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The Khalif Haroun er Reshid went out one day, with Abou Yousuf the minion and Jaafer the Barmecide and Abou Nuwas, into the desert, where they fell in with an old man, leant upon his ass. The Khalif bade Jaafer ask him whence he came; so he said to him, 'Whence comest thou? 'From Bassora, answered the Bedouin. 'And whither goest thou? asked Jaafer. 'To Baghdad, said the other.
So he said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, Gaffer Ibrahim said to me last week, "O my lord Jaafer, I desire to circumcise my sons during thy life and that of the Commander of the Faithful." "What dost thou want?" asked I; and he said, "Get me leave from the Khalif to hold the festival in the pavilion." So I said to him, "Go, circumcise them, and I will see the Khalif and tell him."
"God on thee," cried I, "do not burden thy conscience with such a sin against any one! The truth is that I was riding on an ass, and it stumbled and threw me down, and my cheek fell on a piece of glass, which wounded it." "Then," said he, "to morrow I will go to Jaafer the Barmecide and tell him the case, and he will kill every ass in the city."
Said they, 'Be quick about it. So he went out, running, and coming up to Jaafer, cried out, 'Hallo, Jaafer! 'Here am I, O Commander of the Faithful! replied he. 'They want the fish fried, said the Khalif.
Meanwhile, Jaafer alighted and entering the house, saw Cout el Culoub, who had dressed and decked herself after the richest fashion and filled a chest with gold and jewellery and precious stones and rarities and what else was light of carriage and great of value. And they did his bidding, after they had plundered Ghanim's house.
Now Jaafer had sent one of the gardeners to the doorkeeper of the palace for a suit of the royal raiment for the Commander of the Faithful; so he went and returning with the suit, kissed the earth before the Khalif and gave it to him.
Then I betook myself to Bassora, where I traded with the money and God prospered me, to Him be the praise and the thanks! So, if I give thee a thousand diners a year of the bounty of Jaafer, it will in no wise irk me. Consider then the munificence of Jaafer's nature and how he was praised both alive and dead, the mercy of God the Most High be upon him!
'By Allah, said he, 'if this damsel sing ill, I will crucify you, all of you; but if she sing well, I will pardon them and crucify thee. 'God grant she may sing ill! said Jaafer 'Why so? asked the Khalif.
But the like of the beauty of this youth and this girl my eyes never beheld! 'Thou art right, O Commander of the Faithful, replied Jaafer, hoping to propitiate him.
So Jaafer said to the Bedouin, 'If I prescribe thee a remedy that shall profit thee, what wilt thou give me in return? Quoth the other, 'God the Most High will requite thee for me with better than I can give thee. 'Harkye, then, said Jaafer, 'and I will give thee a prescription, which I have given to none but thee. 'What is that? asked the Bedouin; and Jaafer answered, 'Take three ounces of wind-wafts and the like of sunbeams and moonshine and lamp-light; mix them together and let them lie in the wind three months.
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