durance vile; whilst I said to my slave who had taken the money,
'Say me, did yonder young man see thee, what time thou buriedst
the money?' and he replied, 'No, by Allah the Great!' So I went
in to the young man, the prisoner, and plied him with
wine[FN#110] till he recovered, when I said to him, 'Tell me how
thou stolest the money?' Answered he, 'By Allah, I stole it not,
nor did I ever set eyes on it till I brought it forth of the
earth!' Quoth I, 'How so?' and quoth he, 'Know that the cause of
my falling into your hands was my parent's imprecation against
me; because I entreated her evilly yesternight and beat her and
she said to me, 'By Allah, O my son, the Lord shall assuredly gar
the oppressor prevail over thee!' Now she is a pious woman. So I
went out forthright and thou sawest me on my way and didst that
which thou didst; and when beating was prolonged on me, my senses
failed me and I heard a voice saying to me, 'Fetch it.' So I said
to you what I said and the Speaker[FN#111] guided me till I came
to the place and there befel what befel of the bringing out of
the money.' I admired this with the utmost admiration and knew
that he was of the sons of the pious. So I bestirred myself for
his release and cured him and besought him of acquittance and
absolution of responsibility." All those who were present
marvelled at this story with the utmost marvel, and the twelfth
constable came forward and said, "I will tell you a pleasant
trait that I heard from a certain person, concerning an adventure
which befel him with one of the thieves.




The Twelfth Constable's History.