A merchant of Anatolia, escorted by fifty men, was leading ten thousand sheep to be sold at Damascus. On the road he made acquaintance with three Arabs, with one of whom he formed a close intimacy, and at parting was desired to swear fraternity with him. The merchant could not discover in what respect he, who was the proprietor of ten thousand sheep, and was escorted by fifty soldiers, could be benefitted by having a brother amongst the poor Bedouins; but the Bedouin, whose name was Chatti, was so importunate, that, to satisfy him, he consented to give him two piastres and a handful of tobacco as pledges of fraternity. Chatti divided the two piastres between his companions, saying, “Be ye witnesses that this man is become my brother.” They then separated, and the merchant thought no more of the matter, till, at a place called Ain el Alak, a party of Bedouins, superior in number to his escort, attacked and routed them, took possession of his sheep, and stripped him to his shirt; in which pitiable condition he arrived at Damascus, imprecating curses upon the Bedouins, and especially upon his pretended brother Chatti, whom he accused of betraying and selling him. Meanwhile the news of so rich a capture was quickly spread in the desert, and reached the ears of Chatti, who, having with some difficulty found his two witnesses, brought them before Soultan el Brrak, chief of the tribe of El Ammour, to whom he declared that he was brother to the merchant who had just been robbed, and called upon the chief to enable him to fulfil the duties of fraternity, by restoring the property. Soultan, having taken the depositions of the two witnesses, was obliged to accompany Chatti to El Nahimen, the sheik of the tribe which had carried off the sheep, and to reclaim them in conformity with their laws. The sheik was under the necessity of restoring them; and Chatti, having first ascertained that none were missing, took the road to Damascus, with the flocks and their shepherds. Leaving them outside the town, he entered it in search of his brother, whom he found seated in a melancholy mood in front of a coffee-room of the Bazaar. He went straight to him with a joyful air; but the other turned angrily away, and Chatti had great difficulty in obtaining a hearing, and still greater in persuading him to believe that his sheep were waiting for him outside the walls. He apprehended a new snare, and would not for a long while consent to follow the Bedouin. Convinced at last by the sight of his sheep, he threw himself on Chatti’s neck, and after giving full expression to his gratitude, vainly exerted himself to induce him to accept a recompense proportioned to such a service. The Bedouin could only be persuaded to receive a pair of boots and a _cafia_ (handkerchief), not worth above a tallarin at the utmost, and, after partaking of his brother’s bread, returned to his tribe.