第4章

an thou wilt，thou shalt be with him and learn his craft and become skilled therein.'Hasan consented and accompanied him to his brother，to whom he commended him，saying，'In very sooth this is my son；do thou teach him for my sake.'So Hasan abode with the goldsmith and busied himself with the craft；and Allah opened to him the door of gain and in due course he set up shop for himself.One day，as he sat in his booth in the bazar，there came up to him an Ajami，a foreigner，a Persian，with a great white beard and a white turband[7] on his head，having the semblance of a merchant who，after saluting him，looked at his handiwork and examined it knowingly.It pleased him and he shook his head，saying，'By Allah，thou art a cunning goldsmith！What may be thy name？''Hasan，'replied the other，shortly.[8]The Persian continued to look at his wares，whilst Hasan read in an old book[9] he hent in hand and the folk were taken up with his beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace，till the hour of midafternoon prayer，when the shop became clear of people and the Persian accosted the young man，saying，'O my son；thou art a comely youth！ What book is that？ Thou hast no sire and I have no son，and I know an art，than which there is no goodlier in the world.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Seven Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Persian accosted the young man saying，'O my son，thou art a comely youth！Thou hast no sire and I have no son，and I know an art than which there is no goodlier in the world.Many have sought of me instruction therein，but I consented not to instruct any of them in it；yet hath my soul consented that I teach it to thee；for thy love hath gotten hold upon my heart and I will make thee my son and set up between thee and poverty a barrier，so shalt thou be quit of this handicraft and toil no more with hammer and anvil，[10] charcoal and fire.'Hasan asked，'O my lord and when wilt thou teach me this？'；and the Persian answered，'To-morrow，Inshallah，I will come to thee betimes and make thee in thy presence fine gold of this copper.'Whereupon Hasan rejoiced and sat talking with the Persian till nightfall，when he took leave of him and going in to his mother，saluted her with the salam and ate with her；but he was dazed，without memory or reason，for that the stranger's words had gotten hold upon his heart.So she questioned him and he told her what had passed between himself and the Persian，which when she heard，her heart fluttered and she strained him to her bosom，saying，'O my son；beware of hearkening to the talk of the folk，and especially of the Persians，and obey them not in aught；for they are sharpers and tricksters，who profess the art of alchemy[11] and swindle people and take their money and devour it in vain.' Replied Hasan，'O my mother，we are paupers and have nothing he may covet，that he should put a cheat on us.Indeed，this Persian is a right worthy Shaykh and the signs of virtue are manifest on him；Allah hath inclined his heart to me and he hath adopted me to son.' She was silent in her chagrin，and he passed the night without sleep，his heart being full of what the Persian had said to him；nor did slumber visit him for the excess of his joy therein.But when morning morrowed，he rose and taking the keys；opened the shop，whereupon behold，the Persian accosted him.

Hasan stood up to him and would have kissed his hands；but he forbade him from this and suffered it not，saying，'O Hasan，set on the crucible and apply the bellows.'[12]So he did as the stranger bade him and lighted the charcoal.Then said the Persian，'O my son，hast thou any copper？'and he replied，'I have a broken platter.'So he bade him work the shears[13] and cut it into bittocks and cast it into the crucible and blow up the fire with the bellows，till the copper became liquid，when he put hand to turband and took therefrom a folded paper and opening it，sprinkled thereout into the pot about half a drachm of somewhat like yellow Kohl or eyepowder.[14]Then he bade Hasan blow upon it with the bellows，and he did so，till the contents of the crucible became a lump of gold.[15]When the youth saw this，he was stupefied and at his wits' end for the joy he felt and taking the ingot from the crucible handled it and tried it with the file and found it pure gold of the finest quality： whereupon his reason fled and he was dazed with excess of delight and bent over the Persian's hand to kiss it.But he forbade him，saying，'Art thou married？'and when the youth replied'No！'he said，'Carry this ingot to the market and sell it and take the price in haste and speak not.' So Hasan went down into the market and gave the bar to the broker，who took it and rubbed it upon the touchstone and found it pure gold.So they opened the biddings at ten thousand dirhams and the merchants bid against one another for it up to fifteen thousand dirhams，[16] at which price he sold it and taking the money；went home and told his mother all that had passed，saying，'O my mother，I have learnt this art and mystery.' But she laughed at him，saying，'There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.