第77章

Now Kut al-Kulub knew that the Caliph was come back from his hunting excursion；so she turned to Khalif and said to him；'Arise；hie thee to the bath and come back.'So he rose and went to the Hammam-bath，and when he returned，she clad him in a dress worth a thousand dinars and taught him manners and respectful bearing to superiors.Then said she to him，'Go hence to the Caliph and say to him，'O Commander of the Faithful，'tis my desire that this night thou deign be my guest.''So Khalif arose and mounting his she-mule，rode，with pages and black slaves before him，till he came to the Palace of the Caliphate.Quoth the wise，'Dress up a stick and'twill look chique.'[296] And indeed his comeliness was manifest and his goodliness and the folk marvelled at this.Presently，the Chief Eunuch saw him，the same who had given him the hundred dinars that had been the cause of his good fortune；so he went in to the Caliph and said to him；'O Commander of the Faithful，Khalif the Fisherman is become a King，and on him is a robe of honour worth a thousand dinars.'

The Prince of True Believers bade admit him；so he entered and said，'Peace be with thee，O Commander of the Faithful and Vice-regent of the Lord of the three Worlds and Defender of the folk of the Faith！ Allah Almighty prolong thy days and honour thy dominion and exalt thy degree to the highmost height！'The Caliph looked at him and marvelled at him and how fortune had come to him at unawares；then he said to him，'O Khalif，whence hadst thou that robe which is upon thee？'He replied，'O Commander of the Faithful，it cometh from my house.'Quoth the Caliph，'Hast thou then a house？'；and quoth Khalif，'Yea，verily！ and thou，O Commander of the Faithful，art my guest this day.'Al-Rashid said，'I alone，O Khalif，or I and those who are with me？'；and he replied，'Thou and whom thou wilt.'So Ja'afar turned to him and said，'We will be thy guests this night；'whereupon he kissed ground again and withdrawing，mounted his mule and rode off；attended by his servants and suite of Mamelukes leaving the Caliph marvelling at this and saying to Ja'afar，'Sawest thou Khalif，with his mule and dress，his white slaves and his dignity？ But yesterday I knew him for a buffoon and a jester.'

And they marvelled at this much.Then they mounted and rode，till they drew near Khalif's house，when the Fisherman alighted and；taking a bundle from one of his attendants，opened it and pulled out therefrom a piece of tabby silk[297] and spread it under the hoofs of the Caliph's she-mule；then he brought out a piece of velvet-Kimcob[298] and a third of fine satin and did with them likewise；and thus he spread well nigh twenty pieces of rich stuffs，till Al-Rashid and his suite had reached the house；when he came forward and said，'Bismillah，[299] O Commander of the Faithful！'Quoth Al-Rashid to Ja'afar，'I wonder to whom this house may belong，'and quoth he，'It belongeth to a man hight Ibn al-Ukab，Syndic of the jewellers.'So the Caliph dismounted and entering，with his courtiers，saw a high-builded saloon，spacious and boon，with couches on dais and carpets and divans strown in place.So he went up to the couch that was set for himself on four legs of ivory，plated with glittering gold and covered with seven carpets.This pleased him and behold，up came Khalif，with eunuchs and little white slaves，bearing all manner sherbets；compounded with sugar and lemon and perfumed with rose and willow-water and the purest musk.The Fisherman advanced and drank and gave the Caliph to drink，and the cup-bearers came forward and served the rest of the company with the sherbets.

Then Khalif brought a table spread with meats of various colours and geese and fowls and other birds，saying，'In the name of Allah！'So they ate their fill；after which he bade remove the tables and kissing the ground three times before the Caliph craved his royal leave to bring wine and music.[300] He granted him permission for this and turning to Ja'afar，said to him，'As my head liveth，the house and that which is therein is Khalif's；for that he is ruler over it and I am in admiration at him，whence there came to him this passing prosperity and exceeding felicity！ However，this is no great matter to Him who saith to a thing，'Be！' and it becometh；what I most wonder at is his understanding，how it hath increased，and whence he hath gotten this loftiness and this lordliness；but，when Allah willeth weal unto a man，He amendeth his intelligence before bringing him to worldly affluence.'As they were talking，behold；up came Khalif，followed by cup-bearer lads like moons，belted with zones of gold，who spread a cloth of siglaton[301] and set thereon flagons of chinaware and tall flasks of glass and cups of crystal and bottles and hanaps[302] of all colours；

and those flagons they filled with pure clear and old wine，whose scent was as the fragrance of virgin musk and it was even as saith the poet；'Ply me and also my mate be plied * With pure wine prest in the olden tide.[303]

Daughter of nobles[304] they lead her forth[305] * In raiment of goblets beautified.

They belt her round with the brightest gems，* And pearls and unions，the Ocean's pride；

So I by these signs and signets know * Wherefore the Wine is entitled'Bride.'[306]'

And round about these vessels were confections and flowers，such as may not be surpassed.When Al-Rashid saw this from Khalif，he inclined to him and smiled upon him and invested him with an office；so Khalif wished him continuance of honour and endurance of days and said，'Will the Commander of the Faithful deign give me leave to bring him a singer，a lute-player her like was never heard among mortals ever？'Quoth the Caliph，'Thou art permitted！'So he kissed ground before him and going to a secret closet，called Kut al-Kulub，who came after she had disguised and falsed and veiled herself，tripping in her robes and trinkets；