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me, or thou art a lost man. This is all I have to say to thee and peace be on thee.” Then said I, “I will slay thee, and thou shalt go to the malediction of God.” So saying, I caught her by the hair and cut her throat; and she went to the malediction of God and of the angels and of all mankind.
Then I examined the place and found there gold and pearls and jewels, such as no king could bring together. So I filled the porter’s crate with as much as I could carry and covered it with the clothes I had on me. Then I shouldered it and going up out of the underground place, set out homeward and fared on, till I came to the gate of Cairo, where I fell in with ten of the Khalif’s body-guard, followed by El Hakim[1] himself, who said to me. “Ho, Werdan!” “At thy service, O King,” replied I. “Hast thou killed the woman and the bear?” asked he and I answered, “Yes.” Quoth he, “Set down the basket and fear naught, for all the treasure thou hast with thee is thine, and none shall dispute it with thee.” So I set down the basket, and he uncovered it and looked at it; then said to me, “Tell me their case, though I know it, as if I had been present with you.” So I told him all that had passed and he said, “Thou hast spoken the truth, O Werdan. Come now with me to the treasure.”
So I returned with him to the cavern, where he found the trap-door closed and said to me, “O Werdan, lift it; none but thou can open the treasure, for it is enchanted in thy name and favour.” “By Allah,” answered I, “I cannot open it;” but he said, “Go up to it, trusting in the blessing of God.” So I called upon the name of God the Most High and going up to the trap-door, put my hand to it; where-
- ↑ El Hakim bi Amrillah, sixth Fatimite Khalif of Egypt (A.D. 995–1021), a cruel and fantastic tyrant, who claimed to be an incarnation of the Deity. He was the founder of the religion of the Druses, who look to him to reappear and be their Messiah.
