Quoth he,
'Thou art deceiving me and wilt go alone and cast thyself into
some peril, from which there will be no escape for thee. For
God's sake, do not go till I return, that I may accompany thee
and see what comes of thine affair.' 'It is well,' answered I:
'do not be long absent.' Then he took all that I had given him
and went out; but, instead of going home with it, the cursed
fellow delivered it to a porter, to carry to his house, and hid
himself in a by-street. As for me, I rose at once, for the
Muezzins had already chanted the Salutation,[FN#99] and, dressing
myself in haste, went out and hurried to the house where I had
seen the young lady. I found the old woman standing at the door,
awaiting me, and went up with her to the young lady's apartment.
Hardly had I done so, when the master of the house returned from
the mosque and entering the saloon, shut the door. I looked out
from the window and saw this barber (God's malison on him!)
sitting over against the door, and said, 'How did this devil find
me out?' At this moment, as God had decreed it for my undoing, it
befell that a slave-girl belonging to the master of the house
committed some offence, for which he beat her. She cried out, and
a male slave came in to deliver her, whereupon the Cadi beat him
also, and he too cried out. The cursed barber concluded that it
was I he was beating and fell to tearing his clothes and strewing
dust on his head, shrieking and calling for help.
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