Thereupon
his pages fetched me hot water, and I washed my hands, and his
handmaids brought me silken napkins, with which I dried them and wiped
my mouth. Also the Sheikh set apart for me an apartment in a part of
his house, and charged his pages and slave girls to wait upon me and
do my will and supply my wants. They were assiduous in my service, and
I abode with him in the guest chamber three days, taking my ease of
good eating and good drinking and good scents till life returned to me
and my terrors subsided and my heart was calmed and my mind was eased.
On the fourth day the Sheikh, my host, came in to me and said: "Thou
cheerest us with thy company, O my son, and praised be Allah for thy
safety! Say, wilt thou now come down with me to the beach and the
bazaar and sell thy goods and take their price? Belike thou mayest buy
thee wherewithal to traffic. I have ordered my servants to remove
thy stock in trade from the sea, and they have piled it on the shore."
I was silent awhile and said to myself, "What mean these words, and
what goods have I?" Then said he: "O my son, be not troubled nor
careful, but come with me to the market, and if any offer for thy
goods what price contenteth thee, take it.
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