“My lord shall have that which he desires,” said the Genie. He stretched
out his hand, and in an instant there lay across his arm raiment such
as the eyes of man never saw before--stiff with pearls, and blazing with
diamonds and rubies and emeralds and sapphires. The Genie himself aided
Abdallah to dress, and when he looked down he felt, for the time, quite
satisfied.
He rode a little farther. Then suddenly he bethought himself, “What a
silly spectacle shall I cut in the town with no money in my purse and
with such fine clothes upon my back.” Once more the Genie was summoned.
“I should like,” said the fagot-maker, “to have a box full of money.”
The Genie stretched out his hand, and in it was a casket of
mother-of-pearl inlaid with gold and full of money. “Has my lord any
further commands for his servant?” asked he.
“No,” answered Abdallah. “Stop--I have, too,” he added. “Yes; I would
like to have a young man to carry my money for me.”
“He is here,” said the Genie. And there stood a beautiful youth clad in
clothes of silver tissue, and holding a milk-white horse by the bridle.
“Stay, Genie,” said Abdallah. “Whilst thou art here thou mayest as
well give me enough at once to last me a long time to come. Let me have
eleven more caskets of money like this one, and eleven more slaves to
carry the same.”
“They are here,” said the Genie; and as he spoke there stood eleven more
youths before Abdallah, as like the first as so many pictures of the
same person, and each youth bore in his hands a box like the one that
the monster had given Abdallah. “Will my lord have anything further?”
asked the Genie.
“Let me think,” said Abdallah. “Yes; I know the town well, and that
should one so rich as I ride into it without guards he would be certain
to be robbed before he had travelled a hundred paces. Let me have an
escort of a hundred armed men.”
“It shall be done,” said the Genie, and, waving his hand, the road where
they stood was instantly filled with armed men, with swords and helmets
gleaming and flashing in the sun, and all seated upon magnificently
caparisoned horses. “Can I serve my lord further?” asked the Genie.
“No,” said Abdallah the fagot-maker, in admiration, “I have nothing more
to wish for in this world. Thou mayest go, Genie, and it will be long
ere I will have to call thee again,” and thereupon the Genie was gone
like a flash.
The captain of Abdallah’s troop--a bearded warrior clad in a superb suit
of armor--rode up to the fagot-maker, and, leaping from his horse and
bowing before him so that his forehead touched the dust, said, “Whither
shall we ride, my lord?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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