' So they gave him each a hundred dinars,
after which he slew them and took their mules, one of which he
mounted, whilst Alaeddin bestrode the other. Then they rode on,
till they came to the city of Ayas[FN#111] and put up for the
night at an inn. Next morning, Alaeddin sold his own mule and
committed that of Ahmed to the charge of the doorkeeper of the
inn, after which they took ship from the port of Ayas and sailed
to Alexandria. Here they landed and proceeded to the Bazaar,
where they found a broker crying a shop and a chamber behind it
for sale. The last bidding for the premises (which belonged to
the Treasury) was nine hundred and fifty dirhems;[FN#112] so
Alaeddin bid a thousand and his offer being accepted, took the
keys and opened the shop and room, which latter he found
furnished with carpets and cushions. Moreover, he found there a
storehouse full of sails and masts and ropes and chests and bags
of beads and shells and stirrups and axes and maces and knives
and scissors and what not else, for the last owner of the shop
had been a dealer in second-hand goods. So he took his seat in
the shop and Ahmed ed Denef said to him, 'O my son, the shop and
room and that which is therein are become thine; so abide thou
here and buy and sell and grudge not, neither repine; for God the
Most High blesseth trade.
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