So do as thou wilt." "By Allah,
O my uncle," replied I, "thou art become to me even as my father,
and I am a stranger and have undergone many hardships, while for
stress of that which I have suffered naught of judgment or knowledge
is left to me. It is for thee, therefore, to decide what I shall do."
Hereupon he sent his servants for the kazi and the witnesses and
married me to his daughter, making for us a noble marriage feast and
high festival. When I went in to her, I found her perfect in beauty
and loveliness and symmetry and grace, clad in rich raiment and
covered with a profusion of ornaments and necklaces and other trinkets
of gold and silver and precious stones, worth a mint of money, a price
none could pay. She pleased me, and we loved each other, and I abode
with her in all solace and delight of life till her father was taken
to the mercy of Allah Almighty. So we shrouded him and buried him, and
I laid hands on the whole of his property and all his servants and
slaves became mine. Moreover, the merchants installed me in his
office, for he was their sheikh and their chief, and none of them
purchased aught but with his knowledge and by his leave.
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