第66章

'Ja'afar fared on with him，with Mamelukes before and behind，whilst he said，'Doth not arrest suffice，but these must go behind and before me，to hinder my making off？'till they had traversed seven vestibules，when the Wazir said to him，'Mark my words，O Fisherman！ Thou standest before the Commander of the Faithful and Defender of the Faith！'Then he raised the great curtain and Khalifah's eyes fell on the Caliph，who was seated on his couch，with the Lords of the realm standing in attendance upon him.As soon as he knew him，he went up to him and said；'Well come，and welcome to thee，O piper！'Twas not right of thee to make thyself a Fisherman and go away，leaving me sitting to guard the fish，and never to return！ For，before I was aware；there came up Mamelukes on beasts of all manner colours，and snatched away the fish from me，I standing alone，and this was all of thy fault；for，hadst thou returned with the frails forthright，we had sold an hundred dinars'worth of fish.And now I come to seek my due，and they have arrested me but thou；who hath imprisoned thee also in this place？'The Caliph smiled and raising a corner of the curtain，put forth his head and said to the Fisherman，'Come hither and take thee one of these papers.'Quoth Khalifah the Fisherman，'Yesterday thou wast a fisherman，and to-day thou hast become an astrologer；but the more trades a man hath，the poorer he waxeth.'Thereupon；Ja'afar，said，'Take the paper at once，and do as the Commander of the Faithful biddeth thee without prating.'So he came forward and put forth his hand saying，'Far be it from me that this piper should ever again be my knave and fish with me！'Then taking the paper he handed it to the Caliph，saying，'O piper；what hath come out for me therein？ Hide naught thereof.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-second Night； She continued，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Khalifah the Fisherman took up one of the papers and handed it to the Caliph he said，'O piper，what have come out to me therein？

Hide naught thereof.'So Al-Rashid received it and passed it on to Ja'afar and said to him，'Read what is therein.'He looked at it and said，'There is no Majesty there is no Might save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！'Said the Caliph，'Good news；[243] O Ja'afar？ What seest thou therein？'Answered the Wazir，'O Commander of the Faithful，there came up from the paper，'Let the Fisherman receive an hundred blows with a stick.''So the Caliph commanded to beat the Fisherman and they gave him an hundred sticks： after which he arose，saying，'Allah damn this，O Bran-belly！ Are jail and sticks part of the game？'

Then said Ja'afar，'O Commander of the Faithful，this poor devil is come to the river，and how shall he go away thirsting？ We hope that among the alms-deeds of the Commander of the Faithful；he may have leave to take another paper，so haply somewhat may come out wherewithal he may succor his poverty.'Said the Caliph；'By Allah，O Ja'afar，if he take another paper and death be written therein，I will assuredly kill him，and thou wilt be the cause.'Answered Ja'afar，'If he die he will be at rest.'But Khalifah the Fisherman said to him，'Allah ne'er gladden thee with good news！ Have I made Baghdad strait upon you，that ye seek to slay me？'Quoth Ja'afar，'Take thee a paper and crave the blessing of Allah Almighty！'So he put out his hand and taking a paper，gave it to Ja'afar，who read it and was silent.

The Caliph asked，'Why art thou silent，O son of Yahya？'；and he answered，'O Commander of the Faithful，there hath come out on this paper，'Naught shall be given to the Fisherman.''Then said the Caliph，'His daily bread will not come from us： bid him fare forth from before our face.'Quoth Ja'afar，'By the claims of thy pious forefathers，let him take a third paper，it may be it will bring him alimony；'and quoth the Caliph，'Let him take one and no more.'So he put out his hand and took a third paper，and behold，therein was written，'Let the Fisherman be given one dinar.'Ja'afar cried to him，'I sought good fortune for thee；but Allah willed not to thee aught save this dinar.'And Khalifah answered，'Verily，a dinar for every hundred sticks were rare good luck，may Allah not send thy body health！'The Caliph laughed at him and Ja'afar took him by the hand and led him out.