* * * * *

I now present a story unabridged, translated by Gerrans in the latter part of the last century.  It is assuredly of Buddhistic origin: 

The Golden Apparition.

In the extreme boundaries of Khurasan there once lived, according to general report, a merchant named Abdal-Malik, whose warehouses were crowded with rich merchandise, and whose coffers overflowed with money.  The scions of genius ripened into maturity under the sunshine of his liberality; the sons of indigence fattened on the bread of his hospitality; and the parched traveller amply slaked his thirst in the river of his generosity.  One day, as he meditated on the favours which his Creator had so luxuriantly showered upon him, he testified his gratitude by the following resolution:  “Long have I traded in the theatre of the world, much have I received, and little have I bestowed.  This wealth was entrusted to my care, with no other design or intention but to enable me to assist the unfortunate and indigent.  Before, therefore, the Angel of Death shall come to demand the spoil of my mortality, it is my last wish and sole intention to expiate my sins and follies by voluntary oblations of this she-camel [alluding to the Muslim Feast of the Camel] in the last month of her pregnancy, and to proclaim to all men, by this late breakfasting [alluding to the Feast of Ramadan, when food is only permitted after sunset], my past mortification.”

In the tranquil hour of midnight an apparition stood before him, in the habit of a fakir.  The merchant cried:  “What art thou?” It answered:  “I am the apparition of thy good fortune and the genius of thy future happiness.  When thou, with such unbounded generosity, didst bequeath all thy wealth to the poor, I determined not to pass by thy door unnoticed, but to endow thee with an inexhaustible treasure, conformable to the greatness of thy capacious soul.  To accomplish which I will, every morning, in this shape, appear to thee; thou shalt strike me a few blows on the head, when I shall instantly fall low at thy feet, transformed into an image of gold.  From this freely take as much as thou shalt have occasion for; and every member or joint that shall be separated from the image shall be instantly replaced by another of the same precious metal."[47]

   [47] If the members severed from the golden image were to be
        instantly replaced by others, what need was there for
        the daily appearance of the “fakir,” as promised?—­But
        n’importe!

At daybreak the demon of avarice had conducted Hajm, the covetous, to the durbar of Abdal-Malik, the generous.  Soon after his arrival the apparition presented itself.  Abdal-Malik immediately arose, and after striking it several blows on the head it fell down before him, and was changed into an image of gold.  As much as sufficed for the necessities of the day he took for himself, and gave a much larger portion to his