第69章

So I took the money and the jewel and carried them to al-Rashid together with Mansur，but on the way I heard him repeat this couplet，applying it to his own case，''Twas not of love that fared my feet to them；*'Twas that I feared me lest they shoot their shafts！'

Now when I heard this，I marvelled at his evil nature and his depravity and mischief-making and his ignoble birth and provenance and，turning upon him，I said，'There is none on the face of the earth better or more righteous than the Barmecides，nor any baser nor more wrongous than thou； for they bought thee off from death and delivered thee from destruction，giving thee what should save thee； yet thou thankest them not nor praises'them，neither acquittest thee after the manner of the noble； nay，thou meetest their benevolence with this speech.'Then I went to Al-Rashid and acquainted him with all that had passed'And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Sixth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Salih con tinued：'So I acquainted the Commander of the Faithful with all that passed and Al-Rashid marvelled at the generosity and benevolence of Yahya and the vileness and ingratitude of Mansur，and bade restore the jewel to Yahya，saying，'Whatso we have given it befitteth us not to take again.'After that Salih returned to Yahya and acquainted him with the tale of Mansur and his ill-conduct； whereupon replied he，'O Salih，when a man is in want，sick at heart and sad of thought，he is not to be blamed for aught that falleth from him； for it cometh not from the heart；'and on this wise he took to seeking excuse for Mansur.

But Salih wept and exclaimed，'Never shall the revolving heavens bring forth into being the like of thee，O Yahya！ Alas，and well-away，that one of such noble nature and generosity should be laid in the dust！'And he repeated these two couplets，'Haste to do kindness thou cost intend；*Thou canst not always on boons expend：

How many from bounty themselves withheld，* Till means of bounty had come to end！''

And men tell another tale of the

GENEROUS DEALING OF YAHYA SON OF KHALID WITH A MAN WHO FORGED A LETTER IN HIS NAME.

There was between Yahya bin Khalid and Abdullah bin Malik al-Khuza'i，[248] an enmity which they kept secret； the reason of the hatred being that Harun al-Rashid loved Abdullah with exceeding love，so that Yahya and his sons were wont to say that he had bewitched the Commander of the Faithful.And thus they abode a long while，with rancour in their hearts，till it fell out that the Caliph invested Abdullah with the government of Armenia[249] and despatched him thither.Now soon after he had settled himself in his seat of government，there came to him one of the people of Irak，a man of good breeding and excellent parts and abundant cleverness； but he had lost his money and wasted his wealth and his estate was come to ill case； so he forged a letter to Abdullah bin Malik in the name of Yahya bin Khalid and set out therewith for Armenia.Now when he came to the Governor's gate，he gave the letter to one of the Chamberlains，who took it and carried it to his master.Abdullah opened it and read it and，considering it attentively，knew it to be forged； so he sent for the man，who presented himself before him and called down blessings upon him and praised him and those of his court.Quoth Abdullah to him，'What moved thee to weary thyself on this wise and bring me a forged letter？ But be of good heart； for we will not disappoint thy travail.'Replied the other，'Allah prolong the life of our lord the Wazir！ If my coming annoy thee，cast not about for a pretext to repel me，for Allah's earth is wide and He who giveth daily bread still liveth.Indeed，the letter I bring thee from Yahya bin Khalid is true and no forgery.'Quoth Abdullah，'I will write a letter to my agent[250] at Baghdad and command him enquire concerning this same letter.If it be true，as thou sayest，and genuine and not forged by thee，I will bestow on thee the Emirship of one of my cities； or，if thou prefer a present，I will give thee two hundred thousand dirhams，besides horses and camels of price and a robe of honour.But，if the letter prove a forgery，I will order thou be beaten with two hundred blows of a stick and thy beard be shaven.'So Abdullah bade confine him in a chamber and furnish him therein with all he needed，till his case should be made manifest.Then he despatched a letter to his agent at Baghdad，to the following effect：'There is come to me a man with a letter purporting to be from Yahya bin Khalid.Now I have my suspicions of this letter： therefore delay thou not in the matter，but go thyself and look carefully into the case and let me have an answer with all speed，in order that we may know what is true and what is untrue.'When the letter reached Baghdad，the agent mounted at once，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.