It hath reached me, O august King, that in days of yore and in times and ages long gone before, during the Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, there was a merchant who named his son Abu al-Hasan[FN#174] Ali bin Tahir; and the same was great of goods and grace, while his son was fair of form and face and held in favour by all folk.  He used to enter the royal palace without asking leave, for all the Caliph’s concubines and slave-girls loved him, and he was wont to be companion with Al-Rashid in his cups and recite verses to him and tell him curious tales and witty.  Withal he sold and bought in the merchants’ bazar, and there used to sit in his shop a youth named Ali bin Bakkar, of the sons of the Persian Kings[FN#175] who was formous of form and symmetrical of shape and perfect of figure, with cheeks red as roses and joined eyebrows; sweet of speech, laughing-lipped and delighting in mirth and gaiety.  Now it chanced one day, as the two sat talking and laughing behold, there came up ten damsels like moons, every one of them complete in beauty and loveliness, and elegance and grace; and amongst them was a young lady riding on a she-mule with a saddle of brocade and stirrups of gold.  She wore an outer veil of fine stuff, and her waist was girt with a girdle of gold-embroidered silk; and she was even as saith the poet,

     “Silky her skin and silk that zoned waist; *
          Sweet voice; words not o’er many nor too few: 
     Two eyes quoth Allah ‘Be,’ and they became; *
          And work like wine on hearts they make to rue: 
     O love I feel! grow greater every night:  *
          O solace!  Doom-day bring our interview.”

And when the cortege reached Abu al-Hasan’s shop, she alighted from her mule, and sitting down on the front board,[FN#176] saluted him, and he returned her salam.  When Ali bin Bakkar saw her, she ravished his understanding and he rose to go away; but she said to him, “Sit in thy place.  We came to thee and thou goest away:  this is not fair!” Replied he, “O my lady, by Allah, I flee from what I see; for the tongue of the case saith,

     ’She is a sun which towereth high a-sky; *
          So ease thy heart with cure by Patience lent: 
     Thou to her skyey height shalt fail to fly; *
          Nor she from skyey height can make descent.’”

When she heard this, she smiled and asked Abu al-Hasan, “What is the name of this young man?”; who answered, “He is a stranger;” and she enquired, “What countryman is he?”; whereto the merchant replied, “He is a descendant of the Persian Kings; his name is Ali son of Bakkar and the stranger deserveth honour.”  Rejoined she, “When my damsel comes to thee, come thou at once to us and bring him with thee, that we may entertain him in our abode, lest he blame us and say, ’There is no hospitality in the people of Baghdad’; for niggardliness is the worst fault a man can have.  Thou hearest what I say to thee and, if thou disobey