Then he and his son
girded themselves, and he said to the latter, 'O my son, when a
graybeard enters, I will meet him and carry him into the upper
chamber and seat him at the table; and do thou, in like manner,
receive the beardless youths and seat them at the table in the
saloon.' 'O my father,' asked Alaeddin, 'why dost thou spread two
tables, one for men and another for youths?' 'O my son,' answered
Shemseddin, 'the beardless boy is ashamed to eat with men.' And
his son was content with this answer. So when the merchants
arrived, Shemseddin received the men and seated them in the upper
chamber, whilst Alaeddin received the youths and seated them in
the saloon. Then the servants set on food and the guests ate and
drank and made merry, whilst the attendants served them with
sherbets and perfumed them with the fragrant smoke of scented
woods; and the elders fell to conversing of matters of science
and tradition. Now there was amongst them a merchant called
Mehmoud of Balkh, a Muslim by profession but at heart a Magian, a
man of lewd life, who had a passion for boys. He used to buy
stuffs and merchandise of Alaeddin's father; and when he saw the
boy, one look at his face cost him a thousand sighs and Satan
dangled the jewel before his eyes, so that he was taken with
desire and mad passion for him and his heart was filled with love
of him.
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