第75章(2 / 3)

'But,'said the Eunuch,'look thou sell it not except locked;'

and the other,''Tis well;we will do that also.'[289] So he set down the chest,and they cried it for sale,saying,'Who will buy this chest for an hundred dinars?';and behold,up came Khalif the Fisherman and bought the chest after turning it over right and left;and there passed between him and the porter that which hath been before set out.Now as regards Khalif the Fisherman;he lay down on the chest to sleep,and presently Kut al-Kulub awoke from her Bhang and finding herself in the chest;cried out and said,'Alas!'Whereupon Khalif sprang off the chest-lid and cried out and said,'Ho,Moslems! Come to my help!

There are Ifrits in the chest.'So the neighbours awoke from sleep and said to him,'What mattereth thee,O madman?'Quoth he;'The chest is full of Ifrits;'and quoth they,'Go to sleep;thou hast troubled our rest this night may Allah not bless thee! Go in and sleep,without madness.'He ejaculated,'I cannot sleep;'but they abused him and he went in and lay down once more.And behold,Kut al-Kulub spoke and said,'Where am I?'Upon which Khalif fled forth the closet and said,'O neighbours of the hostelry,come to my aid!'Quoth they,'What hath befallen thee?

Thou troublest the neighbours' rest.''O folk,there be Ifrits in the chest,moving and speaking.''Thou liest: what do they say?'