第33章

Rejoined Aslan，'OCommander of the Faithful，he is no father of mine，save by right of fosterage； my father was none other than Ala al-Din Abu al Shamat.' 'Then thy father was a traitor，' cried the Caliph.

'Allah forbid，O Commander of the Faithful，' rejoined Aslan，'that the 'Trusty' should be a traitor！ But how did he betray thee？' Quoth the Caliph，'He stole my habit and what was therewith.' Aslan retorted，'O Commander of the Faithful，Allah forfend that my father should be a traitor！ But，O my lord，when thy habit was lost and found didst thou likewise recover the lanthorn which was stolen from thee？' Answered the Caliph，'We never got it back，' and Aslan said，'I saw it in the hands of Ahmad Kamakim and begged it of him； but he refused to give it me，saying，'Lives have been lost on account of this.' Then he told me of the sickness of Habzalam Bazazah，son of the Emir Khalid，by reason of his passion for the damsel Jessamine，and how he himself was released from bonds and that it was he who stole the habit and the lamp： so do thou，O Commander of the Faithful，take my blood-revenge for my father on him who murdered him.' At once the Caliph cried，'Seize ye Ahmad Kamakim！' and they seized him，whereupon he asked，'Where be the Captain，Ahmad al-Danaf？' And when he was summoned the Caliph bade him search Kamakim； so he put his hand into the thief's bosom and pulled out the lanthorn.

Said the Caliph，'Come hither，thou traitor： whence hadst thou this lanthorn？' and Kamakim replied，'I bought it，O Commander of the Faithful！' The Caliph rejoined，'Where didst thou buy it？'

Then they beat him till he owned that he had stolen the lanthorn，the habit and the rest，and the Caliph said 'What moved thee to do this thing O traitor，and ruin Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat，the Trusty and Faithful？' Then he bade them lay hands on him and on the Chief of Police，but the Chief said，'O Commander of the Faithful，indeed I am unjustly treated thou badest me hang him，and I had no knowledge of this trick，for the plot was contrived between the old woman and Ahmad Kamakim and my wife.I crave thine intercession，[114] O Aslan.' So Aslan interceded for him with the Caliph，who said，'What hath Allah done with this youngster's mother？' Answered Khalid，'She is with me，' and the Caliph continued，'I command that thou order thy wife to dress her in her own clothes and ornaments and restore her to her former degree，a lady of rank； and do thou remove the seals from Ala al-Din's house and give his son possession of his estate.' 'I hear and obey，' answered Khalid； and，going forth，gave the order to his wife who clad Jessamine in her own apparel； whilst he himself removed the seals from Ala al-Din's house and gave Aslan the keys.Then said the Caliph，'Ask a boon of me，O Aslan；' and he replied，'I beg of thee the boon to unite me with my father.'

Whereat the Caliph wept and said，'Most like thy sire was he that was hanged and is dead； but by the life of my forefathers，whoso bringeth me the glad news that he is yet in the bondage of this life，I will give him all he seeketh！' Then came forward Ahmad al-Danaf and，kissing the ground between his hands，said，'Grant me indemnity，O Commander of the Faithful！' 'Thou hast it，'

answered the Caliph； and Calamity Ahmad said，'I give thee the good news that Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat，the Trusty，the Faithful，is alive and well.' Quoth the Caliph 'What is this thou sayest？' Quoth Al-Danaf，'As thy head liveth I say sooth； for I

ransomed him with another，of those who deserved death； and carried him to Alexandria，where I opened for him a shop and set him up as a dealer in second hand goods.' Then said the Prince of True Believers，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Caliph ordered Calamity Ahmad，saying，'I charge thee fetch him to me；'

and the other replied，'To hear is to obey；' whereupon the Caliph bade them give him ten thousand gold pieces and he fared forth for Alexandria.On this wise it happed with Aslan； but as regards his father，Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat，he sold in course of time all that was in his shop excepting a few things and amongst them a long bag of leather.And happening to shake the bag there fell out a jewel which filled the palm of the hand，hanging to a chain of gold and having many facets but especially five，whereon were names and talismanic characters，as they were ant-tracks.So he rubbed each face； but none answered him[115] and he said to himself，'Doubtless it is a piece of variegated onyx；' and then hung it up in the shop.And behold，a Consul[116] passed along the street； and，raising his eyes，saw the jewel hanging up； so he seated himself over against the shop and said to Ala al-Din，'O my lord，is the jewel for sale？' He answered，'All I have is for sale.' Thereupon the Frank said，'Wilt thou sell me that same for eighty thousand dinars？' 'Allah open！' replied Ala al-Din.