" "Then take me down again," said my brother. But he
answered, "The way lies before thee." So my brother rose and made
his way down the stairs, till he came within twenty steps of the
door, when his foot slipped and he rolled to the bottom and broke
his head. Then he went out, knowing not whither to turn, and
presently fell in with other two blind men, comrades of his, who
enquired how he had fared that day. He told them what had passed
and said to them, "O my brothers, I wish to take some of the
money in my hands and provide my self with it." Now the master of
the house had followed him and heard what they said, but neither
my brother nor his fellows knew of this. So my brother went on to
his lodging and sat down to await his comrades, and the owner of
the house entered after him without his knowledge. When the other
blind men arrived, my brother said to them, "Shut the door and
search the house, lest any stranger have followed us." The
intruder, hearing this, caught hold of a rope that hung from the
ceiling and clung to it, whilst the blind men searched the whole
place, but found nothing. So they came back and sitting down
beside my brother, brought out their money, which they counted,
and lo, it was twelve thousand dirhems. Each took what he wanted
and the rest they buried in a corner of the room. Then they set
on food and sat down to eat.
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