I was not at Bagdad when this tragical adventure befell my fourth brother.  He retired into a remote place, where he lay concealed till he was cured of the blows with which his back was terribly mangled.  When he was able to walk, he went by night to a certain town where nobody knew him; and there he took a lodging, from whence he seldom moved; but being weary of this confined life, he went to walk in one of the suburbs, where suddenly he heard a noise of horsemen coming behind him.  He was then by chance near the gate of a house, and fearing, after what had befallen him, that these horsemen were pursuing him, he opened the gate in order to hide himself, and after he had shut it, entered a court, where immediately two servants came and collared him, saying, “Heaven be praised, that you have come of your own accord to surrender yourself; you have alarmed us so much these three last nights, that we could not sleep; nor would you have spared our lives, if we had not prevented your design.”  You may well imagine my brother was much surprised.  “Good people,” said he, “I know not what you mean; you certainly take me for somebody else.”  “No, no,” replied they, “we know that you and your comrades are robbers:  you were not contented to rob our master of all that he had, and to reduce him to beggary, but you conspired to take his life.  Let us see if you have not a knife about you, which you had in your hand when you pursued us last night.”  Having said thus, they searched him, and found he had a knife.  “Ho! ho!” cried they, laying hold of him, “and dare you say that you are not a robber?” “Why,” said my brother, “cannot a man carry a knife about him without being a robber?  If you will hearken to my story, instead of having so bad an opinion of me, you will be touched with compassion at my misfortunes.”  But far from attending to him, they fell upon him, trod upon him, took away his clothes, and tore his shirt.  Then seeing the scars on his back, “O dog,” said they, redoubling their blows, “would you have us believe you are an honest man, when your back shews us the contrary?” “Alas!” said my brother, “my crimes must be very great, since, after having been abused already so unjustly, I am thus treated a second time without being more culpable!”

The two servants, no way moved with his complaint, carried him before the judge, who asked him how he durst presume to go into their house, and pursue them with a drawn knife?  “Sir,” replied the unfortunate Alcouz, “I am the most innocent man in the world, and am undone if you will not be pleased to hear me patiently:  no one deserves more compassion.”  “Sir,” exclaimed one of the domestics, “will you listen to a robber, who enters people’s houses to plunder and murder them?  If you will not believe us, only look upon his back;” and while he said so he uncovered my brother’s back, and shewed it to the judge, who, without any other information, commanded his officers immediately to give him a hundred