Shall the dry all drink of thy tanks and I * Under rain-cloud
thirst for the cooling shower?"

"O my lord," cried he, "the like will befal every one who loveth
and serveth thee well." "Be quick with thee," quoth the Sultan,
"and tell me how this came to pass and who did this deed by one
whose honour is part of my honour." Quoth the Wazir, "Know, O my
lord, that I went out this day to the slave-market to buy me a
cookmaid, when I saw there a damsel, never in my life long saw I
a fairer; and I designed to buy her for our lord the Sultan; so I
asked the broker of her and of her owner, and he answered, "She
belongeth to Ali son of Al-Fazl bin Khakan. Some time ago our
lord the Sultan gave his father ten thousand dinars wherewith to
buy him a handsome slave-girl, and he bought this maiden who
pleased him; so he grudged her to our lord the Sultan and gave
her to his own son. When the father died, the son sold all he had
of houses and gardens and household gear, and squandered the
price till he was penniless. Then he brought the girl to the
market that he might sell her, and he handed her over to the
broker to cry and the merchants bid higher and higher on her,
until the price reached four thousand dinars; whereupon quoth I
to myself, 'I will buy this damsel for our lord the Sultan, whose
money was paid for her.' So I said to Nur al-Din, 'O my son,
sell her to me for four thousand dinars.' When he heard my words
he looked at me and cried, 'O ill-omened oldster, I will sell her
to a Jew or to a Nazarene, but I will not sell her to thee!' 'I
do not buy her for myself,' said I, 'I buy her for our lord and
benefactor the Sultan.' Hearing my words he was filled with
rage; and, dragging me off my horse (and I a very old man), beat
me unmercifully with his fists and buffeted me with his palms