Thousand & One Nights:118th Night

The young man with severed hand and the girl - 8

The young merchant could not continue his eating, drinking and dalliance for an indefinite period. He found that fifty dinars every day to the lady had been draining his purse, and he became penniless. He left his lodgings at Caravanserai, and walked along Bain al-Qasran street until he came to Zuwayla Gate, where it was so crowded that the gate was blocked up with people. As it had been foreordained, he found himself pressed against a soldier, and his hand came upon the soldier's breast and felt a purse inside. The young merchant looked, and seeing a green tassel hanging from the pocket, realised that it was attracted to a purse. The crush grew greater every moment, and just then a camel bearing a load of wood jostled the soldier on the other side, and he turned to ward it off from him, lest it should tear his clothes. And Satan tempted the young man and he pulled the tassel and drew out a little blue silk purse, with something clinking inside. Hardly had he held the purse, when the soldier felt something, and touching his pocket with his hand found it empty. He turned to the young man, and racing his mace struck him with it on the head. The young man fell to the ground, while the people gathered around them, and holding the soldier back, asked him, "Is it because he pushed you, that you struck him with such a blow?" But the soldier shouted at them with curses and said, "This fellow is a thief!" At that moment the young man came to himself, and got up, and the people looked at him, and said, "This nice young man would not steal anything." The people were of two opinions. Some believed the soldier, others believed the young man. The people were about to rescue him, but the police came. The chief of the police asked, "What's the matter?" The soldier said, "He stole my purse." 
The Chief asked, "Was there anyone with him?" The soldier replied, "No." Then the chief cried out to the captain to seize the young man. The young man was seized. "Strip him naked," ordered the chief. When they did so and found the purse hidden in his clothes, he fell into a swoon. When the chief saw the purse....

The break of dawn 

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