After this he sent builders with him, saying to them, "Build him a
hammam in what place soever shall please him." So he took them and
went with them through the midst of the city till he saw a stead
that suited him. He pointed it out to the builders and they set to
work, whilst he directed them, and they wrought till they builded
him a hammam that had not its like. Then he bade them paint it, and
they painted it rarely, so that it was a delight to the beholders.
After which Abu Sir went up to the King and told him that they had
made an end of building and decorating the hammam, adding, "There
lacketh naught save the furniture." The King gave him ten thousand
dinars wherewith he furnished the bath and ranged the napkins on the
ropes, and all who passed by the door stared at it and their mind
was confounded at its decorations. So the people crowded to this
spectacle, whose like they had never in their lives seen, and
solaced themselves by staring at it and saying, "What is this
thing?" To which Abu Sir replied, "This is a hammam," and they
marveled thereat. Then he heated water and set the bath a-working, and
he made a jetting fountain in the great basin, which ravished the
wit of an who saw it of the people of the city.
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