第71章

So he cast away the carcase，saying，'O morning of ill doom！ What a handsel is this dead hound，after I had rejoiced in its weight[266]！'Then he mended the rents in the net，saying；'Needs must there after this carrion be fish in plenty，attracted by the smell，'and made a second cast.After awhile，he drew up and found in the net the hough[267] of a camel，that had caught in the meshes and rent them right and left.When Khalif saw his net in this state，he wept and said，'There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah，the Glorious，the Great！ I wonder what is my offence and the cause of the blackness of my fortune and the littleness of my luck，of all folk，so that I catch neither cat-fish nor sprat，[268] that I may broil on the embers and eat，for all I dare say there is not in the city of Baghdad a fisherman like me.'Then with a Bismillah he cast his net a third time，and presently drawing it ashore found therein an ape scurvy and one-eyed，mangy，and limping，hending an ivory rod in forehand.When Khalif saw this，he said，'This is indeed a blessed opening！ What art thou，O ape？''Dost thou not know me？'

'No，by Allah，I have no knowledge of thee！''I am thine ape！'

'What use is there in thee，O my ape？''Every day I give thee good-morrow，so Allah may not open to thee the door of daily bread.''Thou failest not of this，O one-eye[269] of ill-omen！

May Allah never bless thee！ Needs must I pluck out thy sound eye and cut off thy whole leg，so thou mayst become a blind cripple and I be quit of thee.But what is the use of that rod thou hendest in hand？''O Khalif，I scare the fish therewith，so they may not enter thy net.''Is it so？： then this very day will I

punish thee with a grievous punishment and devise thee all manner torments and strip thy flesh from thy bones and be at rest from thee，sorry bit of goods that thou art！'So saying，Khalif the Fisherman unwound from his middle a strand of rope and binding him to a tree by his side，said，'Lookee，O dog of an ape！ I mean to cast the net again and if aught come up therein，well and good；but，if it come up empty，I will verily and assuredly make an end of thee，with the cruellest tortures and be quit of thee；thou stinking lot.'So he cast the net and drawing it ashore；found in it another ape and said，'Glory be to God the Great！ I was wont to pull naught but fish out of this Tigris，but now it yieldeth nothing but apes.'Then he looked at the second ape and saw him fair of form and round of face with pendants of gold in his ears and a blue waistcloth about his middle，and he was like unto a lighted taper.So he asked him，'What art thou，thou also；O ape？'；and he answered，saying，'O Khalif，I am the ape of Abāal-Sa' d t the Jew，the Caliph's Shroff.Every day，I give him good-morrow，and he maketh a profit of ten gold pieces.'Cried the Fisherman，'By Allah，thou art a fine ape，not like this ill-omened monkey o' mine！'So saying，he took a stick[270]and came down upon the sides of the ape，till he broke his ribs and he jumped up and down.And the other ape，the handsome one；answered him，saying，'O Khalif，what will it profit thee to beat him，though thou belabour him till he die？'Khalif replied，'How shall I do？ Shall I let him wend his ways that he may scare me the fish with his hang-dog face and give me good-even and good-morrow every day，so Allah may not open to me the door of daily bread？ Nay，I will kill him and be quit of him and I will take thee in his stead；so shalt thou give me good-morrow and I shall gain ten golden dinars a day.'Thereupon the comely ape made answer，'I will tell thee a better way than that，and if thou hearken to me，thou shalt be at rest and I will become thine ape in lieu of him.'Asked the Fisherman，'And what dost thou counsel me？'；and the ape answered，saying，'Cast thy net and thou shalt bring up a noble fish，never saw any its like，and I will tell thee how thou shalt do with it.'Replied Khalif；'Lookee，thou too！ An I throw my net and there come up therein a third ape，be assured that I will cut the three of you into six bits.'And the second ape rejoined，'So be it，O Khalif.I agree to this thy condition.'Then Khalif spread the net and cast it and drew it up，when behold，in it was a fine young barbel[271] with a round head，as it were a milking-pail；which when he saw，his wits fled for joy and he said，'Glory be to God！ What is this noble creature？ Were yonder apes in the river，I had not brought up this fish.'Quoth the seemly ape，'O Khalif，an thou give ear to my rede，'twill bring thee good fortune'；and quoth the Fisherman，'May God damn him who would gainsay thee henceforth！'Thereupon the ape said，'O Khalif，take some grass and lay the fish thereon in the basket[272] and cover it with more grass and take also somewhat of basil[273]

from the green grocer's and set it in the fish's mouth.Cover it with a kerchief and push thee through the bazar of Baghdad.

Whoever bespeaketh thee of selling it，sell it not but fare on；till thou come to the market street of the jewellers and money-changers.Then count five shops on the right-hand side and the sixth shop is that of Abu al-Sa'adat the Jew，the Caliph's Shroff.When thou standest before him，he will say to thee，'What seekest thou？'；and do thou make answer，'I am a fisherwight，I threw my net in thy name and took this noble barbel，which I have brought thee as a present.' If he give thee aught of silver，take it not，be it little or mickle，for it will spoil that which thou wouldst do，but say to him，'I want of thee naught save one word；that thou say to me，'I sell thee my ape for thine ape and my luck for thy luck.' An the Jew say this，give him the fish and I shall become thine ape and this crippled，mangy and one-eyed ape will be his ape.'Khalif replied，'Well said，O ape，'nor did he cease faring Baghdad-wards and observing that which the ape had said to him，till he came to the Jew's shop and saw the Shroff seated，with eunuchs and pages about him，bidding and forbidding and giving and taking.