第31章

shells，stirrups，battle-axes，maces，knives，scissors and such matters，for the last owner of the shop had been a dealer in second-hand goods.[107]ook his seat in the shop and Ahmad al-Danaf said to him，'O my son，the shop and the room and that which is therein are become thine； so tarry thou here and buy and sell； and repine not at thy lot for Almighty Allah blesseth trade.' After this he abode with him three days and on the fourth he took leave of him，saying，'Abide here till I go back and bring thee the Caliph's pardon and learn who hath played thee this trick.' Then he shipped for Ayas，where he took the mule from the inn and，returning to Baghdad met Pestilence Hasan and his followers，to whom said he，'Hath the Caliph asked after me？'； and he replied，'No，nor hast thou come to his thought.' So he resumed his service about the Caliph's person and set himself to sniff about for news of Ala al-Din's case，till one day he heard the Caliph say to the Watir，'See，O Ja'afar，how Ala al-Din dealt with me！' Replied the Minister，'O Commander of the Faithful，thou hast requited him with hanging and hath he not met with his reward？' Quoth he，'O Wazir，I have a mind to go down and see him hanging；' and the Wazir answered，'Do what thou wilt，O Commander of the Faithful.' So the Caliph，accompanied by Ja'afar，went down to the place of execution and，raising his eyes，saw the hanged man to be other than Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat，surnamed the Trusty，and said，'O Wazir，this is not Ala al-Din！' 'How knowest thou that it is not he？' asked the Minister，and the Caliph answered，'Ala al-Din was short and this one is tall ' Quoth Ja'afar，'Hanging stretcheth.' Quoth the Caliph，'Ala al-Din was fair and this one's face is black.' Said Ja'afar 'Knowest thou not，O Commander of the Faithful，that death is followed by blackness？' Then the Caliph bade take down the body from the gallows tree and they found the names of the two Shaykhs，Abu Bakr and Omar，written on its heels[108]

whereupon cried the Caliph，'O Wazir，Ala al Din was a Sunnite，and this fellow is a Rejecter，a Shi'ah.' He answered，'Glory be to Allah who knoweth the hidden things，while we know not whether this was Ala al-Din or other than he.' Then the Caliph bade bury the body and they buried it； and Ala al-Din was forgotten as though he never had been.Such was his case； but as regards Habzalam Bazazah，the Emir Khalid's son，he ceased not to languish for love and longing till he died and they joined him to the dust.And as for the young wife Jessamine，she accomplished the months of her pregnancy and，being taken with labour-pains，gave birth to a boy-child like unto the moon.And when her fellow slave-girls said to her，'What wilt thou name him？' she answered，'Were his father well he had named him； but now I will name him Aslan.'[109] She gave him suck for two successive years，then weaned him，and he crawled and walked.Now it so came to pass that one day，whilst his mother was busied with the service of the kitchen，the boy went out and，seeing the stairs，mounted to the guest-chamber.[110] And the Emir Khalid who was sitting there took him upon his lap and glorified his Lord for that which he had created and fashioned then closely eyeing his face，the Governor saw that he was the likest of all creatures to Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat.Presently，his mother Jessamine sought for him and finding him not，mounted to the guest-chamber，where she saw the Emir seated，with the child playing in his lap，for Allah had inclined his heart to the boy.And when the child espied his mother，he would have thrown himself upon her； but the Emir held him tight to his bosom and said to Jessamine，'Come hither，O damsel.' So she came to him，when he said to her，'Whose son is this？'； and she replied，'He is my son and the fruit of my vitals.' 'And who is his father？' asked the Emir； and she answered，'His father was Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat，but now he is become thy son.' Quoth Khalid，'In very sooth Ala al-Din was a traitor.' Quoth she，'Allah deliver him from treason！ the Heavens forfend and forbid that the 'Trusty' should be a traitor！' Then said he，'When this boy shall grow up and reach man's estate and say to thee，'Who is my father？' say to him，'Thou art the son of the Emir Khalid，Governor and Chief of Police.'' And she answered，'I hear and I obey.' Then he circumcised the boy and reared him with the goodliest rearing，and engaged for him a professor of law and religious science，and an expert penman who taught him to read and write； so he read the Koran twice and learnt it by heart and he grew up，saying to the Emir，'O my father！' Moreover，the Governor used to go down with him to the tilting-ground and assemble horsemen and teach the lad the fashion of fight and fray，and the place to plant lance-thrust and sabre-stroke； so that by the time he was fourteen years old，he became a valiant wight and accomplished knight and gained the rank of Emir.Now it chanced one day that Aslan fell in with Ahmad Kamakim，the arch-thief，and accompanied him as cup-