第50章

Then she made them give me other fifty dinars （making in all four hundred gold pieces I had of her） and bade me depart.So I went out from her and came hither，that I might pray Allah （extolled and exalted be He！） to make her husband return to the cookmaid，that haply I might be again admitted to her favours.'When the Emir of the pilgrims heard the man's story，he set him free and said to the bystanders，'Allah upon you，pray for him，for indeed he is excusable.''And men also tell the tale of THE MOCK CALIPH.

It is related that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid，was one night restless with extreme restlessness，so he summoned his Wazir Ja'afar the Barmecide，and said to him，'My breast is straitened and I have a desire to divert myself to-night by walking about the streets of Baghdad and looking into folks'affairs； but with this precaution that we disguise ourselves in merchants'gear，so none shall know us.'He answered，'Hearkening and obedience.'

They rose at once and doffing the rich raiment they wore，donned merchants'habits and sallied forth three in number，the Caliph，Ja'afar and Masrur the sworder.Then they walked from place to place，till they came to the Tigris and saw an old man sitting in a boat； so they went up to him and saluting him，said，'O Shaykh，we desire thee of thy kindness and favour to carry us a-pleasuring down the river，in this thy boat，and take this dinar to thy hire.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when they said to the old man，'We desire thee to carry us a-pleasuring in this thy boat and take this dinar；'he answered，'Who may go a-

pleasuring on the Tigris？ The Caliph Harun al-Rashid every night cometh down Tigris stream in his state-barge[186] and with him one crying aloud： 'Ho，ye people all，great and small，gentle and simple，men and boys，whoso is found in a boat on the Tigris by night，I will strike off his head or hang him to the mast of his craft！'And ye had well nigh met him； for here cometh his carrack.'But the Caliph and Ja'afar said，'O Shaykh，take these two dinars，and run us under one of yonder arches，that we may hide there till the Caliph's barge have passed.'The old man replied，'Hand over your gold and rely we on Allah，the Almighty！'So he took the two dinars and embarked them in the boat； and he put off and rowed about with them awhile，when behold，the barge came down the river in mid-stream，with lighted flambeaux and cressets flaming therein.Quoth the old man，'Did not I tell you that the Caliph passed along the river every night？'； and ceased not muttering，'O Protector，remove not the veils of Thy protection！'Then he ran the boat under an arch and threw a piece of black cloth over the Caliph and his companions，who looked out from under the covering and saw，in the bows of the barge，a man holding in hand a cresset of red gold which he fed with Sumatran lign-aloes and the figure was clad in a robe of red satin，with a narrow turband of Mosul shape round on his head，and over one of his shoulders hung a sleeved cloak[187]

of cramoisy satin，and on the other was a green silk bag full of the aloes-wood，with which he fed the cresset by way of firewood.

And they sighted in the stern another man，clad like the first and bearing a like cresset，and in the barge were two hundred white slaves，standing ranged to the right and left； and in the middle a throne of red gold，whereon sat a handsome young man，like the moon，clad in a dress of black，embroidered with yellow gold.Before him they beheld a man，as he were the Wazir Ja'afar，and at his head stood an eunuch，as he were Masrur，with a drawn sword in his hand； besides a score of cup-companions.Now when the Caliph saw this，he turned and said，'O Ja'afar，'and the Minister replied，'At thy service，O Prince of True Believers.'

Then quoth the Caliph，'Belike this is one of my sons，Al Amin or Al-Maamun.'Then he examined the young man who sat on the throne and finding him perfect in beauty and loveliness and stature and symmetric grace，said to Ja'afar，'Verily，this young man abateth nor jot nor tittle of the state of the Caliphate！ See，there standeth before him one as he were thyself，O Ja'afar； yonder eunuch who standeth at his head is as he were Masrur and those courtiers as they were my own.By Allah，O Ja'afar，my reason is confounded and I am filled with amazement this matter！'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Two Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when the Caliph saw this spectacle his reason was confounded and he cried，'By Allah，I am filled with amazement at this matter！'and Ja'afar replied，'And I also，by Allah，O Commander of the Faithful.'Then the barge passed on and disappeared from sight whereupon the boatman pushed out again into the stream，saying，'Praised be Allah for safety，since none hath fallen in with us！'

Quoth the Caliph，'O old man，doth the Caliph come down the Tigris-river every night？'The boatman answered，'Yes，O my lord；