“‘Let us not dispute it now in the public street,’ said he, smiling; ’but come in and refresh yourself, and we will consider the question afterwards at leisure.’

“‘No, my dear brother,’ said I, drawing back, ’you are too good:  Murad the Unlucky shall not enter your house, lest he should draw down misfortunes upon you and yours.  I come only to ask for my vase.’

“‘It is safe,’ cried he; ’come in, and you shall see it:  but I will not give it up till I have you in my house.  I have none of these superstitious fears:  pardon me the expression, but I have none of these superstitious fears.’

“I yielded, entered his house, and was astonished at all I saw.  My brother did not triumph in his prosperity; but, on the contrary, seemed intent only upon making me forget my misfortunes:  he listened to the account of them with kindness, and obliged me by the recital of his history:  which was, I must acknowledge, far less wonderful than my own.  He seemed, by his own account, to have grown rich in the common course of things; or rather, by his own prudence.  I allowed for his prejudices, and, unwilling to dispute farther with him, said, ’You must remain of your opinion, brother, and I of mine; you are Saladin the Lucky, and I Murad the Unlucky; and so we shall remain to the end of our lives.’

“I had not been in his house four days when an accident happened, which showed how much I was in the right.  The favourite of the sultan, to whom he had formerly sold his china vase, though her charms were now somewhat faded by time, still retained her power and her taste for magnificence.  She commissioned my brother to bespeak for her, at Venice, the most splendid looking-glass that money could purchase.  The mirror, after many delays and disappointments, at length arrived at my brother’s house.  He unpacked it, and sent to let the lady know it was in perfect safety.  It was late in the evening, and she ordered it should remain where it was that night, and that it should be brought to the seraglio the next morning.  It stood in a sort of ante-chamber to the room in which I slept; and with it were left some packages, containing glass chandeliers for an unfinished saloon in my brother’s house.  Saladin charged all his domestics to be vigilant this night, because he had money to a great amount by him, and there had been frequent robberies in our neighbourhood.  Hearing these orders, I resolved to be in readiness at a moment’s warning.  I laid my scimitar beside me upon a cushion, and left my door half open, that I might hear the slightest noise in the ante-chamber or the great staircase.  About midnight I was suddenly awakened by a noise in the ante-chamber.  I started up, seized my scimitar, and the instant I got to the door, saw, by the light of the lamp which was burning in the room, a man standing opposite to me, with a drawn sword in his hand.  I rushed forward, demanding what he wanted, and received no answer; but seeing him aim at me with his scimitar, I gave him, as I thought, a deadly blow.  At this instant I heard a great crash; and the fragments of the looking-glass, which I had shivered, fell at my feet.  At the same moment something black brushed by my shoulder:  I pursued it, stumbled over the packages of glass, and rolled over them down the stairs.