lay hold of Ala al-Din； but he said，'O my lady Nafisah[50]！ Now is thy time！' And behold，a scorpion stung the Badawi in the palm and he cried out，saying，'Help，O Arabs！ I am stung；' and he alighted from his mare's back.So his comrades came up to him and mounted him again，asking，'What hath befallen thee？' whereto he answered，'A young scorpion[51] stung me.' So they departed，with the caravan.

Such was their case； but as regards Ala al-Din，he tarried in the niche，and Mahmud of Balkh bade load his beasts and fared forwards till he came to the Lion's Copse where he found Ala al-Din's attendants all lying slain.At this he rejoiced and went on till he reached the cistern and the reservoir.Now his mule was athirst and turned aside to drink，but she saw Ala al-Din's shadow in the water and shied and started； whereupon Mahmud raised his eyes and，seeing Ala al-Din lying in the niche，stripped to his shirt and bag trousers，said to him，'What man this deed to thee hath dight and left thee in this evil plight？'

Answered Ala alDin，'The Arabs，' and Mahmud said，'O my son，the mules and the baggage were thy ransom； so do thou comfort thyself with his saying who said，'If thereby man can save his head from death，* His good is worth him but a slice of nail！'