them of whatso remained with them, stripped them of their raiment and took from them the two children; whereupon the woman wept and said to her husband, “Hearkye, my good man, put away from thee this folly and up with us to follow the thieves, so, peradventure they may have compassion on us and restore the children to us.”  He replied, “O woman, have patience, for he who doth evil shall be requited with evil and his frowardness shall revert upon him.  Were I to follow them, belike one of them would take his sword and smite my neck and slay me; but have patience, for the issue of patience is praised.”  Then they fared on till they made a village[FN#167] in the land of Kirman, and by it a river of water; so the man said to his wife, “Tarry thou here, whilst I enter the village and look us out a place wherein we may home ourselves.”  And he left her by the water and entered the village.  Presently, up came a horseman in quest of water, wherewith to water his horse:  he saw the woman and she was pleasing in his eyes; so quoth he to her, “Arise, mount with me and I will take thee to wife and entreat thee kindly.”  Quoth she, “Spare me, so may Allah spare thee!  Indeed I have a husband.”  But he drew his dudgeon and said to her, “An thou obey me not, I will smite thee and slay thee.”  When she saw his frowardness, she wrote on the ground in the sand with her finger, saying, “O Abu Sabir, thou hast not ceased to be patient, till thy good is gone from thee and thy children and now thy wife, who was more precious in thy sight than everything and than all thy monies, and indeed thou abidest in thy sorrow the whole of thy life long, so thou mayest see what thy patience will profit thee.”  Then the horseman took her, and setting her behind him, went his way.  As for Abu Sabir, when he returned, he saw not his wife but he read what was writ upon the ground, wherefore he wept and sat awhile sorrowing.  Then said he to himself, “O Abu Sabir, it behoveth thee to be patient, for haply there shall betide thee an affair yet sorer than this and more grievous;” and he went forth a-following his face,[FN#168] like to one lovedistraught and passion-madded, till he came to a gang of labourers working upon the palace of the king, by way of forced labour.[FN#169] When the overseers saw him, they laid hold of him and said to him, “Work thou with these folk at the palace of the king; else we will imprison thee for life.”  So he fell to working with them as a labourer and every day they gave him a bannock of bread.  He wrought with them a month’s space, till it chanced that one of the labourers mounted a ladder and falling, brake his leg; whereupon he cried out and shed tears.  Quoth Abu Sabir to him, “Have patience and weep not; for in thine endurance thou shalt find ease.”  But the man said to him, “How long shall I have patience?” And he answered, saying, “Long-suffering bringeth a man forth of the bottom of the pit and seateth him on the throne of the kingdom.”  It so fortuned