they will tear it up and so thou wilt lose the girl's price."
When Nur al-Din heard this he looked at the broker and asked him,
"How shall this matter be managed?"; and he answered, "I will
give thee a counsel which, if thou follow, it shall bring thee
complete satisfaction." "And what is that?" quoth Nur al-Din.
Quoth the broker, "Come thou to me anon when I am standing in the
middle of the market and, taking the girl from my hand, give her
a sound cuffing and say to her, 'Thou baggage, I have kept my vow
and brought thee down to the slave-market, because I swore an
oath that I would carry thee from home to the bazar, and make
brokers cry thee for sale.' If thou do this, perhaps the device
will impose upon the Wazir and the people, and they will believe
that thou broughtest her not to the bazar, but for the quittance
of thine oath." He replied, "Such were the best way." Then the
broker left him and, returning into the midst of the market, took
the damsel by the hand, and signed to the Wazir and said, "O my
lord, here is her owner." With this up came Nur al-Din Ali and,
snatching the girl from the broker's hand, cuffed her soundly and
said to her, "Shame on thee, O thou baggage! I have brought thee
to the bazar for quittance of mine oath; now get thee home and
thwart me no more as is thy wont. Woe to thee! do I need thy
price, that I should sell thee? The furniture of my house would
fetch thy value many times over!" When Al-Mu'in saw this he said
to Nur al-Din, "Out on thee! Hast thou anything left for selling
or buying?" And he would have laid violent hands upon him, but
the merchants interposed (for they all loved Nur al-Din), and the
young man said to them, "Here am I in your hands and ye all know
his tyranny." "By Allah," cried the Wazir, "but for you I had
slain him!" Then all signed with significant eyes to Nur al-Din
as much as to say, "Take thy wreak of him; not one of us will