Thousand & One Nights: 199th Night: The Wealthy Man & The Slave Girl-29
The following night Shahrazad said:
I heard, O happy King, that the jeweler related:
Suddenly, a man came into the mosque, where we, (Ali ibn-Bakkar and I) took shelter after we were robbed on our way. After ablutions and prayer, the man greeted us, and said, "You are strangers here, I suppose,"
"Yes, we are, we have been robbed, and we know no one to seek any help," said I
"Will you come home with me," he asked.
I turned to Ali ibn Bakkar, and said, "Let us go. We are strangers here and we have nowhere else to go." The man understood our predicament, we were stripped of our garments and we were half naked. He took off his girdle robe and turban, and gave it to us. We shared it and were now half-clad. "Let us take advantage of the early hours, and move," he said.
He took us to his house. He knocked at the door and the servant opened it and came out. At first he arranged us enough clothes and gave it to us. The servant led us to a private room where we changed our dress. Then he took us to another room where we sat, and a tray containing food was brought before us. Then he asked us to eat. We remained with our host till nightfall, when Ali ibn Bakkar sighed deeply, and said to me sadly, "You know that I am surely going to die. I have a charge to give you. When I die you will go to my mother and ask her to come here to have me washed and prepared for burial. And tell her to bear my loss with patience.
But morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.
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