Then the Bedouins fell upon
the caravan from all sides and slew the whole company except
Alaeddin, after which they loaded the mules with the spoil and
made off. Quoth Alaeddin to himself, 'Thy dress and mule will be
the death of thee.' So he put off his cassock and threw it over
the back of a mule, remaining in his shirt and drawers alone;
after which he went to the door of the tent and finding there a
pool of blood from the slain, rolled himself in it, till he was
as a slain man, drowned in his blood. Meanwhile Ajlan said to his
men, 'O Arabs, was this caravan bound from Egypt for Baghdad or
from Baghdad for Egypt?' 'It was bound from Egypt for Baghdad,'
answered they. 'Then,' said he, 'return to the slain, for
methinks the owner of the caravan is not dead.' So they turned
back and fell to larding the slain with lance and sword-thrusts,
[lest any life were left in them,] till they came to Alaeddin,
who had laid himself among the dead bodies. Quoth they, 'Thou
dost but feign thyself dead, but we will make an end of thee.' So
one of the Bedouins drew his javelin and should have plunged
it into his breast. But he cried out, 'Save me, O my lord
Abdulcadir!' and behold, he saw a hand turn the lance away from
his breast to that of the muleteer, so that it pierced the latter
and spared himself.
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