“Baba Abdalla,” the caliph said, “your sin has been great; but, God be praised, your self-inflicted penance proves your sorrow. That you may forego your daily asking of alms, I give you henceforth four silver dirhems a day, which my grand vizier shall present to you daily with the penance you have imposed on yourself.”
At these words, Baba Abdalla prostrated himself before the caliph’s throne, returned him thanks, and wished him all happiness and prosperity.
“But I see that dawn has come,” Scheherazade concluded. “There is, however, a tale of forty thieves which has been considered by some to be fully as entertaining as any of the stories I have yet related.”
“I should not like to miss that story,” answered the sultan, “and therefore, at the same time to-morrow you may continue.” With these words he departed. Scheherazade, going later to see her father, told him to be of good heart, for he could see that it was not unlikely that she would win in her plan to make the sultan forego his unhappy resolution. The next night she began the story as follows:
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