You must know, gentlemen, that, in the reign of the caliph Haroun Alrasehid, my father lived at Bagdad, the place of my nativity, and was reputed one of the richest merchants in the city; but, being a man too much addicted to pleasure, one that loved an irregular life, and neglected his private affairs, instead of leaving me a plentiful fortune at his death, he left me in such a condition, that all my economy was scarcely sufficient to clear his debts.  With much ado, however, I paid them all, and, through industry and care, my little fortune began to assume a smiling countenance.

One morning as I opened my shop, a lady mounted upon a mule, attended by an eunuch and two women slaves, stopped near my shop-door, and, with the assistance of the eunuch, alighted.  Madam, said the eunuch, I said you would be too soon, you see there is nobody yet in the bezestein; if you had taken my advice, you might have saved yourself the trouble of waiting here.  The lady looked around her, and finding there was no shop open but mine, addressed herself to me, asking leave to sit in my shop till the rest of the merchants came; of course I could do no less than return a civil answer, and invite the lady into my shop.  She sat down in my shop, and, observing there was nobody in the whole bezestein save the eunuch and me, uncovered her face to take the air; and I must say I never saw any thing so pretty in my lifetime.  I had no sooner a sight of her face than I loved her; of course I fixed my eyes upon her, and perceived that she was not displeased; for she gave me a full opportunity to look upon her, and did not cover her face till she was afraid of being taken notice of.  Having let down her veil, she told me that she wanted several sorts of the richest and finest stuffs, and asked me if I had them?  Alas! madam, said I, I am but a young man, just beginning the world, and have not stock enough for such great concerns; and it is a mortification to me that I have nothing to show you such as you want:  but to save you the trouble of going from shop to shop, as soon as the merchants come, I will go, if you please, and fetch from them what you want, with the lowest prices; and so you may do your business without going any further.  She complied with my proposal, and entered into discourse, which continued so much the longer, that I still made her believe that the merchants who could furnish what she wanted were not yet come.

I was charmed no less with her wit than I had been before with the beauty of her face; but there was a necessity for denying myself the pleasure of her conversation:  I ran out to seek for the stuffs she wanted, and after she had pitched upon what she liked, we struck the price at five thousand drams of coined silver; so I wrapped up the stuffs in a small bundle, and gave it to the eunuch, who put it under his arm; after which, she rose and took leave.  I still continued to look after her, till she had got to the bezestein gate; and mounted her mule again.