"
When her parent heard these words, the light before his face
became night, and he cried out at her, saying: "O thou whore! What
is this thou tellest me? Where be thy wits?" "O my father," she
rejoined, "thou breakest my heart. Enough for thee that thou hast been
so hard upon me! Indeed my husband who took my virginity is but just
now gone to the draught-house, and I feel that I have conceived by
him." The Wazir rose in much marvel and entered the privy, where he
found the hunchbacked horse groom with his head in the hole and his
heels in the air. At this sight he was confounded and said, "This is
none other than he, the rascal hunchback!" So he called to him, "Ho,
Hunchback!" The Gobbo grunted out, "Taghum! Taghum!" thinking it was
the Ifrit spoke to him, so the Wazir shouted at him and said, "Speak
out, or I'll strike off thy pate with this sword." Then quoth the
hunchback, "By Allah, O Sheikh of the Ifrits, ever since thou
settest me in this place I have not lifted my head, so Allah upon
thee, take pity and entreat me kindly!"
When the Wazir heard this he asked: "What is this thou sayest? I'm
the bride's father and no Ifrit.
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