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Updated: September 30, 2025
Abi Fressah managed to gasp the word "Yes," and Rosh held a goblet into which Ben Maslia poured a rich, red fluid. "Drink this," he said kindly, holding the cup to his guest's lip. "At last," thought Abi Fressah, as he opened his mouth. The next moment he sprang from his stool with astonishing agility, spluttering and cursing.
And so it came to pass that when Abi Fressah was standing in the bazaar at the hour of the mid-day meal and eagerly scanning the crowd to discover some acquaintance whom he could induce to ask him to dinner, he saw Ben Maslia, one of the wealthiest and most generous of men in Bagdad.
He almost forgot his unpleasant afternoon in the prospect of the coming feast, but Ben Maslia came not. Abi Fressah soon felt angry. He could not restrain himself from banging a big brass gong to summon a servant. But although he banged several times, no servant answered the call. Abi Fressah nearly shed tears in his despair. Suddenly Ben Maslia appeared before him.
Come," and he grasped Ben Maslia by the arm. "It is kind of thee, friend Abi Fressah," rejoined the other, "but I have built me a new abode on the other side of the city." Abi Fressah's face fell for a moment, but he was clever enough to take advantage of the news. "A new dwelling erected by the wealthy Ben Maslia," he said, winningly, "must be a building of magnificence, worth seeing."
All the people bowed down before the boy who told them to rise, saying, "Worship not me, but the true God who dwells in Heaven beyond the sun and the stars and whose glory is everywhere." King Nimrod loaded the boy with presents and bade him return home in peace. Abi Fressah's Feast There was not in the whole city of Bagdad a greedier man than Abi Fressah, and you may be sure he was not popular.
"It must be as spacious as a palace," put in Abi Fressah. "Thou speakest truth," agreed Ben Maslia. "I will illustrate to thee the vast expanse of my new residence." He stopped in his walk, measured one hundred paces in the street, and intimated that this represented the width of the central courtyard.
Abi Fressah grew impatient when Ben Maslia began to describe each room in detail, his hunger increased when, in glowing words, his friend painted the gorgeous dining-room, and his mouth watered at the information that the cellars were stocked with a thousand bottles of wine. "Blessings on thee and thy wine-cellar and thy house," murmured Abi Fressah, when he could get in a word.
Abi Fressah was overwhelmed with surprise, but he was growing momentarily hungrier, and it was with difficulty he could restrain his impatience. "Yes, yes," he said, "I would fain gaze upon the outer door of thy dwelling." "Such an outer door," said Ben Maslia, "hast thou never seen. Its width...." and again he began to measure the street to indicate its dimensions.
Abi Fressah asked these questions hastily, his beady eyes searching the other's face hungrily for a sign upon which he could seize to invite himself to a meal. "It is the hour of the mid-day meal. Goest thou, perchance, to thy pious home?" "Thither go I," said Ben Maslia. "My path lies in the same direction," said Abi Fressah. "It will be pleasant to walk together.
"That is a virtue," commented Ben Maslia, and he followed it up with the advice given to him by a renowned physician that a house was healthiest when it stood alone, away from the busy haunts of men. To all this and more, Abi Fressah was compelled to listen.
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