Then said the sheykh. Know, O lord of the kings of the
Jann, that these two hounds are my brothers. My father
died, and left to us three thousand pieces of gold;" and
I opened a shop to sell and buy. But one of my brothers
made a journey, with a stock of merchandise, ¦ and was
absent from us for the space of a year with the caravans;
after which, he returned destitute. I said to him, Did I not
advise thee to abstain from travelling? But he wept, and
said, my brother, God, to whom be ascribed all might
and glory, decreed this event; and there is no longer any
profit in these words : I have nothing left. So I took him up
into the shop, and then went with him to the bath, and
clad him in a costly suit of my own clothing; after which,
we sat down together to eat; and I said to him, O my
brother, I will calculate the gain of my shop during the year,
and divide it, exclusive of the principal, between me and
thee. Accordingly, I made the calculations, and found my
gain to amount to two thousand pieces of gold ; and I
praised God, to whom be ascribed all might and glory, and
rejoiced exceedingly, and divided the gain in two equal
parts between myself and him. — My other brother then set
forth on a journey; and after a year, returned in the like
condition ; and I did unto him as I had done to the former.
After this, when we had lived together for some time,
my brothers again wished to travel, and were desirous that
I should accompany them; but I would not. What, said I,
have ye gained in your travels, that I should expect to gain ?
They importuned me; but I would not comply with their
request; and we remained selling and buying in our shops
a whole year. Still, however, they persevered in proposing
that we should travel, and I still refused, until after the
lapse of six entire years, when at last I consented, and said
to them, O my brothers, let us calculate what property we
possess. We did so, and found it to be six thousand pieces
of gold: and I then said to them. We will bury half of it in
the earth, that it may be of service to us if any misfortune
befall us, in which case each of us shall take a thousand
pieces, with which to traffic. Excellent is thy advice, said
they. So I took the money and divided it into two equal
portions, and buried three thousand pieces of gold ; and of
the other half, I gave to each of them a thousand pieces.
We then prepared merchandise, and hired a ship, and em-
barked our goods, and proceeded on our voyage for the
space of a whole month, at the expiration of which we
arrived at a city, where we sold our merchandise ; and for
every piece of gold we gained ten.
And when we were about to set sail again, we found, on
the shore of the sea, a maiden clad in tattered garments,
who kissed my hand, and said to me. O my master, art thou
possessed of charity and kindness? If so, I will requite
tliee for them. I answered, Yes, I have those qualities,
though thou requite me not. Then said she, O my master,
accept me as thy wife, and take me to thy country; for I
give myself to thee: act kindly towards me; for I am one
who requires to be treated with kindness and charity, and
who will requite thee for so doing ; and let not my present
condition at all deceive thee. When I heard these words,
my heart was moved with tenderness towards her, in order
to the accomplishment of a purpose of God, to whom be
ascribed all might and glory ; and I took her, and clothed
her, and furnished for her a place in the ship in a handsome
manner, and regarded her with kind and respectful attention.
We then set sail ; and I became most cordially attached
to my wife, so that, on her account, I neglected the society
of my brothers, who, in consequence, became jealous of me,
and likewise envied me my wealth, and the abundance of
my merchandise; casting the eyes of covetousness upon the
whole of the property. They therefore consulted together
to kill me, and take my wealth ; saying, Let us kill our
brother, and all the property shall be ours : — and the devil
made these actions to seem fair in their eyes; so they came
to me while I was sleeping by the side of my wife, and took
both of us up, and threw us into the sea. But as soon as
my wife awoke, she shook herself, and became transformed ^
into a Jinniy^^ She immediately bore me away, and placed ^
me upon an island, and, for a while, disappeared. In the
morning, however, she returned, and said to me, I am thy
wife, who carried thee, and rescued thee from death, by
permission of God, whose name be exalted. Know that I
am a Jinniyeh : I saw thee, and my heart loved thee for
the sake of God ; for I am a believer in God and his
Apostle, God bless and save him ! I came to thee in the
condition in which thou sawest me, and thou didst .marry
me; and see, I have rescued thee from drowning. But I
am incensed against thy brothers, and I must kill them. —
When I heard her tale, I was astonished, and thanked her
for what she had done ; — But, said I, as to the destruction
of my brothers, it is not what I desire. I then related to
her all that had happened between myself and them from
first to last ; and when she had heard it, she said, I will, this
next night, fly to them, and sink their ship, and destroy
them. But I said, I conjure thee by Allah that thou do it
not; for the author of the proverb saith, O thou benefactor , -^
of him who hath done evil, the action that he hath done is -S.
sufficient for him : — besides, they are at all events my
brothers. She still, however, said, They must be killed; —
and I continued to propitiate her towards them: and at last
she lifted me up, and soared through the air, and placed me
on the roof of my house.
Having opened the doors, I dug up what I had hidden
in the earth ; and after I had saluted my neighbours, and
bought merchandise, I opened my shop. And in the follow-
ing night, when I entered my house, I found these two
dogs tied up in it; and as soon as they saw me, they came
to me, and wept, and clung to me; but I knew not what had
happened until immediately my wife appeared before me,
and said, These are thy brothers. And who, said I, hath
done this unto them? She answered, I sent to my sister,
and she did it; and they shall not be restored until after the
lapse of ten years. And I was now on my way to her, that
she might restore them, as they have been in this state ten
years, when I saw this man, and, being informed of what had
befallen him, I determined not to quit the place until I should
have seen what would happen between thee and him, — This
is my story. — Verily, said the Jinni, it is a wonderful tale;
and I give up to thee a third of the claim that I had to his
blood on account of his offence.
Upon this, the third sheykh, the owner of the mule, said
to the Jinni, As to me, break not my heart if I relate to thee
nothing more than this.
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