" "By Allah," cried they, "the Vizier is not thy father."
Said he, "He is indeed my father." Then they all laughed and
clapped their hands at him, saying, "He does not know his father!
Arise and go out from us, for none shall play with us, except he
know his father's name." Thereupon they dispersed from around him
and laughed him to scorn, leaving him choked with tears and
mortification. Then said the monitor to him, "O Agib, knowst thou
not that the Vizier is thy mother's father, thy grandfather and
not thy father? As for thy father, thou knowest him not nor do
we, for the Sultan married thy mother to a humpbacked groom; but
the Jinn came and lay with her, and thou hast no known father.
Wherefore, do thou leave evening thyself with the boys in the
school, till thou know who is thy father; for till then thou wilt
pass for a misbegotten brat amongst them. Dost thou not see that
the huckster's son knows his own father? Thy grandfather is the
Vizier of Egypt, but as for thy father, we know him not, and we
say, thou hast no father. So return to thy senses." When Agib
heard the insulting words of the children and the monitor, he
went out at once and ran to his mother, to complain to her; but
his tears would not let him speak awhile. When she heard his sobs
and saw his tears, her heart was on fire for him and she said to
him, "O my son, why dost thou weep? Tell me what is the matter.
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