Be it mine for twenty dinars." Quoth another, "Fifty,"
and they went on bidding, one against other, till the price reached
a hundred ducats.
Then said the crier, "Will any of you bid more, O merchants?" And
Khalifah the fisherman said, "Be it mine for a hundred dinars and
one dinar." The merchants, hearing these words, thought he was jesting
and laughed at him, saying, "O Eunuch, sell it to Khalifah for a
hundred dinars and one dinar!" Quoth the eunuch: "By Allah, I will
sell it to none but him! Take it, O Fisherman. The Lord bless thee
in it, and here with thy gold." So Khalifah pulled out the ducats
and gave them to the eunuch, who, the bargain being duly made,
delivered to him the chest and bestowed the price in alms on the spot,
after which he returned to the palace and acquainted the Lady Zubaydah
with what he had done, whereat she rejoiced. Meanwhile the fisherman
hove the chest on shoulder, but could not carry it on this wise for
the excess of its weight, so he lifted it onto his head and thus
bore it to the quarter where he lived. Here he set it down, and
being weary, sat awhile bemusing what had befallen him and saying in
himself, "Would Heaven I knew what is in this chest!"
Then he opened the door of his lodging and haled the chest till he
got it into his closet, after which he strove to open it, but
failed.
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