I was astonished at this, and he said to me, "Thou seest
that my eating with the left hand arose, not from conceit, but
from necessity; and there hangs a strange story by the cutting
off of my right hand." "And how came it to be cut off?" asked I.
"Know," answered he, "that I am a native of Baghdad and the son
of one of the principal men of that city. When I came to man's
estate, I heard the pilgrims and travellers and merchants talk of
the land of Egypt, and this abode in my thought till my father
died, when I laid out a large sum of money in the purchase of
stuffs of Baghdad and Mosul, with which I set out on my travels
and God decreed me safety, till I reached this your city." And he
wept and recited the following verses:
It chances oft that the blind man escapes a pit, Whilst he that
is clear of sight falls into it:
The ignorant man can speak with impunity A word that is death to
the wise and the ripe of wit:
The true believer is pinched for his daily bread, Whilst infidel
rogues enjoy all benefit.
What is a man's resource and what shall he do? It is the
Almighty's will: we must submit.
"So I entered Cairo," continued he, "and put up at the Khan of
Mesrour, where I unpacked my goods and stored them in the
magazines. Then I gave the servant money to buy me something to
eat and lay down to sleep awhile. When I awoke, I went to the
street called Bein el Kesrein[FN#76] and presently returned and
passed the night at the Khan.
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