A certain thief was a [cunning] workman and used not to steal
aught, till he had spent all that was with him; moreover, he
stole not from his neighbours, neither companied with any of the
thieves, lest some one should come to know him and his case get
wind. On this wise he abode a great while, in flourishing case,
and his secret was concealed, till God the Most High decreed that
he broke in upon a poor man, deeming that he was rich. When he
entered the house, he found nought, whereat he was wroth, and
necessity prompted him to wake the man, who was asleep with his
wife. So he aroused him and said to him, 'Show me thy treasure.'
Now he had no treasure; but the thief believed him not and
insisted upon him with threats and blows. When he saw that he got
no profit of him, he said to him, 'Swear by the oath of divorce
from thy wife[FN#247] [that thou hast nothing].' So he swore and
his wife said to him, 'Out on thee! Wilt thou divorce me? Is not
the treasure buried in yonder chamber?' Then she turned to the
thief and conjured him to multiply blows upon her husband, till
he should deliver to him the treasure, concerning which he had
sworn falsely. So he drubbed him grievously, till he carried him
to a certain chamber, wherein she signed to him that the treasure
was and that he should take it up.
So the thief entered, he and the husband; and when they were both
in the chamber, she locked on them the door, which was a stout
one, and said to the thief, 'Out on thee, O fool! Thou hast
fallen [into the trap] and now I have but to cry out and the
officers of the police will come and take thee and thou wilt lose
thy life, O Satan!' Quoth he, 'Let me go forth;' and she said,
'Thou art a man and I am a woman; and in thy hand is a knife and
I am afraid of thee.' Quoth he, 'Take the knife from me.' So she
took the knife from him and said to her husband, 'Art thou a
woman and he a man? Mar his nape with beating, even as he did
with thee; and if he put out his hand to thee, I will cry out and
the police will come and take him and cut him in sunder.' So the
husband said to him, 'O thousand-horned,[FN#248] O dog, O
traitor, I owe thee a deposit,[FN#249] for which thou dunnest
me.' And he fell to beating him grievously with a stick of
live-oak, whilst he called out to the woman for help and besought
her of deliverance; but she said, 'Abide in thy place till the
morning, and thou shalt see wonders.' And her husband beat him
within the chamber, till he [well- nigh] made an end of him and
he swooned away.
Then he left beating him and when the thief came to himself, the
woman said to her husband, 'O man, this house is on hire and we
owe its owners much money, and we have nought; so how wilt thou
do?' And she went on to bespeak him thus. Quoth the thief, 'And
what is the amount of the rent?' 'It will be fourscore dirhems,'
answered the husband; and the thief said, 'I will pay this for
thee and do thou let me go my way.' Then said the wife, 'O man,
how much do we owe the baker and the greengrocer?' Quoth the
thief, 'What is the sum of this?' And the husband said, 'Sixscore
dirhems.' 'That makes two hundred dirhems,' rejoined the other;
'let me go my way and I will pay them.' But the wife said, 'O my
dear one, and the girl groweth up and needs must we marry her and
equip her and [do] what else is needful' So the thief said to the
husband, 'How much dost thou want?' And he answered, 'A hundred
dirhems, in the way of moderation.'[FN#250] Quoth the thief,
'That makes three hundred dirhems.' And the woman said, 'O my
dear one, when the girl is married, thou wilt need money for
winter expenses, charcoal and firewood and other necessaries.'
'What wouldst thou have?' asked the thief; and she said, 'A
hundred dirhems.' 'Be it four hundred dirhems,' rejoined he; and
she said, 'O my dear one and solace of mine eyes, needs must my
husband have capital in hand, wherewith he may buy merchandise
and open him a shop.' 'How much will that be?' asked he, and she
said, 'A hundred dirhems.' Quoth the thief, '[That makes five
hundred dirhems; I will pay it;] but may I be divorced from my
wife if all my possessions amount to more than this, and that the
savings of twenty years! Let me go my way, so I may deliver them
to thee.' 'O fool,' answered she, 'how shall I let thee go thy
way? Give me a right token.' [So he gave her a token for his
wife] and she cried out to her young daughter and said to her,
'Keep this door.'
Then she charged her husband keep watch over the thief, till she
should return, and repairing to his wife, acquainted her with his
case and told her that her husband the thief had been taken and
had compounded for his release, at the price of seven hundred
dirhems, and named to her the token. So she gave her the money
and she took it and returned to her house. By this time, the dawn
had broken; so she let the thief go his way, and when he went
out, she said to him, 'O my dear one, when shall I see thee come
and take the treasure?' 'O indebted one,' answered he, 'when thou
needest other seven hundred dirhems, wherewithal to amend thy
case and that of thy children and to discharge thy debts.' And he
went out, hardly believing in his deliverance from her. Nor,"
added the vizier, "is this more extraordinary than the story of
the three men and our Lord Jesus."
And the king bade him depart to his own house.
The Twelfth Night of the Month.
When it was eventide, the king summoned the vizier and bade him
tell the [promised] story, "Hearkening and obedience," answered
he. "Know, O king, that