thou one of the Sultan's Mamelukes?" Quoth Ma'aruf, "Yes;" and
the other said "Alight with me for a guest-meal." Whereupon
Ma'aruf knew him to be of the liberal and said to him, "O my
brother, I see with thee naught with which thou mayst feed me:
how is it, then, that thou invitest me?" Answered the husbandman,
"O my lord, weal is well nigh.[FN#62] Dismount thee here: the
town is near hand and I will go and fetch thee dinner and fodder
for thy stallion." Rejoined Ma'aruf, "Since the town is near at
hand, I can go thither as quickly as thou canst and buy me what I
have a mind to in the bazar and eat." The peasant replied, "O my
lord, the place is but a little village[FN#63] and there is no
bazar there, neither selling nor buying. So I conjure thee by
Allah, alight here with me and hearten my heart, and I will run
thither and return to thee in haste." Accordingly lie dismounted
and the Fellah left him and went off to the village, to fetch
dinner for him whilst Ma'aruf sat awaiting him. Presently he said
in himself, "I have taken this poor man away from his work; but I
will arise and plough in his stead, till he come back, to make up
for having hindered him from his work.[FN#64]" Then he took the
plough and starting the bulls, ploughed a little, till the share
struck against something and the beasts stopped. He goaded them
on, but they could not move the plough; so he looked at the share
and finding it caught in a ring of gold, cleared away the soil
and saw that it was set centre-most a slab of alabaster, the size
of the nether millstone. He strave at the stone till he pulled it
from its place, when there appeared beneath it a souterrain with
a stair. Presently he descended the flight of steps and came to a
place like a Hammam, with four daises, the first full of gold,
from floor to roof, the second full of emeralds and pearls and
coral also from ground to ceiling; the third of jacinths and