accursed, my ape, and take thee in his stead and give thee every
day to eat of whatso thou wilt." Rejoined the ape, "Since thou
hast made choice of me, I will tell thee how thou shalt do
wherein, if it please Allah Almighty, shall be the mending of thy
fortune. Lend thy mind, then, to what I say to thee and 'tis
this!: Take another cord and tie me also to a tree, where leave
me and go to the midst of The Dyke [FN#195] and cast thy net into
the Tigris. [FN#196] Then after waiting awhile, draw it up and
thou shalt find therein a fish, than which thou never sawest a
finer in thy whole life. Bring it to me and I will tell thee how
thou shalt do after this." So Khalifah rose forthright and
casting his net into the Tigris, drew up a great cat-fish
[FN#197] the bigness of a lamb; never had he set eyes on its
like, for it was larger than the first fish. He carried it to
the ape, who said to him, "Gather thee some green grass and set
half of it in a basket; lay the fish therein and cover it with
the other moiety. Then, leaving us here tied, shoulder the
basket and betake thee to Baghdad. If any bespeak thee or
question thee by the way, answer him not, but fare on till thou
comest to the market-street of the money-changers, at the upper
end of whereof thou wilt find the shop of Master [FN#198] Abu al-
Sa'adat the Jew, Shaykh of the shroffs, and wilt see him sitting
on a mattress, with a cushion behind him and two coffers, one for
gold and one for silver, before him, while around him stand his
Mamelukes and negro-slaves and servant-lads. Go up to him and
set the basket before him, saying 'O Abu al-Sa'adat, verily I
went out to-day to fish and cast my net in thy name and Allah
Almighty sent me this fish.' He will ask, 'Hast thou shown it to
any but me?;' and do thou answer, "No, by Allah!' then will he
take it of thee and give thee a dinar. Give it back to him and