第74章

So the Caliph told him all that had passed between Khalif the Fisherman and himself，from first to last，adding，'I left him awaiting my return to him with the baskets and I am resolved that he shall teach me how to scale fish and clean them.'Quoth Ja'afar，'And I will go with thee to sweep up the scales and clean out the shop.'And the affair abode thus，till presently the Caliph cried，'O Ja'afar，I desire of thee that thou despatch the young Mamelukes，saying to them，'Whoso bringeth me a fish from before yonder fisherman，I will give him a dinar；' for I love to eat of my own fishing.'Accordingly Ja'afar repeated to the young white slaves what the Caliph had said and directed them where to find the man.They came down upon Khalif and snatched the fish from him；and when he saw them and noted their goodliness，he doubted not but that they were of the black-eyed Houris of Paradise： so he caught up a couple of fish and ran into the river，saying，'O Allah mine，by the secret virtue of these fish，forgive me！'Suddenly，up came the chief eunuch，questing fish，but he found none；so seeing Khalif ducking and rising in the water，with the two fish in his hands；called out to him，saying，'O Khalif，what hast thou there？'

Replied the fisherman，'Two fish，'and the eunuch said，'Give them to me and take an hundred dinars for them.'Now when Khalif heard speak of an hundred dinars，he came up out of the water and cried，'Hand over the hundred dinars.'Said the eunuch，'Follow me to the house of Al-Rashid and receive thy gold，O Khalif；and；taking the fish，made off to the Palace of the Caliphate.

Meanwhile Khalif betook himself to Baghdad，clad as he was in the Caliph's gown，which reached only to above his knees，[283]

turbanded with the piece he had cut off therefrom and girt about his middle with a rope，and he pushed through the centre of the city.The folk fell a-laughing and marvelling at him and saying；'Whence hadst thou that robe of honour？'But he went on，asking；'Where is the house of Al-Rash d[284]？；'and they answered；'Say，'The house of Al-Rashid'；'and he rejoined，''Tis all the same，'and fared on，till he came to the Palace of the Caliphate.

Now he was seen by the tailor，who had made the gown and who was standing at the door，and when he noticed it upon the Fisherman；he said to him，'For how many years hast thou had admission to the palace？'Khalif replied'Ever since I was a little one；'and the tailor asked，'Whence hadest thou that gown thou hast spoilt on this wise？'Khalif answered，'I had it of my apprentice the trumpeter.'Then he went up to the door，where he found the Chief Eunuch sitting with the two fishes by his side： and seeing him sable-black of hue，said to him，'Wilt thou not bring the hundred dinars，O uncle Tulip？'Quoth he，'On my head，O Khalif，'when；behold，out came Ja'afar from the presence of the Caliph and seeing the fisherman talking with the Eunuch and saying to him；'This is the reward of goodness，O nuncle Tulip，'went in to Al-Rashid and said to him，'O Commander of the Faithful，thy master the Fisherman is with the Chief Eunuch，dunning him for an hundred dinars.'Cried the Caliph，'Bring him to me，O Ja'afar；'

and the Minister answered，'Hearing and obeying.'So he went out to the Fisherman and said to him，'O Khalif，thine apprentice the trumpeter biddeth thee to him；'then he walked on，followed by the other till they reached the presence-chamber，where he saw the Caliph seated，with a canopy over his head.When he entered；Al-Rashid wrote three scrolls and set them before him，and the Fisherman said to him，'So thou hast given up trumpeting and turned astrologer！'Quoth the Caliph to him，'Take thee a scroll.'Now in the first he had written，'Let him be given a gold piece，'in the second，'An hundred dinars，'and in the third，'Let him be given an hundred blows with a whip.'So Khalif put out his hand and by the decree of the Predestinator，it lighted on the scroll wherein was written，'Let him receive an hundred lashes，'and Kings，whenas they ordain aught，go not back therefrom.So they threw him prone on the ground and beat him an hundred blows，whilst he wept and roared for succour，but none succoured him，and said，'By Allah，this is a good joke O trumpeter！ I teach thee fishing and thou turnest astrologer and drawest me an unlucky lot.Fie upon thee，[285] in thee is naught of good！'When the Caliph heard his speech，he fell fainting in a fit of laughter and said，'O Khalif，no harm shall betide thee： fear not.Give him an hundred gold pieces.'So they gave him an hundred dinars，and he went out，and ceased not faring forth till he came to the trunk-market，where he found the folk assembled in a ring about a broker，who was crying out and saying，'At an hundred dinars，less one dinar！ A locked chest！'

So he pressed on and pushed through the crowd and said to the broker，'Mine for an hundred dinars！'The broker closed with him and took his money，whereupon there was left him nor little nor much.The porters disputed awhile about who should carry the chest and presently all said，'By Allah，none shall carry this chest but Zurayk！'[286] And the folk said，'Blue-eyes hath the best right to it.'So Zurayk shouldered the chest，after the goodliest fashion，and walked a-rear of Khalif.As they went along，the Fisherman said in himself，'I have nothing left to give the porter；how shall I rid myself of him？ Now I will traverse the main streets with him and lead him about，till he be weary and set it down and leave it，when I will take it up and carry it to my lodging.'Accordingly，he went round about the city with the porter from noontide to sundown，till the man began to grumble and said，'O my lord，where is thy house？'Quoth Khalif，'Yesterday I knew it，but to-day I have forgotten it.'

And the porter said，'Give me my hire and take thy chest.'But Khalif said，'Go on at thy leisure，till I bethink me where my house is，'presently adding，'O Zurayk，I have no money with me.