第69章
So he came up and mounting her，face to crupper，caught hold of her tail and cried out；whereupon she threw him on the ground and they laughed at him；but he rose and said，'Did I not tell thee I would not mount this great jenny-ass？'Thereupon Ibn al-Kirnas left him in the market and repairing to the Caliph，told him of the damsel；after which he returned and removed her to his own house.Meanwhile；Khalifah went home to look after the handmaid and found the people of the quarter foregathering and saying，'Verily，Khalifah is to-day in a terrible pickle！ [254]Would we knew whence he can have gotten this damsel？'Quoth one of them，'He is a mad pimp；haply he found her lying on the road drunken，and carried her to his own house，and his absence showeth his offence.'As they were talking，behold，up came Khalifah，and they said to him，'What a plight is thine，O unhappy！ Knowest thou not what is come for thee？'He replied，'No，by Allah！'and they said，'But just now there came Mamelukes and took away thy slave-girl whom thou stolest，and sought for thee，but found thee not.'Asked Khalifah，'And how came they to take my slave-girl？'；and quoth one，'Had he falled in their way，they had slain him.'But he；so far from heeding them，returned running to the shop of Ibn al-Kirnas，whom he met riding，and said to him，'By Allah，'twas not right of thee to wheedle me and meanwhile send thy Mamelukes to take my slave-girl！'Replied the jeweller，'O idiot，come with me and hold thy tongue.'So he took him and carried him into a house handsomely builded，where he found the damsel seated on a couch of gold，with ten slave-girls like moons round her.
Sighting her Ibn al-Kirnas kissed ground before her and she said；'What hast thou done with my new master，who bought me with all he owned？'He replied，'O my lady，I gave him a thousand gold dinars；'and related to her Khalifah's history from first to last，whereat she laughed and said，'Blame him not；for he is but a common wight.These other thousand dinars are a gift from me to him and Almighty Allah willing，he shall win of the Caliph what shall enrich him.'As they were talking，there came an eunuch from the Commander of the Faithful，in quest of Kut al-Kulub，for，when he knew that she was in the house of Ibn al-Kirnas，he could not endure the severance，but bade bring her forthwith.So she repaired to the Palace，taking Khalifah with her，and going into the presence，kissed ground before the Caliph，who rose to her，saluting and welcoming her，and asked her how she had fared with him who had bought her.She replied；'He is a man，Khalifah the Fisherman hight，and there he standeth at the door.He telleth me that he hath an account to settle with the Commander of the Faithful，by reason of a partnership between him and the Caliph in fishing.'Asked al-Rashid，'Is he at the door？'and she answered，'Yes.'So the Caliph sent for him and he kissed ground before him and wished him endurance of glory and prosperity.The Caliph marvelled at him and laughed at him and said to him，'O Fisherman，wast thou in very deed my partner [255] yesterday？'Khalifah took his meaning and heartening his heart and summoning spirit replied，'By Him who bestowed upon thee the succession to thy cousin，[256] I know her not in anywise and have had no commerce with her save by way of sight and speech！'Then he repeated to him all that had befallen him，since he last saw him，[257] whereat the Caliph laughed and his breast broadened and he said to Khalifah，'Ask of us what thou wilt，O thou to bringest to owners their own！'But he was silent；so the Caliph ordered him fifty thousand dinars of gold and a costly dress of honour such as great Sovrans don，and a she-mule，and gave him black slaves of the Sudan to serve him；so that he became as he were one of the Kings of that time.The Caliph was rejoiced at the recovery of his favourite and knew that all this was the doing of his cousin-wife，the Lady Zubaydah，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-fifth Night； She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Caliph rejoiced at the recovery of Kut al-Kulub and knew that all this was the doing of the Lady Zubaydah，his cousin-wife；wherefore he was sore enraged against her and held aloof from her a great while，visiting her not neither inclining to pardon her.When she was certified of this，she was sore concerned for his wrath and her face，that was wont to be rosy，waxed pale and wan till；when her patience was exhausted，she sent a letter to her cousin；the Commander of the Faithful making her excuses to him and confessing her offences，and ending with these verses 'I long once more the love that was between us to regain，* That I may quench the fire of grief and bate the force of bane.
O lords of me，have ruth upon the stress my passion deals *Enough to me is what you doled of sorrow and of pain.
'Tis life to me an deign you keep the troth you deigned to plight *'Tis death to me an troth you break and fondest vows profane：
Given I've sinned a sorry sin，ye grant me ruth，for naught * By Allah，sweeter is than friend who is of pardon fain.'