Chapter 3, The Tale of the Three Apples Summary

The Caliph and his Wazir Ja'afar meet an old fisherman, whom they hire out of pity, promising to pay him a hundred gold pieces for whatever he catches in his net. The fisherman hauls up a trunk that contains a woman's body, cut up and wrapped in a carpet. The Caliph challenges Ja'afar to find the murderer or die in his place. Ja'afar cannot find the killer so he and his family are sentenced to hanging. Two men stop the hanging when they confess to killing the woman. The woman's husband bought her three apples when she was ill. His child takes one apple that is then stolen by a black slave. The husband stops the slave and asks about the apple and the slave lies that he took it from...