第67章 (67)

When he reached the door，Sandal the eunuch saw him and said to him，'Hither，O Fisherman！ Give us portion of that which the Commander of the Faithful hath bestowed on thee，whilst jesting with thee.'Replied Khalifah，'By Allah，O Tulip，thou art right！ Wilt share with me，O nigger？ Indeed I have eaten stick to the tune of an hundred blows and have earned one dinar，and thou art but too welcome to it.'So saying，he threw him the dinar and went out，with the tears flowing down the plain of his cheeks.When the eunuch saw him in this plight，he knew that he had spoken sooth and called to the lads to fetch him back： so they brought him back and Sandal，putting his hand to his pouch；pulled out a red purse，whence he emptied an hundred golden dinars into the Fisherman's hand，saying，'Take this gold in payment of thy fish and wend thy ways.'So Khalifah，in high good humor，took the hundred ducats and the Caliph's one dinar and went his way，and forgot the beating.Now，as Allah willed it for the furthering of that which He had decreed，he passed by the mart of the hand-maidens and seeing there a mighty ring where many folks were foregathering，said to himself，'What is this crowd？'So he brake through the merchants and others，who said；'Make wide for the Skipper Rapscallion，[244] and let him pass.'Then he looked and behold，he saw a chest，with an eunuch seated thereon and an old man standing by it，and the Shaykh was crying，'O merchants，O men of money，who will hasten and hazard his coin for this chest of unknown contents from the Palace of the Lady Zubaydah bint al-Kasim，wife of the Commander of the Faithful？ How much shall I say for you，Allah bless you all！'

Quoth one of the merchants，'By Allah，this is a risk！ But I will say one word and no blame to me.Be it mine for twenty dinars.'Quoth another，'Fifty，'and they went on bidding，one against other，till the price reached an hundred ducats.Then said the crier，'Will any of you bid more，O merchants？'And Khalifah the Fisherman said，'Be it mine for an hundred ducats and one dinar.'The merchants，hearing these words，thought he was jesting and laughed at him，saying，'O eunuch sell it to Khalifah for an hundred ducats and one dinar！'Quoth the eunuch；'By Allah，I will sell it to none but him！ Take it，O Fisherman；the Lord bless thee in it，and here with thy gold.'So Khalifah pulled out the ducats and gave them to the eunuch，who，the bargain being duly made，delivered to him the chest and bestowed the price in alms on the spot；after which he returned to the Palace and acquainted the Lady Zubaydah with what he had done；whereat she rejoiced.Meanwhile the Fisherman hove the chest on shoulder，but could not carry it on this wise for the excess of its weight；so he lifted it on to his head and thus bore it to the quarter where he lived.Here he set it down and being weary；sat awhile，bemusing what had befallen him and saying in himself；'Would Heaven I knew what is in this chest！'Then he opened the door of his lodging and haled the chest until he got it into his closet；after which he strove to open it，but failed.Quoth he；'What folly possessed me to buy this chest？ There is no help for it but to break it open and see what is herein.'So he applied himself to the lock，but could not open it，and said to himself；'I will leave it till to-morrow.'Then he would have stretched him out to sleep，but could find no room；for the chest filled the whole closet.So he got upon it and lay him down；but，when he had lain awhile，behold，he felt something stir under him whereat sleep forsook him and his reason fled.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-third Night； She pursued，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Khalifah the Fisherman lay down upon the chest and thus tarried awhile，behold，something stirred beneath him；whereat he was affrighted and his reason fled.So he arose and cried，'Meseems there be Jinns in the chest.Praise to Allah who suffered me not to open it！ For，had I done so，they had risen against me in the dark and slain me，and from them would have befallen me naught of good.'Then he lay down again when，lo！ The chest moved a second time，more than before；whereupon he sprang to his feet and said；'There it goes again： but this is terrible！'And he hastened to look for the lamp，but could not find it and had not the wherewithal to buy another.So he went forth and cried out，'Ho；people of the quarter！'Now the most part of the folk were asleep；but they awoke at his crying and asked，'What aileth thee，O Khalifah？'He answered，'Bring me a lamp，for the Jinn are upon me.'They laughed at him and gave him a lamp，wherewith he returned to his closet.Then he smote the lock of the chest with a stone and broke it and opening it，saw a damsel like a Houri lying asleep within.Now she had been drugged with Bhang；but at that moment she threw up the stuff and awoke；then she opened her eyes and feeling herself confined and cramped，moved.

At this sight quoth Khalifah，'By Allah，O my lady，whence art thou？'；and quoth she，'Bring me Jessamine，and Narcissus.'

[245]and Khalifah answered，'There is naught here but Henna-flowers.'[246]thereupon she came to herself and considering Khalifah，said to him，'What art thou？'presently adding，'And where am I？'He said，'Thou art in my lodging.'Asked she，'Am I not in the Palace of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid？'And quoth he，'What manner of thing is Al-Rashid？ [247]O madwoman；Thou art naught but my slave-girl： I bought thee this very day for an hundred dinars and one dinar，and brought thee home，and thou wast asleep in this here chest.'When she had heard these words she said to him，'What is thy name？'Said he，'My name is Khalifah.