26
was nought costlier nor more delicious. So Ibrahim ate till he was satisfied, after which he washed his hands and proceeded to look at the house and furniture. Presently, he turned to look for the leather bag, but found it not and said, [in himself,] ‘There is no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme! I have eaten a morsel worth a dirhem or two and have lost a bag wherein is thirty thousand dinars’ worth: but I seek aid of God.’ Night dccccliv.And he was silent and could not speak, for the greatness of his trouble.
Presently his host brought the chess and said to him, ‘Wilt thou play with me?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ So they played and the old man beat him. ‘Well done!’ said Ibrahim and left playing and rose. whereupon said his host, ‘What ails thee, O youth?’ And he answered, ‘I want the bag.’ So the old man rose and brought it out to him, saying, ‘Here it is, O my lord. Wilt thou now return to playing with me?’ ‘Yes,’ replied Ibrahim. So they played and the young man beat him. Quoth the other, ‘When thy thought was occupied with the bag, I beat thee: but, now I have brought it back to thee, thou beatest me. But, tell me, O my son, what countryman art thou.’ ‘I am from Egypt,’ answered Ibrahim. ‘And what is the cause of thy coming to Baghdad?’ asked the other; whereupon Ibrahim brought out the portrait and said to him, ‘Know, O uncle, that I am the son of El Khesib, lord of Egypt, and I saw with a bookseller this picture, which ravished my wit. I asked him who painted it and he said, “He who wrought it is a man, Aboulcasim es Sendelani by name, who dwells in a street called the Street of Saffron in the Kerkh quarter of Baghdad.” So I took with me somewhat of money and came hither alone, none knowing of my case; and I desire of the fulness of thy bounty that thou direct me to Aboulcasim, so I may ask him of the manner of his painting this
