her children!" "And did not thy mistress escape?" "No, by Allah,
O my master; not one of them was saved; the first to die was my
mistress, thine elder daughter!" "And did not my younger daughter
escape?"; "No, she did not!" "And what became of the mare mule I
use to ride, is she safe?" "No, by Allah, O my master, the house
walls and the stable walls buried every living thing that was
within doors, even to the sheep and geese and poultry, so that
they all became a heap of flesh and the dogs and cats are eating
them and not one of them is left alive." "And hath not thy
master, my elder son, escaped?" "No, by Allah! not one of them
was saved, and now there is naught left of house or household,
nor even a sign of them: and, as for the sheep and geese and
hens, the cats and dogs have devoured them." When my master heard
this the light became night before his sight; his wits were dazed
and he so lost command of his senses that he could not stand firm
on his feet: he was as one struck with a sudden palsy and his
back was like to break. Then he rent his raiment and plucked out
his beard and, casting his turband from off his head, buffeted
his face till the blood ran down and he cried aloud, "Alas, my
children! Alas, my wife! Alas, my calamity! To whom ever befel
that which hath befallen me?" The merchants, his friends, also
cried aloud at his crying and wept for his weeping and tore their
clothes, being moved to pity of his case; and so my master went
out of the garden, smiting his face with such violence that from
excess of pain he staggered like one drunken with wine. As he and
the merchants came forth from the garden gate, behold, they saw a
great cloud of dust and heard a loud noise of crying and
lamentation; so they looked and lo! it was the Governor with his
attendants and the townsfolk, a world of people, who had come out
to look on, and my master's family following them, all screaming