one of us aught to be longed for.”  Quoth they jeeringly, “Bring what thou hast of righteous rede:”  so quoth he, “Have you fixed your intent upon slaying him and robbing his good?” and they answered, “We have.”  However, he objected again and cried, “Come ye and hear from me what it is I advise you, albeit I will take no part[FN#412] in this matter;” presently adding, “Established is your resolve in this affair, and ye wot better than I what you are about to do.  But my mind is certified of this much; do ye not transgress in the matter of his blood and suffer only his crime be upon you;[FN#413] moreover, if ye desire to lay hands upon his camels and his moneys and his provisions, then do ye carry them off and leave him where he lieth; then if he live, ’twere well, and if he die ’twill be even better and far better.”  “Thy rede is right and righteous,” they replied.  Accordingly they seized his steed and his habergeon and his sword and his gear of battle and combat, and they carried off all he had of money and means, and placing him naked upon the bare ground they drove away his camels.  Presently asked one of other, “Whenas we shall reach the tribe what shall we say to his father and his mother?” “Whatso Rabi’a shall counsel us,” quoth they, and quoth Rabi’a, “Tell them, ’We left not travelling with your son; and, as we fared along, we lost sight of him and we saw him nowhere until we came upon him a-swoon and lying on the road senseless:  then we called to him by name but he returned no reply, and when we shook him with our hands behold, he had become a dried-up wand.  Then seeing him dead we buried him and brought back to you his good and his belongings.’” “And if they ask you,” objected one, “’In what place did ye bury him and in what land, and is the spot far or near,’ what shall ye make answer; also if they say to you, ’Why did ye not bear his corpse with you,’ what then shall be your reply?” Rabi’a to this rejoined “Do you say to them, ’Our strength was weakened and we waxed feeble from burn of heart and want of water, nor could we bring his remains with us.’  And if they ask you, ’Could ye not bear him a-back; nay, might ye not have carried him upon one of the camels?’ do ye declare that ye could not for two reasons, the first being that the body was swollen and stinking from the fiery air, and the second our fear for his father, lest seeing him rotten he could not endure the sight and his sorrow be increased for that he was an only child and his sire hath none other.”  All the men joined in accepting this counsel of Rabi’a, and each and every exclaimed, “This indeed is the rede that is most right.”  Then they ceased not wayfaring until they reached the neighbourhood of the tribe, when they sprang from their steeds and openly donned black, and they entered the camp showing the sorest sorrow.  Presently they repaired to the father’s tent, grieving and weeping and shrieking as they went; and when the Emir Salamah saw them in this case, crowding together with keening and