the words you did, thereby bringing bad luck to me, who never did you any harm.”  Quoth the simpleton, “I only tried to say the words my wife told me not to forget.”  “Do you know them?” “Yes.”  “Well, place yourself beside me, and each time I cast my net you must say, ’In the name of the Prophet, instead of one, seven of the greatest and best!’” But Xailoun thought what his wife had said was not so long as that.  “Oh, yes, it was,” said the fisherman; “and take care you don’t miss a single word, and I shall give you some of the fish to take home with you.”  That he might not forget, Xailoun repeated it very loud, but as ’he was afraid of the cord whenever he saw the fisherman drawing in his net, he ran away as fast as he could, but still repeating, “In the name of the Prophet, instead of one, seven of the greatest and best!” These words he pronounced in the midst of a crowd of people, through which the corpse of the kazi (magistrate, or judge) was being carried to the burying ground, and the mullahs who surrounded the bier, scandalised by what they thought a horrible imprecation, exclaimed, “How darest thou, wicked wretch, thus blaspheme?  Is it not enough that Death has taken one of the greatest men of Baghdad?” The poor simpleton was skulking off in fear and trembling, when his sleeve was pulled by an aged slave, who told him that he ought to say, “May Allah preserve his body and save his soul!” So our noodle went on, repeating this new cry till he came to a street where a dead ass was being carted away.  “May Allah preserve his body and save his soul!"’ he exclaimed.  “How he blasphemes!” said the folk, and they set upon him with their fists and sticks, and gave him a sound drubbing.  At length he got clear of them, and by chance came to the house of his wife’s mother, but he only ventured to stand at the door and peep within.  He was recognised, however, and asked what he would have to eat—­goat’s flesh? rice? pease? Yes, it was pease he wanted, and having got some, he hastened home, and after relating all his mishaps, informed his wife, that her sister was very sick.  His wife, having prepared herself to go to her mother’s house, tells the simpleton to rock the baby should it awake and cry; feed the hen that was sitting; if the ass was thirsty, give her to drink; shut the door, and take care not to go to sleep, lest robbers should come and plunder the house.  The baby awakes, and Xailoun rocks it to sleep again; so far, well.  The hen seems uneasy; he concludes she is troubled with insects, like himself.  So he takes up the hen, and thinking the best way to kill the insects was to stick a pin into them, he unluckily kills the hen.  This was a serious matter, and while he considers what he should do in the circumstances, the ass begins to bray.  “Ah,” says he, “I’ve no time to attend to you just now; but when I am on your back, you can carry me to the river.”  Then he opened the door and let out the ass and her colt.  After this he sat