Then, coming out, they closed the hoard door
and rode away upon their wonted work.
Now when night fell and Kasim came not home, his wife waxed uneasy
in mind, and running round to Ali Baba, said: "O my brother, Kasim
hath not returned. Thou knowest whither he went, and sore I fear me
some misfortune hath betided him." Ali Baba also divined that a mishap
had happened to prevent his return. Not the less, however, he strove
to comfort his sister-in-law with words of cheer, and said: "O wife of
my brother, Kasim haply exerciseth discretion and, avoiding the
city, cometh by a roundabout road and will he here anon. This I do
believe is the reason why he tarrieth." Thereupon, comforted in
spirit, Kasim's wife fared homeward and sat awaiting her husband's
return, but when half the night was spent and still he came not, she
was as one distraught. She feared to cry aloud for her grief, lest
haply the neighbors, hearing her, should come and learn the secret, so
she wept in silence and upbraiding herself, fell to thinking:
"Wherefore did I disclose this secret to him and beget envy and
jealousy of Ali Baba? This be the fruit thereof, and hence the
disaster that hath come down upon me.
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