till he had beaten him four times and won of him four thousand
dinars.

This was all the merchant's good; so he said, "O youth, I will
play thee another game for the shop." Now the value of the shop
was four thousand dinars; so they played and El Abbas beat him
and won his shop, with that which was therein; whereupon the
other arose, shaking his clothes, and said to him, "Up, O youth,
and take thy shop." So El Abbas arose and repairing to the shop,
took possession thereof, after which he returned to [the place
where he had left] his servant [Aamir] and found there the Amir
Saad, who was come to bid him to the presence of the king. El
Abbas consented to this and accompanied him till they came before
King Ins ben Cais, whereupon he kissed the earth and saluted him
and exceeded[FN#78] in the salutation. Quoth the king to him,
"Whence comest thou, O youth?" and he answered, "I come from
Yemen."

Then said the king, "Hast thou a need we may accomplish unto
thee? For indeed we are exceeding beholden to thee for that which
thou didst in the matter of Hudheifeh and his folk." And he let
cast over him a mantle of Egyptian satin, worth an hundred
dinars. Moreover, he bade his treasurer give him a thousand
dinars and said to him, "O youth, take this in part of that which
thou deserves! of us; and if thou prolong thy sojourn with us, we
will give thee slaves and servants." El Abbas kissed the earth
and said, "O king, may grant thee abiding prosperity, I deserve
not all this." Then he put his hand to his poke and pulling out
two caskets of gold, in each of which were rubies, whose value
none could tell, gave them to the king, saying, "O king, God