第75章

'Tis all in my house and I have forgotten where it is.'As they were talking，there passed by them one who knew the Fisherman and said to him，'O Khalif，what bringeth thee hither？'Quoth the porter，'O uncle，where is Khalif's house？'and quoth he，''Tis in the ruined Khan in the Raw sin Quarter.'[287] Then said Zurayk to Khalif，'Go to；would Heaven thou hadst never lived nor been！'And the Fisherman trudged on，followed by the porter，till they came to the place when the Hammal said，'O thou whose daily bread Allah cut off in this world，have we not passed this place a score of times？ Hadst thou said to me，'Tis in such a stead；thou hadst spared me this great toil；but now give me my wage and let me wend my way.'Khalif replied'Thou shalt have silver，if not gold.Stay here，till I bring thee the same.'So he entered his lodging and taking a mallet he had there，studded with forty nails （wherewith an he smote a camel，he had made an end of it）；rushed upon the porter and raised his forearm to strike him therewith；but Zurayk cried out at him，saying，'Hold thy hand！ I have no claim on thee，'and fled.Now having got rid of the Hammal，Khalif carried the chest into the Khan，whereupon the neighbours came down and flocked about him，saying，'O Khalif；whence hadst thou this robe and this chest？'Quoth he，'From my apprentice Al-Rashid who gave them to me，'and they said，'The pimp is mad！ Al-Rashid will assuredly hear of his talk and hang him over the door of his lodging and hang all in the Khan on account of the droll.This is a fine farce！'Then they helped him to carry the chest into his lodging and it filled the whole closet.[288] Thus far concerning Khalif；but as for the history of the chest，it was as follows： The Caliph had a Turkish slave-girl，by name Kut al-Kulāb，whom he loved with love exceeding and the Lady Zubaydah came to know of this from himself and was passing jealous of her and secretly plotted mischief against her.So，whilst the Commander of the Faithful was absent a-sporting and a-hunting，she sent for Kut al-Kulub and，inviting her to a banquet，set before her meat and wine，and she ate and drank.Now the wine was drugged with Bhang；so she slept and Zubaydah sent for her Chief Eunuch and putting her in a great chest，locked it and gave it to him，saying，'Take this chest and cast it into the river.'Thereupon he took it up before him on a he-mule and set out with it for the sea，but found it unfit to carry；so，as he passed by the trunk-market，he saw the Shaykh of the brokers and salesmen and said to him，'Wilt thou sell me this chest，O uncle？'The broker replied，'Yes，we will do this much.'

'But，'said the Eunuch，'look thou sell it not except locked；'

and the other，''Tis well；we will do that also.'[289] So he set down the chest，and they cried it for sale，saying，'Who will buy this chest for an hundred dinars？'；and behold，up came Khalif the Fisherman and bought the chest after turning it over right and left；and there passed between him and the porter that which hath been before set out.Now as regards Khalif the Fisherman；he lay down on the chest to sleep，and presently Kut al-Kulub awoke from her Bhang and finding herself in the chest；cried out and said，'Alas！'Whereupon Khalif sprang off the chest-lid and cried out and said，'Ho，Moslems！ Come to my help！

There are Ifrits in the chest.'So the neighbours awoke from sleep and said to him，'What mattereth thee，O madman？'Quoth he；'The chest is full of Ifrits；'and quoth they，'Go to sleep；thou hast troubled our rest this night may Allah not bless thee！ Go in and sleep，without madness.'He ejaculated，'I cannot sleep；'but they abused him and he went in and lay down once more.And behold，Kut al-Kulub spoke and said，'Where am I？'Upon which Khalif fled forth the closet and said，'O neighbours of the hostelry，come to my aid！'Quoth they，'What hath befallen thee？

Thou troublest the neighbours' rest.''O folk，there be Ifrits in the chest，moving and speaking.''Thou liest： what do they say？'

'They say，'Where am I？'''Would Heaven thou wert in Hell！ Thou disturbest the neighbours and hinderest them of sleep.Go to sleep，would thou hadst never lived nor been！'So Khalif went in fearful because he had no place wherein to sleep save upon the chest-lid when lo！ as he stood，with ears listening for speech；Kut al-Kulub spake again and said，'I'm hungry.'So in sore affright he fled forth and cried out，'Ho neighbours！ ho dwellers in the Khan，come aid me！'Said they，'What is thy calamity now？'[290] And he answered，'The Ifrits in the chest say，'We are hungry.''Quoth the neighbours one to other，''Twould seem Khalif is hungry；let us feed him and give him the supper-orts；

else he will not let us sleep to-night.'So they brought him bread and meat and broken victuals and radishes and gave him a basket full of all kinds of things，saying，'Eat till thou be full and go to sleep and talk not，else will we break thy ribs and beat thee to death this very night.'So he took the basket with the provaunt and entered his lodging.Now it was a moonlight night and the moon shone in full sheen upon the chest and lit up the closet with its light，seeing this he sat down on his purchase and fell to eating of the food with both hands.

Presently Kut al-Kulub spake again and said，'Open to me and have mercy upon me，O Moslems！'So Khalif arose and taking a stone he had by him，broke the chest open and behold，therein lay a young lady as she were the sun's shining light with brow flower-white；face moonbright，cheeks of rose-hue exquisite and speech sweeter than sugar-bite，and in dress worth a thousand dinars and more bedight.Seeing this his wits flew from his head for joy and he said，'By Allah，thou art of the fair！'She asked him，'What art thou，O fellow？'and he answered，'O my lady，I am Khalif the Fisherman.'Quoth she，'Who brought me hither？'；and quoth he，'I bought thee，and thou art my slave-girl.'Thereupon said she，'I see on thee a robe of the raiment of the Caliph.'