cometh to be standing here." --And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Forty-first Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Sandal the Eunuch related to Ja'afar the Barmecide the tale of
Khalifah the Fisherman, ending with, "This is the whole story and
how he cometh to be standing here!" the Wazir, hearing this
account, smiled and said, "O Eunuch, how is it that this
Fisherman cometh in his hour of need and thou satisfiest him not?
Dost thou not know him, O Chief of the Eunuchs?" "No," answered
Sandal and Ja'afar said, "This is the Master of the Commander of
the Faithful, and his partner and our lord the Caliph has arisen
this morning, strait of breast, heavy of heart and troubled of
thought, nor is there aught will broaden his breast save this
fisherman. So let him not go, till I crave the Caliph's pleasure
concerning him and bring him before him; perchance Allah will
relieve him of his oppression and console him for the loss of Kut
al-Kulub, by means of the Fisherman's presence, and he will give
him wherewithal to better himself; and thou wilt be the cause of
this." Replied Sandal, "O my lord, do as thou wilt and may Allah
Almighty long continue thee a pillar of the dynasty of the
Commander of the Faithful, whose shadow Allah perpetuate [FN#238]
and prosper it, root and branch!" Then the Wazir Ja'afar rose up
and went in to the Caliph, and Sandal ordered the Mamelukes not
to leave the Fisherman; whereupon Khalifah cried, "How goodly is
thy bounty, O Tulip! The seeker is become the sought. I come to
seek my due, and they imprison me for debts in arrears!" [FN#239]
When Ja'afar came in to the presence of the Caliph, he found him