The jeweller thought his slave’s conjecture probable:  he entered the house, and saw that the highwaymen had taken all the furniture out of the chamber where he received Schemselnihar and her lover; that they had also carried off the vessels of gold and silver, and, in a word, had left nothing.  Being in this condition, O Heaven! cried he, I am irrecoverably undone!  What will my friends say, and what excuse can I make, when I tell them that highwaymen have broken into my house, and robbed me of all that they generously lent me?  I shall never be able to make up their loss.  Besides, what is become of Schemselnihar and the prince of Persia?  This business will be so public, that it is impossible but it must reach the caliph’s ears.  He will get notice of this meeting, and I shall fall a sacrifice to his fury.  The slave, who loved him, endeavoured to comfort him thus:  As to Schemselnihar, said he, the highwaymen probably would content themselves to strip her; and you have reason to think that she is retired to her palace with her slaves.  The prince of Persia is probably in the same condition; so that you have reason to hope that the caliph will never know of this adventure.  As for the loss your friends have sustained, that is a misfortune which you could not avoid.  They know very well the highwaymen to be so numerous, that they have not only pillaged the house I have already spoken of, but many other houses of the principal noblemen of the court; and they are not ignorant that, notwithstanding the orders given to apprehend them, nobody has yet been able to seize any of them.  You will be acquitted by restoring your friends the value of the things that are stolen; and, blessed be God, you have enough left.

Waiting till day, the jeweller ordered the slave to mend the gate of the house, which was broken up, as well as he could:  after which he returned to his ordinary house with his slave, making sad reflections on what had befallen him.  Ebn Thaher, said he to himself, has been wiser than I; he foresaw the misfortune into which I have blindly thrown myself:  would to God I had never meddled in this intrigue, which I fear will cost me my life!

It was scarcely day, when the report of the robbery had spread through the city, and there came to the house a great many of the jeweller’s friends and neighbours, to testify their grief for this misfortune, but were curious to know the particulars.  He thanked them for their affection, and was so much the better satisfied, that he heard nobody speak of Schemselnihar or the prince of Persia, which made him believe they were at their houses. or in some secure place.