The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night/Story of the Chief of the Old Cairo Police
STORY OF THE CHIEF OF THE OLD CAIRO POLICE.
I once had ten thieves hanged, each on his own gibbet, and set guards to watch them and hinder the folk from taking them down. Next morning, when I came to look at them, I found two bodies hanging from one gibbet and said to the guards, “Who did this, and where is the tenth gibbet?” But they denied all knowledge of it, and I was about to beat them, when they said, “Know, O Amir, that we fell asleep last night, and when we awoke, we found one of the bodies gone, gibbet and all, whereat we were alarmed, fearing thy wrath. But, presently, up came a peasant, jogging along on his ass; so we laid hands on him and killing him, hung his body upon this gibbet, in the stead of the missing thief.’
When I heard this, I marvelled and said to them, “Had he aught with him?” “He had a pair of saddle-bags on the ass,” answered they. “What was in them?” asked I and they said, “We know not.” Quoth I, “Bring them hither.” So they brought them to me and I bade open them, when, behold, therein was the body of a murdered man, cut in pieces. When I saw this, I marvelled and said in myself, “Glory be to God! The cause of the hanging of this peasant was no other but his crime against this murdered man; and the Lord is no unjust dealer with [His] servants.”’[1]
- ↑ Koran xli. 46.
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
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| Translation: |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
