So they ate and drank and Mehmoud turned to Alaeddin and
would have taken a kiss of him; but he received it upon his hand
and said, 'Dost thou persist in thy evil designs upon me? Did I
not tell thee that, were I wont to sell this merchandise to other
than thee for gold, I would sell it thee for silver?' Quoth
Mehmoud, 'I will give thee neither mule nor clothes nor
merchandise save at this price; for I am mad for love of thee,
and God bless him who said:
Abou Bilal his saw of an object of love, Which from one of his
elders himself did derive
"The lover's not healed of the pangs of desire By clips nor by
kisses, excepting he swive."
'This may never be,' replied Alaeddin. 'Take back thy dress and
thy mule and open the door, that I may go out.' So he opened the
door, and Alaeddin went forth and walked on, with the dogs
yelping at his heels, till he saw the door of a mosque open and
going in, took shelter in the vestibule. Presently, he espied a
light approaching and examining it, saw that it came from a pair
of lanterns borne by two slaves before two merchants, an old man
of comely aspect and a youth. He heard the latter say to the
other, 'O my uncle, I conjure thee by Allah, give me back my
wife!' The old man replied, 'Did I not warn thee, many a time,
when the oath of divorce was always in thy mouth, as it were thy
Koran?' Then he turned and seeing Alaeddin, as he were a piece of
the moon, said to him, 'Who art thou, O my son?' Quoth he, 'I am
Alaeddin, son of Shemseddin, Provost of the merchants at Cairo.
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