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The most interesting feature of the "leprosy tale" of Ala-al-Din is the clairvoyance exhibited by Zubaydah, who perceived that even so large a sum as ten thousand dinars would be forthcoming a feature which links it with the concluding story of the Nights that of Ma'aruf the cobbler; while the important part that the disguised Caliph Haroun Al-Rashid, Ja'afar and Masrur play in it reminds us of the story of the Three Ladies of Baghdad.
Said the courtiers, "Such a girl is not to be bought for less than ten thousand gold pieces:" whereupon the Sultan called out to his treasurer and said, "Carry ten thousand dinars to the house of Al-Fazl bin Khakan."
If ye find it with any one, pay him what price soever he asketh for it although he demand a thousand dinars; give him what ye may and promise him the rest and bring me the story; for whoso happeneth on it and bringeth it to me, I will bestow on him a costly robe of honour and largesse galore, and there shall be to me none more worshipped than he."
Show me something handsome; for the fair should bring nothing but what is fair. When he heard her words, his heart fluttered and he knew not what she meant; but Aziz made a sign to him, and he replied, 'I have everything thou canst desire, and amongst the rest goods that befit none but kings and kings' daughters; so tell me for whom thou seekest the stuff, that I may show thee what will befit her. This he said, that he might learn the meaning of her words; and she rejoined, 'I want a stuff fit for the Princess Dunya, daughter of King Shehriman. When the prince heard the name of his beloved, he rejoiced greatly and said to Aziz, 'Give me such a bale. So Aziz brought it and opened it before Taj el Mulouk, who said to the old woman, 'Choose what will suit her; for these are goods only to be found with me. So she chose goods worth a thousand dinars and said, 'How much is this? And ceased not the while to talk with him and rub the inside of her thighs with the palm of her hand.
The Caliph, having ordered further an immediate present of a thousand dinars to be given to Kaseem, sent him away very well satisfied.
Who will open the biddings for this damsel, the mistress of moons, the splendid pearl, Zumurrud the Curtain-maker, the aim of the seeker and the delight of the desirous? Open the biddings, and on the opener be nor blame nor reproach. So one merchant said, 'I bid five hundred dinars for her. 'And ten, said another. 'Six hundred, cried an old man named Reshideddin, blue-eyed and foul of face.
Quoth the Caliph, "Whom but thee shall I charge with her?"; and quoth the Wali, "Charge Ahmad al-Danaf, for he hath a thousand dinars a month and one-and-forty followers, at a monthly wage of an hundred dinars each." So the Caliph said, "Harkye, Captain Ahmad!" "At thy service, O Commander of the Faithful," said he; and the Caliph cried, "I charge thee to bring the old woman before us."
Now every eight days she made a curtain, which he sold for fifty dinars, and on this wise passed a whole year.
The father of this horseman had violently despoiled of a thousand dinars the father of the second horseman; so I gave the son possession of his sire's money. As for the woodcutter, he had slain the horseman's father, wherefore I enabled the son to obtain retribution for himself." Then cried the Prophet, "There is none other god than Thou! Glory be to Thee only!
Now his object was accomplished, and mind made easy, he thought it incumbent to fulfil the condition of his eleemosynary vow, and gave a bag of dinars to a favorite servant, that he might distribute them among the anchorites. This was a discreet and considerate young man.
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