' When I heard this,
I was like to die of fright and said to them, 'O my brethren, if
generosity were lost, it would not be found save with you and had
I a secret, which I feared to divulge, your breasts alone should
have the keeping of it.' And I went on to expatiate to them in
this sense, till I saw that frankness would profit me more than
concealment; so I told them the whole story. When they heard it,
they said, 'And is this young man Ali ben Bekkar and this damsel
Shemsennehar?' 'Yes,' answered I. This was grievous to them and
they rose and made their excuses to the two lovers. Then they said
to me, 'Part of what we took from thy house is spent, but here is
what is left of it.' So saying, they gave me back the most part
of my goods and engaged to return them to my house and restore me
the rest. So my heart was set at ease, and some of them abode
with me, whilst the rest fetched Ali ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar,
who were well-nigh dead for excess of fear. Then they all sallied
forth with us and I went up to the two lovers and saluting them,
said to them, 'What became of the damsel and the two maids?' 'We
know nothing of them,' answered they. Then we walked on till we
came to the river-bank, where we all embarked in the boat that
had brought me over before, and the boatman rowed us to the other
side; but hardly had we landed and sat down on the bank to rest,
when a troop of horse swooped down on us like eagles and
surrounded us on all sides, whereupon the robbers with us sprang
up in haste and the boatman, putting back for them, took them in
and pushed off into mid-stream, leaving us on the bank, unable to
move or abide still.
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