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

She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ibn
al-Kirnas read the letter and knew its import, he kissed it and
laid it on his head; then he arose and said to Khalifah, "O my
brother, where is thy house?" Asked Khalifah, "What wantest thou
with my house? Wilt thou go thither and steal my slave-girl?"
Then Ibn al-Kirnas answered, "No so: on the contrary, I will buy
thee somewhat whereof you may eat, thou and she." So he said,
"My house is in such a quarter;" and the merchant rejoined, "Thou
hast done well. May Allah not give thee health, O unlucky one!"
[FN#253] Then he called out to two of his slaves and said to
them, "Carry this man to the shop of Mohsin the Shroff and say to
him, 'O Mohsin, give this man a thousand dinars of gold;' then
bring him back to me in haste." So they carried him to the
money-changer, who paid him the money, and returned with him to
their master, whom they found mounted on a dapple she-mule worth
a thousand dinars, with Mamelukes and pages about him, and by his
side another mule like his own, saddled and bridled. Quoth the
jeweller to Khalifah, "Bismillah, mount this mule." Replied he,
"I won't; for by Allah, I fear she throw me;" and quoth Ibn al-
Kirnas, "By God, needs must thou mount." So he came up and
mounting her, face to crupper, caught hold of her tail and cried
out; whereupon she threw him on the ground and they laughed at
him; but he rose and said, "Did I not tell thee I would not mount
this great jenny-ass?" Thereupon Ibn al-Kirnas left him in the
market and repairing to the Caliph, told him of the damsel; after
which he returned and removed her to his own house. Meanwhile,
Khalifah went home to look after the handmaid and found the
people of the quarter foregathering and saying, "Verily, Khalifah