第72章

So he set down his basket，saying，'O Sultan of the Jews，I am a fisher-wight and went forth to-day to the Tigris and casting my net in thy name，cried，'This is for the luck of Abu al-Sa'adat；' and there came up to me this Banni which I have brought thee by way of present.'Then he lifted the grass and discovered the fish to the Jew，who marvelled at its make and said，'Extolled be the perfection of the Most Excellent Creator！'Then he gave the fisherman a dinar，but he refused it and he gave him two.This also he refused and the Jew stayed not adding to his offer，till he made it ten dinars；but he still refused and Abu al-Sa'adat said to him，'By Allah，thou art a greedy one.Tell me what thou wouldst have，O Moslem！'Quoth Khalif，'I would have of thee but a single word.[274]'When the Jew heard this ，he changed colour and said，'Wouldst thou oust me from my faith？ Wend thy ways；'and Khalif said to him；'By Allah，O Jew，naught mattereth an thou become a Moslem or a Nazarene！'Asked the Jew，'Then what wouldst thou have me say？'

and the fisherman answered，'Say，I sell thee my ape for thy ape and my luck for thy luck.'The Jew laughed，deeming him little of wit，and said by way of jest，'I sell thee my ape for thy ape and my luck for thy luck.Bear witness against him，O merchants！ By Allah，O unhappy，thou art debarred from further claim on me！'So Khalif turned back，blaming himself and saying，'There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！ Alas that I did not take the gold！'and fared on blaming himself in the matter of the money till he came to the Tigris；but found not the two apes，whereupon he wept and slapped his face and strewed dust on his head，saying，'But that the second ape wheedled me and put a cheat on me，the one-eyed ape had not escaped.'And he gave not over wailing and weeping，till heat and hunger grew sore on him： so he took the net，saying，'Come，let us make a cast，trusting in Allah's blessing；belike I may catch a cat-fish or a barbel which I may boil and eat.'So he threw the net and waiting till it had settled，drew it ashore and found it full of fish，whereat he was consoled and rejoiced and busied himself with unmeshing the fish and casting them on the earth.

Presently，up came a woman seeking fish and crying out，'Fish is not to be found in the town.'She caught sight of Khalif，and said to him，'Wilt thou sell this fish，O Master？'Answered Khalif，'I am going to turn it into clothes，'tis all for sale；even to my beard.[275] Take what thou wilt.'So she gave him a dinar and he filled her basket.Then she went away and behold，up came another servant，seeking a dinar's worth of fish；nor did the folk cease till it was the hour of mid-afternoon prayer and Khalif had sold ten golden dinars' worth of fish.Then，being faint and famisht，he folded and shouldered his net and；repairing to the market，bought himself a woollen gown，a calotte with a plaited border and a honey-coloured turband for a dinar receiving two dirhams by way of change，wherewith he purchased fried cheese and a fat sheep's tail and honey and setting them in the oilman's platter，ate till he was full and his ribs felt cold[276] from the mighty stuffing.Then he marched off to his lodgings in the magazine，clad in the gown and the honey-coloured turband and with the nine golden dinars in his mouth，rejoicing in what he had never in his life seen.He entered and lay down；but could not sleep for anxious thoughts and abode playing with the money half the night.Then said he in himself，'Haply the Caliph may hear that I have gold and say to Ja'afar，'Go to Khalif the Fisherman and borrow us some money of him.' If I give it him，it will be no light matter to me，and if I give it not；he will torment me；but torture is easier to me than the giving up of the cash.[277] However，I will arise and make trial of myself if I have a skin proof against stick or not.'So he put off his clothes and taking a sailor's plaited whip，of an hundred and sixty strands，ceased not beating himself，till his sides and body were all bloody，crying out at every stroke he dealt himself and saying'O Moslems！ I am a poor man！ O Moslems，I am a poor man！ O Moslems，whence should I have gold，whence should I have coin？'till the neighbours，who dwelt with him in that place；hearing him crying and saying，'Go to men of wealth and take of them，'thought that thieves were torturing him，to get money from him，and that he was praying for aidance.Accordingly they flocked to him each armed with some weapon and finding the door of his lodging locked and hearing him roaring out for help；deemed that the thieves had come down upon him from the terrace-roof；so they fell upon the door and burst it open.Then they entered and found him mother-naked and bareheaded with body dripping blood，and altogether in a sad pickle；so they asked him，'What is this case in which we find thee？ Hast thou lost thy wits and hath Jinn-madness betided thee this night？'And he answered them，'Nay；but I have gold with me and I feared lest the Caliph send to borrow of me and it were no light matter to give him aught；yet，an I gave not to him'tis only too sure that he would put me to the torture；wherefore I arose to see if my skin were stick-proof or not.'When they heard these words they said to him，'May Allah not assain thy body，unlucky madman that thou art！ Of a surety thou art fallen mad to-night！ Lie down to sleep，may Allah never bless thee！ How many thousand dinars hast thou，that the Caliph should come and borrow of thee？'He replied，'By Allah，I have naught but nine dinars.'And they all said，'By Allah，he is not otherwise than passing rich！'Then they left him wondering at his want of wit，and Khalif took his cash and wrapped it in a rag，saying to himself，'Where shall Ihide all this gold？