“O Sidi Mahomet, what are you doing there? Come here, I need you.”
He took a rose and approached.
“Where do you live?” asked the princess.
“With the son of the Sultan of India,” answered the monkey.
“Tell him to buy me.”
“I will tell him, provided he will accept.”
The next day he stayed in the house and tore his face. The princess called him again. The monkey brought her a rose.
“Who put you in that condition?” she cried.
“It was the son of the Sultan of India,” answered the monkey. “When I told him to buy you he gave me a blow.”
The princess gave him 100 ecus, and he went away. The next day he scratched his face worse and climbed on the house. The daughter of the King called him:
“Sidi Mahomet!”
“Well?”
“Come here. What did you say to him?”
“I told him to buy you, and he gave me another blow.”
“Since this is so, come and find me to-morrow.”
The next day the monkey took the fisherman to a shop and bought him some clothes. He took him to the baths and made him bathe. Then he went along the road and cried:
“Flee, flee, here is the son of the Sultan of India!”
They went into a coffee-house, and Si Mahomet ordered two coffees. They drank their coffees, gave an ecu to the proprietor, and went out. While going toward the palace Si Mahomet said to-the fisherman:
“Here we are at the house of your father-in-law. When he serves us to eat, eat little. When he offers us coffee, drink only a little of it. You will find silken rugs stretched on the floor; keep on your sandals.”
When they arrived the fisherman took off his sandals. The King offered them something to eat; the fisherman ate a great deal. He offered them some coffee, and the fisherman did not leave a drop of it. They went out. When they were outside the palace Si Mahomet said to the fisherman:
“Jew of a fisherman, you are lucky that I do not scratch your face.”
They returned to their house. Si Mahomet climbed upon the roof. The daughter of the King perceived him, and said:
“Come here.”
The monkey approached.
“Truly you have lied. Why did you tell me that the son of the Sultan of India was a distinguished person?”
“Is he a worthless fellow?”
“We furnished the room with silken rugs, he took off his sandals. We gave him food, and he ate like a servant. We offered him some coffee, and he licked his fingers.”
The monkey answered: “We had just come out of the coffeehouse. He had taken too much wine and was drunken, and not master of himself. That is why he ate so much.”
“Well,” replied the princess, “come to the palace again tomorrow, but do not take him to the coffee-house first.”
The next day they set out. On the way the monkey said to the fisherman: “Jew of a fisherman, if to-day you take off your sandals or eat too much or drink all your coffee, look out for yourself. Drink a little only, or I will scratch your eyes out.”