By Allah, O Jaafer, my
reason is confounded and I am filled with amazement at this
thing!' 'And I also, by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,'
replied Jaafer. Then the barge passed on and disappeared from
sight; whereupon the boatman pushed out again into the stream,
saying, 'Praised be God for safety, since none hath fallen in
with us!' 'O old man,' said Er Reshid, 'doth the Khalif come down
the river every night?' 'Yes, O my lord,' answered the boatman;
'he hath done so every night this year past.' 'O old man,'
rejoined Er Reshid, 'we wish thee of thy favour to await us here
to-morrow night, and we will give thee five dinars, for we are
strangers, lodging at El Khendek, and we have a mind to divert
ourselves.' 'With all my heart,' replied the boatman. Then the
Khalif and Jaafer and Mesrour returned to the palace, where they
put off their merchants' habits and donning their apparel of
state, sat down each in his several room. Then came the amirs and
viziers and chamberlains and officers, and the Divan assembled as
of wont.
When the night came and all the folk had dispersed and gone each
his own way, the Khalif said to his Vizier, 'Come, O Jaafer, let
us go and amuse ourselves by looking on the other Khalif.
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