Prev | Current Page 604 | Next

Burton, Richard Francis

"The Arabian Nights"

" So the barber went up to him
and stood before him, deeming he would rejoice in him when he saw
him and salute him and entreat him with honor and make much of him.
But when eye fell upon eye, the dyer said to him: "O scoundrel how
many a time have I bidden thee stand not at the door of the
workshop? Hast thou a mind to disgrace me with the folk, thief that
thou art? Seize him."
So the blackamoors ran at him and laid hold of him, and the dyer
rose up from his seat and said, "Throw him." Accordingly they threw
him down and Abu Kir took a stick and dealt him a hundred strokes on
the back, after which they turned him over and he beat him other
hundred blows on his belly. Then he said to him: "O scoundrel, O
villain, if ever again I see thee standing at the door of this
dyery, I will forthwith send thee to the King, and he will commit thee
to the Chief of Police, that he may strike thy neck. Begone, may Allah
not bless thee!" So Abu Sir departed from him, brokenhearted by reason
of the beating and shame that had betided him, whilst the bystanders
asked Abu Kir, "What hath this man done?" He answered: "The fellow
is a thief, who stealeth the stuffs of folk.


Pages:
592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616