stood before him blessing him and saying, “O
my lord, this be Arafat-day and to-night will be the
Eve of the ’I’d, or Greater Festival;
so I hope from the beneficence of my master the Chamberlain
and Emir Alaeddin (whom Allah Almighty keep and preserve!)
that he will deign order me a largesse befitting the
Fete wherewith I may buy sweetmeats for my wife and
children.” The other replied, “Take
this charger and wend thy ways therewith;” so
the Watchman kissed his hand and carrying it off went
home and showed it to his wife. But she cried,
“O thou miserable,[FN#106] whence gottest thou
this charger: hast thou wilfully stolen it or
suddenly snatched it?"[FN#107] Replied her mate, “This
be the property of the Emir Alaeddin, the Chamberlain
(whom Allah preserve!), and he gave it to me as an
alms-gift; so come hither all of you that we eat,
for the pancakes look toothsome.” Rejoined
his wife, “Art thou Jinn-mad? Up with thee
and sell the charger and cates, for the worth must
be some thirty to forty dirhams which we will lay
out for the benefit of the little ones.”
He retorted, “O woman, suffer us eat of this
food wherewith the Almighty would feed us;”
but she fell to wailing and crying out, “We
will not taste thereof while the children lack caps
and slippers."[FN#108] and she prevailed over him with
her opinion, for indeed women are mostly the prevailers.
So taking up the charger he fared with it to the market-place
and gave it for sale to a broker, and the man began
crying, “Who will buy this charger with whatso
is thereon?” Hereat up came the Shaykh of the
Bazar who bid forty dirhams therefor, and a second
merchant raised its price to eighty, when a third hent
it in hand and turning it about espied graven upon
the edge, “Made by commandment of Harun al-Rashid,
Commander of the Faithful.” Hereat the
trader’s wits fled him and he cried to the broker,
“Hast thou a will to work for my hanging in this
matter of the charger?” Quoth the other, “What
may be the meaning of these words?” and quoth
the merchant, “This charger is the property of
the Prince of True Believers.” The broker,
dying of dread, took the charger and repaired therewith
to the Palace of the Caliphate where he craved leave
to enter; and, when this was accorded, he went in
and kissed ground before the presence and blessed the
Commander of the Faithful and lastly showed to him
the charger. But when the Caliph looked at it
and considered it carefully, he recognised it with
its contents and he waxed wroth with exceeding wrath
and said in himself, “When I make aught for the
eating of my household, shall it be sent out and hawked
about for sale?” adding to the broker, “Who
gave thee this charger?” “O my lord, ’twas
the Watchman of one of the wards,” replied he;
and Harun rejoined, “Bring him to me hither.”
So they fared forth and fetched him bound in cords
and saying in his mind, “The whore would not
suffer us eat of that was in the charger and enjoy
its sweetness, so this happened which hath happened