police, showing him as he spoke the blood which had poured from
their bodies upon the floor for excess of flogging; and she
continued, "Presently I complained to him of my case, how the
Commander of the Faithful had seized thee and imprisoned thee
when he said to me, 'At this very moment I fare to the Caliph and
cause him to free thy son and suffer him to return home; also to
robe him and to increase his fiefs;' whereupon he went from us
and after an hour, lo and behold! thou appearedst; so but for him
we had never seen thee any more." When her son heard these words,
his wits were bewildered and he was confounded at his case, so he
asked her, "What may this man be styled and what may be his
name?" She answered, "We are ignorant an he have any name or not,
for however much we enquired of the marble-cutters and master
artificers and handi-craftsmen, they told us only that his bye-
name[FN#179] is Al-Bundukani without letting us know any other.
Moreover on like wise when he sent me to fetch the Kazi he bade
me tell him that Al-Bundukani had summoned him." Now when the
Emir Alaeddin heard her name Al-Bundukani he knew that it was the
Commander of the Faithful, nor could he prevent himself springing
to his feet and kissing ground seven times; but as his mother
beheld this she laughed and cried, "O thou brawler,[FN#180] 'tis
as if he had met thee in the street and had given thee to drink a
draught of clotted blood, one beyond the common![FN#181] What of
thy brave words when anon thou saidst, 'I will smite his neck'?"
"And dost thou know," quoth he, "who may be the person thou so
callest?" and quoth she, "Who may he be?" "The Commander of the
Faithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid in person," cried her son,
"and what other could have done with the Kazi and the Wali and
the rest what he did?" When she heard these words, she dried up
with dread and cried, "O my son, set me in a place of