him, and that he was praying for aidance. Accordingly they
flocked to him each armed with some weapon and finding the door
of his lodging locked and hearing him roaring out for help,
deemed that the thieves had come down upon him from the
terrace-roof; so they fell upon the door and burst it open. Then
they entered and found him mother-naked and bareheaded with body
dripping blood, and altogether in a sad pickle; so they asked
him, "What is this case in which we find thee? Hast thou lost thy
wits and hath Jinn-madness betided thee this night?" And he
answered them, "Nay; but I have gold with me and I feared lest
the Caliph send to borrow of me and it were no light matter to
give him aught; yet, an I gave not to him 'tis only too sure that
he would put me to the torture; wherefore I arose to see if my
skin were stick-proof or not." When they heard these words they
said to him, "May Allah not assain thy body, unlucky madman that
thou art! Of a surety thou art fallen mad to-night! Lie down to
sleep, may Allah never bless thee! How many thousand dinars hast
thou, that the Caliph should come and borrow of thee?" He
replied, "By Allah, I have naught but nine dinars." And they all
said, "By Allah, he is not otherwise than passing rich!" Then
they left him wondering at his want of wit, and Khalif took his
cash and wrapped it in a rag, saying to himself, "Where shall I
hide all this gold? An I bury it, they will take it, and if I put
it out on deposit, they will deny that I did so, and if I carry
it on my head,[FN#278] they will snatch it, and if I tie it to my
sleeve, they will cut it away." Presently, he espied a little
breast-pocket in the gown and said, "By Allah, this is fine! 'Tis
under my throat and hard by my mouth: if any put out his hand to
hend it, I can come down on it with my mouth and hide it in my
throttle." So he set the rag containing the gold in the pocket