Arabian Nights: 223rd Night: Anis al Jalis, The Slave Girl - 23

The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, when Caliph in disguise of a fisherman said, "I will write a letter to the king, and he will no longer harm you." Nur al-Din asked, "Is there in the whole world a fisherman writing letter to a king?"
The Caliph in Fisherman said, "The king and I studied together under the same tutor.  I was above him, but somehow, by hook or crook, or by luck, he became the king. Kings are made by his followers.  And kings have to make false promises to his followers like 'I will give you fifteen hundred thousand dinars to each of you, when I am made king.'  Later the idiot followers forget it as king's jumla. So king also conveniently forgets it." Since these are alien to me I became a fisherman.  Yet whenever I write to ask him, he obliges.
Nur al-Din said, "Very well, write and show me."
The Caliph in Fisherman took the paper and ink, and after the invocation to God wrote the following:
This letter is from Harun al Rashid, son of al Mahdi to his highness . Muhammad ibn-Sulaiman al-Zainabi, my cousin, seedling of my bounty, the shareholder in my estate.  The bearer of this letter is Nur al-Din Ali son of ibn-Khaqan the vizier.  As soon as you receive it, abdicate, and let Nur al Din Ali ibn-Khaqan take .your place.  Fail not carry out my command, and peace be on you.  Then the Caliph gave the letter to Nur al-Din who took it and kissed it, then put it in his turban.

When Nur al-Din was gone, Ibrahim  the keeper of the garden turned to the Caliph and said, "Enough is enough!  You have bought us a couple of fish, worth no more than twenty fils, yet you received a full purse for them, and now you intend to get the girl too."

It happened that when the Caliph had earlier gone to fry the fish and bring them back, he had said to Ja'far, "Go to my palace, and bring back one of my royal robes, and return with Masrur and four armed officers and wait below the window.  When you hear my cry out, 'help, help!' come at once with officers, dress me in the robe, and stand in attendance." 

And now Ja'far had done the Caliph's bidding and stood waiting below the window.  When the old man spoke with the Caliph, the Caliph replied, "Shaikh I will give you half of the money in the purse, but I will keep the girl."

The old man said, "By God, you will keep no more than the one half of the girl.  As for the purse, open it and let me see what is in it.  If it is silver, take a dirham for yourself, and give me the rest, but if it is gold, give it all to me, and for your fish I will give you a Dirham's worth of change, which I have in my pocket." 

The Caliph replied, "I will give you nothing."
The old man took a porcelain plate, and hurled it at the Caliph, who evaded it, and it smashed against the wall.  Then the old man went into the store room and fetch a stick.

But morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.

Notes:-
1. Fils:  Small copper coin worth thousandth of a dinar.
2. Jumla: A tricky statement or promise made, without the intention to fulfill it.

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