第68章

Quoth I，'Bind the Marid who brought the damsel hither from her home.'Quoth they，'We hear and obey，'and off they flew and bound that Marid in straitest bonds and returned after a while，saying，'We have done thy bidding.'Then I dismissed them and，repairing to my wife，told her what had happened and said to her，'O my bride，wilt thou go with me？''Yes，'answered she.So I carried her forth of the vaulted chamber whereby I had entered the city and we fared on，till we fell in with the folk who had shown me the way to find her.'And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Fifth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that he continued on this wise：'And we fared on till we fell in with the folk who had shown me the way to her.So I said to them，'Point me out a path which shall lead me to my home，'and they did accordingly，and brought us a-foot to the sea-shore and set us aboard a vessel which sailed on before us with a fair wind，till we reached Bassorah-city.And when we entered the house of my father-in-law and her people saw my wife，they rejoiced with exceeding joy.Then I fumigated the vulture with musk and lo！ the Ifrits flocked to me from all sides，saying，'At thy service what wilt thou have us do？'So I bade them transport all that was in the City of Brass of monies and noble metals and stones of price to my house in Bassorah，which they did； and I then ordered them to bring me the ape.They brought him before me，abject and contemptible，and I said to him，'O accursed，why hast thou dealt thus perfidiously with me？'Then I com mended the Ifrits to shut him in a brazen vessel[245] so they put him in a brazen cucurbite and sealed it with lead.But I abode with my wife in joy and delight； and now，O Commander of the Faithful，I have under my hand precious things in such measure and rare jewels and other treasure and monies on such wise as neither reckoning may express nor may limits comprise； and，if thou lust after wealth or aught else，I will command the Jinn at once to do thy desire.

But all this is of the bounty of Almighty Allah.'Thereupon the Commander of the Faithful wondered greatly and bestowed on him imperial gifts，in exchange for his presents，and entreated him with the favour he deserved.And men also tell the tale of the GENEROUS DEALING OF YAHYA BIN KHALID THE BARMECIDE WITH MANSUR.

It is told that Harun al-Rashid，in the days before he became jealous of the Barmecides，sent once for one of his guards，Salih by name，and said to him，'O Salih，go to Mansur[246] and say to him：'Thou owest us a thousand thousand dirhams and we require of thee immediate payment of this amount.'And I command thee，O Salih，unless he pay it between this hour and sundown，sever his head from his body and bring it to me.''To hear is to obey，'answered Salih and，going to Mansur，acquainted him with what the Caliph had said，whereupon quoth he，'I am a lost man，by Allah；

for all my estate and all my hand owneth，if sold for their utmost value，would not fetch a price of more than an hundred thousand dirhams.Whence then，O Salih，shall I get the other nine hundred thousand？'Salih replied，'Contrive how thou mayst speedily acquit thyself，else thou art a dead man； for I cannot grant thee an eye-twinkling of delay after the time appointed me by the Caliph； nor can I fail of aught which the Prince of True Believers hath enjoined on me.Hasten，therefore，to devise some means of saving thyself ere the time expire.'Quoth Mansur，'O Salih，I beg thee of thy favour to bring me to my house，that I

may take leave of my children and family and give my kinsfolk my last injunctions.'Now Salih relateth：'So I went with him to his house where he fell to bidding his family farewell，and the house was filled with a clamour of weeping and lamentations and calling for help on Almighty Allah.Thereupon I said to him，'I have bethought me that Allah may haply vouchsafe thee relief at the hands of the Barmecides.Come，let us go to the house of Yahya bin Khalid.'So we went to Yahya's house，and Mansur told him his case，whereat he was sore concerned and bowed him groundwards for a while，then raising his head，he called his treasurer and said to him，'How much have we in our treasury？''A matter of five thousand dirhams，'answered the treasurer，and Yahya bade him bring them and sent a messenger to his son，Al-Fazl，saying，'I am offered for sale a splendid estate which may never be laid waste； so send me somewhat of money.'Al-Fazl sent him a thousand thousand dirhams，and he despatched a mes senger with a like message to his son Ja'afar，saying，'We have a matter of much moment and for it we want money；'whereupon Ja'afar at once sent him a thousand thousand dirhams； nor did Yahya leave sending to his kinsmen of the Barmecides，till he had collected from them a great sum of money for Mansur.But Salih and the debtor knew not of this； and Mansur said to Yahya，'O my lord，I have laid hold upon thy skirt，for I know not whither to look for the money but to thee，in accordance with thy wonted generosity； so discharge thou the rest of my debt for me and make me thy freed slave.'

Thereupon Yahya hung down his head and wept； then he said to a page，'Harkye，boy，the Commander of the Faithful gave our slave-girl Dananir a jewel of great price： go thou to her and bid her send it to us.'The page went out and presently returned with the jewel，whereupon quoth Yahya，'O Mansur，I bought this jewel of the merchant for the Commander of the Faithful，at a price of two hundred thousand dinars，[247] and he gave it to our slave-girl Dananir，the lute-player； and when he sees it with thee，he will know it and spare thy blood and do thee honour for our sake； and now，O Mansur，verily thy money is complete.'（Salih continued）