The doctors of the law attended, and when the readers had
made an end of reading, the table was spread, and amongst other
things they set before us a ragout flavoured with cumin-seed.
So we sat down to eat it; but one of our number held back and
abstained from eating. We conjured him to eat of the ragout; but
he swore that he would not, and we pressed him till he said,
"Press me not; what has already befallen me through eating of
this dish suffices me." And he repeated the following verses:
Shoulder thy tray, 'fore God, and get thee gone with it, And to
thine eyes apply such salve as thou deem'st fit.[FN#80]
"For God's sake," said we, "tell us the reason of thy refusal to
eat of the ragout!" "If I must eat of it," replied he, "I will
not do so, except I may wash my hands forty times with soap,
forty times with potash and forty times with galingale, in all a
hundred and twenty times." So the master of the house ordered his
servants to bring water and all that he required; and the young
man washed his hands as he had said. Then he sat down, as if
afraid, and dipping his hand into the ragout, began to eat,
though with evident repugnance and as if doing himself violence,
whilst we regarded him with the utmost wonder; for his hand
trembled and we saw that his thumb had been cut off and he ate
with his four fingers only. So we said to him, "God on thee, what
has become of thy thumb? Is thy hand thus by the creation of God
or has it been mutilated by accident?" "O my brothers, answered
he, "it is not this thumb alone that has been cut off, but also
that of the other hand and the great toe of each of my feet, as
ye shall see.
Pages:
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337