not over going till they met in one of the inns[FN#33] and each
complained to the other of that which he had abidden of travel
[in quest of custom] and of the lack of demand for his wares. Now
each of them had it in mind to cheat his fellow; so El Merouzi
said to Er Razi, 'Wilt thou sell me that?' 'Yes,' answered he,
and the other continued, 'And wilt thou buy that which is with
me?' Er Razi assented; so they agreed upon this and each of them
sold his fellow that which was with him [in exchange for the
other's ware]; after which they bade each other farewell and
parted. As soon as they were out of each other's sight, they
examined their loads, to see what was therein, and one of them
found that he had a load of sheep's dung and the other that he
had a load of goat's dung; whereupon each of them turned back in
quest of his fellow. They met in the inn aforesaid and laughed at
each other and cancelling their bargain, agreed to enter into
partnership and that all that they had of money and other good
should be in common between them, share and share alike.

Then said Er Razi to El Merouzi, 'Come with me to my city, for
that it is nearer [than thine].' So he went with him, and when he
came to his lodging, he said to his wife and household and
neighbours, 'This is my brother, who hath been absent in the land
of Khorassan and is come back.' And he abode with him in all
honour and worship three days' space. On the fourth day, Er Razi
said to him, 'Know, O my brother, that I purpose to do somewhat'
'What is it?' asked El Merouzi. Quoth the other, 'I mean to feign
myself dead and do thou go to the market and hire two porters and
a bier. [Then come back and take me up and go round about the
streets and markets with me and collect alms on my
account.][FN#34]