" "And did not thy mistress
escape?" "No, by Allah, O my master!" answered I. "Not one of
them was saved, and the first to die was my mistress, thine elder
daughter." "Did not my younger daughter escape?" asked he. "No,"
replied I; and he said, "What became of the mule I use to ride?
Was she saved?" "No, by Allah," answered I; "the walls of the
house and of the stable fell in on all that were in the dwelling,
even to the sheep and geese and fowls, so that they all became a
heap of flesh and the dogs ate them: not one of them is saved."
"Not even thy master, my elder son?" asked he. "No, by Allah!"
repeated I. "Not one of them was saved, and now there remains
neither house nor inhabitants nor any trace of them: and as for
the sheep and geese and fowls, the dogs and cats have eaten
them." When my master heard this, the light in his eyes became
darkness and he lost command of his senses and his reason, so
that he could not stand upon his feet, for he was as one taken
with the rickets and his back was broken. Then he rent his
clothes and plucked out his beard and casting his turban from his
head, buffeted his face, till the blood streamed down, crying
out, "Alas, my children! Alas, my wife! Alas, what a misfortune!
To whom did there ever happen the like of what hath befallen me?"
The other merchants, his companions, joined in his tears and
lamentations and rent their clothes, being moved to pity of his
case; and my master went out of the garden' buffeting his face
and staggering like a drunken man, for stress of what had
befallen him and the much beating he had given his face.
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