Said replied that his name was Almansor and that he came from Cairo, and was travelling about. Having heard rumours of the valour and skill of the young nobles of Bagdad, he had wished to witness their feats and perhaps take part in them. A young man, approving of Said’s bold appearance, ordered a lance to be given to him and bade him choose his parties, for the whole Company had divided itself into two parties, so that they might encounter each other in a mass and then singly. But if Said’s appearance had attracted the general attention his feats of arms did so still more. His horse was faster than a bird, and his sword flashed like lightning. He threw his lance at the target as though it had been an arrow from the bow of an expert archer. At the conclusion of the tournament he had beaten all his opponents, and the Caliph’s brother and the Grand Vizier’s son, who had been on his side, begged him to try a bout with them. He succeeded in vanquishing the Caliph’s brother, but the contest with the Grand Vizier’s son remained undecided, and it was thought better to settle it at the next meeting. The day after the tournament everyone in Bagdad was speaking of the handsome and brave stranger. Even those who had been beaten by him were loud in their praise of him, and Said heard folks discussing him as he stood at the door of the shop and regretting that no one knew where he lived. When the time for the next tournament came he found in the fairy’s house a still more beautiful suit of clothes and more costly weapons. Half Bagdad had assembled to witness the fray and the Caliph himself looked down upon it from a balcony. He too was astounded at Almansor’s dexterity, and at the end of the day he hung a gold medal and chain around his neck as a mark of his admiration. But this second and still more brilliant victory aroused the jealousy of some of the young people: they did not like to feel that a stranger should come and triumph over the flower of their young nobility, and they determined amongst themselves that five or six of them would attack him at once, as if by chance. Said did not fail to notice the angry glances of the young men, and speedily noted that with the exception of the Caliph’s brother and the Grand Vizier’s son not one of them had any friendly inclination towards him. Strange to say, the young man who seemed to be the most set against him was the young man he had knocked down in Kalum’s shop, and he looked at him so suspiciously that Said was half afraid he had recognised him by his height or his voice. Even the friendship of the Caliph’s brother and the Grand Vizier’s son was somewhat embarrassing, for they questioned him closely as to where he was to be found.