his good; so he laid hold of him and haling him before the chief
of the police, said to him, 'This is the man who stole my pearls:
I have found two of them upon him and he confesseth to the other
eight.'

Now the magistrate knew of the theft of the pearls; so he bade
clap the merchant in prison. Accordingly they imprisoned him and
flogged him, and he abode in the prison a whole year, till, by
the ordinance of God the Most High, the Master of Police arrested
one of the divers aforesaid and imprisoned him in the prison
where the merchant lay. He saw the latter and knowing him,
questioned him of his case; whereupon he told them his story and
that which had befallen him, and the diver marvelled at the
sorriness of his luck. So, when he came forth of the prison, he
acquainted the Sultan with the merchant's case and told him that
it was he who had given him the pearls. The Sultan bade bring him
forth of the prison and questioned him of his story, whereupon he
told him all that had befallen him and the Sultan pitied him and
assigned him a lodging in his own palace, together with an
allowance for his living.

Now the lodging in question adjoined the king's house, and whilst
the merchant was rejoicing in this and saying, 'Verily, my luck
hath returned and I shall live in this king's shadow the rest of
my life,' he espied an opening walled up with stones and clay. So
he pulled out the stones and clearing away the earth from the
opening, found that it was a window giving upon the lodging of
the king's women. When he saw this, he was affrighted and rising
in haste, fetched clay and stopped it up again. But one of the
eunuchs saw him and misdoubting of him, repaired to the Sultan