[When the appointed day arrived], I arose and changing my clothes and favour, donned sailor’s apparel; then I took with me a purse full of gold and buying good [victual for the] morning-meal, accosted a boatman [at Deir et Tin] and sat down and ate with him; after which said I to him, “Wilt thou hire me thy boat?” Quoth he, “The Commander of the Faithful hath commanded me to be here;” and he told me the story of the concubines and how the Khalif purposed to drown them that day.  When I heard this from him, I brought out to him half a score dinars and discovered to him my case, whereupon quoth he to me, “O my brother, get thee empty calabashes, and when thy mistress cometh, give me to know of her and I will contrive the trick.”

I kissed his hand and thanked him, and as I was walking about, [waiting,] up came the guards and eunuchs with the women, who were weeping and crying out and taking leave of one another.  The eunuchs cried out to us, whereupon we came with the boat, and they said to the boatman, “Who is this?” “This is my mate,” answered he, “[whom I have brought,] to help me, so one of us may keep the boat, whilst another doth your service.”  Then they brought out to us the women, one by one, saying, “Throw them [in] by the Island;” and we answered, “It is well.”  Now each of them was shackled and they had made a jar of sand fast about her neck.  We did as the eunuchs bade us and ceased not to take the women, one after another, and cast them in, till they gave us my mistress and I winked to my comrade.  So we took her and carried her out into mid-stream, where I gave her the empty calabashes[FN#188] and said to her, “Wait for me at the mouth of the canal.”  Then we cast her in, after we had loosed the jar of sand from her neck and done off her fetters, and returned.

Now there remained one after her; so we took her and drowned her and the eunuchs went away, whilst we dropped down the river with the boat till we came to the mouth of the canal, where I saw my mistress awaiting me.  So we took her up into the boat and returned to our pavilion on Er Rauzeh.  Then I rewarded the boatman and he took his boat and went away; whereupon quoth she to me, “Thou art indeed a friend in need."[FN#189] And I abode with her some days; but the shock wrought upon her so that she sickened and fell to wasting away and redoubled in languishment and weakness till she died.  I mourned for her with an exceeding mourning and buried her; after which I removed all that was in the pavilion to my own house [and abandoned the former].

Now she had brought to the pavilion aforetime a little brass coffer and laid it in a place whereof I knew not; so, when the inspector of inheritances[FN#190] came, he searched the pavilion and found the coffer, with the key in the lock.  So he opened it and finding it full of jewels and jacinths and earrings and seal-rings and precious stones, such as are not found save with kings and sultans, took it, and me