In this desperate condition I walked out of my lodging, not
knowing what course to take, and by chance steered towards the
castle, where there was a great crowd of people, to see the
sultan of Egypt. As soon as I came up to them, I wedged in among
the crowd, and by chance happened to stand by a cavalier well
mounted and handsomely clothed, who had upon the bow of his
saddle a bag half open, with a string of green silk hanging out
of it, I clapped my hand into the bag, concluding the silk- twist
might be the string of a purse within the bag: in the mean time,
a porter, with a load of wood upon his back, passed by the other
side of the horse, so near, that the gentleman on horse-* back
was forced to turn his head towards him to avoid being rubbed by
the wood. In that very moment did the devil tempt me; I took the
string in one hand, and with the other laid open the mouth of the
bag, and pulled out the purse so dexterously that nobody
perceived it. The purse was heavy, therefore I did not doubt that
there was gold or silver in it. As soon as the porter had passed,
the cavalier, who probably had some suspicion of what I had done
while his head was turned, presently put his hand to his bag,
and, finding his purse gone, gave me such a blow as knocked me
down. This violence shocked all who saw it; some took hold of the
horse's bridle to stop the gentleman, and inquire what reason he
had to beat me, or how he came to treat a Mussulman after that
rate.
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