homes are its victims." Quoth he, "O my mother, and where is a
refuge-place against Fate? Verily care never made Destiny
forbear; nor is there flight from what is written for every
wight. He who took my grandfather will not spare myself nor my
father; for, though he live to day he shall not live tomorrow.
And when my father dieth and I come forth and say, 'I am Ala
al-Din, son of Shams al-Din the merchant', none of the people
will believe me, but men of years and standing will say, 'In our
lives never saw we a son or a daughter of Shams al-Din.' Then the
public Treasury will come down and take my father's estate, and
Allah have mercy on him who said, 'The noble dieth and his wealth
passeth away, and the meanest of men take his women.' Therefore,
O my mother, speak thou to my father, that he carry me with him
to the bazar and open for me a shop; so may I sit there with my
merchandise, and teach me to buy and sell and take and give."
Answered his mother, "O my son, as soon as thy sire returneth I
will tell him this." So when the merchant came home, he found his
son Ala al-Din Abu al-Shamat sitting with his mother and said to
her, "Why hast thou brought him forth of the underground
chamber?" She replied, "O son of my uncle, it was not I that
brought him out; but the servants forgot to shut the door and
left it open; so, as I sat with a company of women of rank,
behold, he came forth and walked in to me." Then she went on to
repeat to him his son's words; so he said, "O my son, to-morrow,
Inshallah! I will take thee with me to the bazar; but, my boy,
sitting in markets and shops demandeth good manners and courteous
carriage in all conditions." Ala al-Din passed the night
rejoicing in his father's promise and, when the morrow came, the
merchant carried him to the Hammam and clad him in a suit worth a
mint of money. As soon as they had broken their fast and drunk