I
besought my father for merchandise; so he packed me fifty loads
of goods and gave me ten thousand dinars, wherewith I set out for
Baghdad; but when I came to the Lion's Copse, the Bedouins fell
upon me and took all I had. So I entered this city, knowing not
where to pass the night, and seeing this place, I took shelter
here.' 'O my son,' said the old man, 'what sayst thou to a
thousand dinars and a suit of clothes and a mule worth other two
thousand?' 'To what end wilt thou give me this?' asked Alaeddin,
and the other answered, 'This young man, whom thou seest, is
the only son of my brother and I have an only daughter called
Zubeideh the Lutanist, who is endowed with beauty and grace. I
married her to him and he loves her, but she hates him. Now he
took an oath of triple divorcement and broke it.[FN#96] As soon
as she heard of this, she left him, and he egged on all the folk
to intercede with me to restore her to him; but I told him that
this could not lawfully be done but by an intermediate marriage,
and we have agreed to make some stranger the intermediary, so
none may taunt him with this affair. So, as thou art a stranger,
come with us and we will marry thee to her; thou shalt lie with
her to-night and on the morrow divorce her, and we will give thee
what I said.
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