The Khaleefeh wondered at the young man's story, and said, By Allah, I will not put to death any but the wicked slave; for the young man is excusable. Then looking towards Jaạfar, he said to him, Bring before me this wicked slave who hath been the cause of the catastrophe; or, if thou bring him not, thou shalt be put to death in his stead. So the Wezeer departed weeping, and saying, Whence shall I bring him? Not every time that the jar is struck doth it escape being broken! I have no stratagem to employ in this affair: but He who delivered me in the first case may deliver me in the second. By Allah, I will not go out from my house for three days; and the Truth, whose perfection be extolled, will do what He willeth!--So he remained in his house three days, and on the fourth day he caused the Ḳáḍee to be brought, and made his testamentary arrangements; and as he was bidding farewell to his children, and weeping, lo, the messenger of the Khaleefeh came and said to him, The Prince of the Faithful is in a most violent rage, and hath sent me to thee; and he hath sworn that this day shall not pass until thou art put to death if thou do not bring to him the slave. On hearing this, Jaạfar wept, and his children wept with him; and when he had bidden them all farewell except his youngest daughter, he approached her for the same purpose. He loved her more than all his other children; and he pressed her to his bosom, and wept at the thought of his separation from her; but, in doing this, he felt something round in her pocket, and said to her, What is in thy pocket? She answered, O my father, it is an apple; our slave Reyḥan[IV_10] brought it, and I have had it four days; he would not give it me until he had received from me two pieces of gold.--At this mention of the slave and the apple, Jaạfar rejoiced, and exclaimed, O ready Dispeller of trouble![IV_11]--and immediately he ordered that the slave should be brought before him. He was therefore brought in, and he said to him, Whence came this apple?--O my master, he answered, I went out five days ago, and, entering one of the by-streets of the city, I saw some children playing, and one of them had this apple: and I snatched it from him, and beat him; and he cried, and said, That belongs to my mother, and she is sick: she wanted my father to bring her an apple, and he made a journey to El-Baṣrah, and brought back for her three apples which he bought for three pieces of gold; and I took this to play with it:--then he cried again; but, paying no regard to him, I took it away and brought it hither; and my little mistress bought it of me for two pieces of gold.--When he heard this story, Jaạfar was filled with wonder at discovering that this distressing event, and the murder of the damsel, had been occasioned by his slave; and he took the slave and went with him to the Khaleefeh, who ordered that the story should be committed to writing, and published. [Illustration]