My fifth brother, al-Nashshar, the Babbler, who was cropped of both ears, O Commander of the Faithful, was a beggar who lived on the charity of others. When our father, who was very old, fell ill and died, he left us seven hundred dirhams, and each of us received one hundred. My fifth brother was troubled by his inheritance, uncertain what to do with it. At last he decided to invest it in glassware of various kinds and make a profit on its sale. He bought one hundred dirhams' worth of glass goods and put them on a large tray. Then he sat down on a bench against a wall to sell them.

As he sat with the tray before him, he fell to thinking and said to himself: "Know, O my good Self, that my capital, my principal invested in this glassware, is one hundred dirhams. I will surely sell it for two hundred, with which I will buy more glass and turn that into four hundred. And thus I will continue to buy and sell until I have acquired four thousand dirhams and become a wealthy man. With this money I will purchase merchandise and jewels and perfumes and gain great profit. By God's will, I will eventually make my capital one hundred thousand dinars. Then I will buy a fine house with white slave girls, eunuchs, and horses. I will eat, drink, and enjoy myself. I will summon every musician and dancing girl in the city to my palace to perform for me."

As he sat with the tray of glassware worth a hundred dirhams before him, he continued his daydream: "When my capital reaches one hundred thousand dinars, God willing, I will send out marriage brokers to seek the daughters of kings and wazirs for me. I will demand the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister in marriage, for I have heard that she is perfect in beauty, exquisite in loveliness, and accomplished in all the arts. I will offer a marriage settlement of one thousand dinars. If her father agrees, excellent; if not, I will take her by force from his very home. When she is safely in my house, I will buy ten young eunuchs for myself and obtain a robe such as kings wear, along with a saddle of gold and a bridle set with precious gems. Then I will mount my horse with Mamelukes before and around me, and I will ride through the city while the people salute and bless me. After that I will visit the Wazir, her father, with armed white slaves before and behind me, and on my right and left. When he sees me, the Wazir will stand and give me his own seat, sitting far below me, for I will be his son-in-law. I will have two eunuchs with me, each carrying a purse of a thousand dinars. I will give him one thousand as the bride price and another thousand as a gift, so he will know my generosity and greatness of spirit and see how little I value the world. When he speaks ten words to me, I will answer with only two. If anyone from the bride's household comes to me, I will give them money and a fine robe. But if they bring me a gift, I will refuse it and send it back, so they learn of my proud spirit that never defers to anyone. Thus I will establish my rank and status.

"When all this is done, I will appoint the wedding night and decorate my house magnificently. At the time for the bride's procession, I will put on my finest robes and recline on a mattress of gold brocade, propping my elbow with a pillow. I will look straight ahead, neither to right nor left, for such is the bearing of one of my pride and dignity. My wife will stand before me in all her finery and jewels, beautiful as the full moon. But I, in my haughtiness and lordly manner, will not glance at her until the assembled guests say, 'O lord, O master, your wife, your handmaiden, stands before you. Have mercy and grant her one look, for standing wearies her.' Then they will kiss the ground before me many times, and I will raise my eyes and give her a single glance, then turn my face downward again. They will lead her away to the bridal chamber, and I will change into an even finer suit. When they bring the bride to me a second time, I will not look at her until they beg me many times. Then I will glance at her from the corner of one eye and bend my head down again. I will continue this behaviour throughout all the ceremonial parading"—

When it was the Thirty third night

At that very moment, lost in his fantasy, he kicked out with his foot and knocked over the tray of glassware. It fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. "O cursed pride!" cried my brother. "This is what comes from my arrogance!" Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he struck his face and tore his clothes and wept bitterly, beating himself in despair. The people on their way to Friday prayers saw him, and some took pity on him while others ignored him. And thus my brother lost both his capital and his dreams of profit. He wept for a long time.

At last, a beautiful lady appeared, fragrant with the scent of musk. She was riding to Friday prayers on a mule with a gold saddle, attended by several eunuchs. When she saw the broken glass and my brother weeping, her kind heart was moved with pity. She asked what troubled him and was told that he had a tray of glassware which he hoped to sell to make his living, but it had been shattered, and now he faced ruin. She called one of her eunuchs and said to him, "Give this poor man whatever money you have with you." The eunuch gave my brother a purse, and when he opened it, he found five hundred dinars inside. My brother nearly died from the joy that flooded through him. He called down blessings upon her and offered his prayers of gratitude. Then he returned to his lodging as a man of substance. As he sat there considering his good fortune, someone knocked at the door. He rose and opened it to see an old woman he had never seen before. "O my son," she said, "the time of prayer approaches and I have not yet performed my ablution. Would you kindly allow me to use your lodging for this purpose?"

My brother answered, "I hear and I obey," and he took her inside. He brought her a pitcher of water to wash with and sat down, trembling with joy at the thought of the dinars tied around his waist. When the old woman had finished her ablution, she came to where he sat and prayed the two-unit prayer. After she finished, she blessed my brother with a pious benediction. He thanked her and, taking some of the dinars, gave her two coins, saying to himself, "These are my charitable gift." When she saw the gold, she cried out, "Praise be to Allah! Why do you treat one who loves you as if she were a beggar? Take back your money—I have no need of it. Or if you do not want it, return it to the lady who gave it to you when your glassware broke. Moreover, if you wish to be united with her, I can arrange it, for she is my mistress." "O mother," asked my brother, "how can I reach her?" She answered, "O my son, she has taken a liking to you, but she is the wife of a wealthy man. Take all your money and follow me, and I will guide you to her. When you are with her, use all your charm and sweet words, and you will enjoy her beauty and share her wealth." My brother took all his gold and followed the old woman, hardly believing his good fortune. They walked on and on until they reached a tall gate. She knocked, and a Greek slave girl opened the door. The old woman led my brother into a great hall covered with beautiful carpets and hung with curtains.

My brother sat down with his gold before him and his turban on his knee. He had scarcely been seated when a young lady of extraordinary beauty entered, dressed in the finest robes. My brother rose to greet her. She smiled at him and welcomed him, gesturing for him to sit. She ordered the door closed, and when it was shut, she took his hand and led him to a private chamber furnished with exquisite brocades and gold fabrics. He sat down and she sat beside him, playfully toying with him for a time. Then she rose and said, "Do not move from this seat until I return," and disappeared.

As he waited, suddenly a massive black slave entered, a naked sword in his hand. "Woe to you!" The slave cried. "Who brought you here? What do you want in this house?" My brother was too terrified to speak. The slave seized him, tore off his clothes, and beat him brutally with the flat of his sword until my brother fell unconscious. The slave thought he was dead and called out, "Where is the salt girl?" A slave girl appeared carrying a large tray of salt. The slave rubbed the salt into my brother's wounds, but my brother did not move, fearing that if the slave discovered he was still alive, he would kill him. The salt girl left, and the slave called out, "Where is the keeper of the dungeon?" The old woman entered and, grabbing my brother by the feet, dragged him down to a dungeon beneath the house and threw him onto a pile of dead bodies. There my brother lay for two full days. But Allah used the salt to save his life—it stanched his bleeding and stopped the flow of blood. After two days, my brother felt his strength returning. He opened the trap door with trembling hands and crept out into the darkness. Allah protected him as he made his way into the vestibule and hid himself.

When dawn came, he saw the accursed old woman go out in search of new victims. Without being seen, he followed her back to her trail and then went on to his own lodging. There he dressed his wounds and treated himself with medicines until he was fully healed. While he recovered, he watched the old woman, following her at all times to see her trap other men and take them to that house of horrors. But he said nothing. When he was finally well and whole, he took a piece of cloth and made it into a bag, which he filled with broken glass and bound around his middle. He disguised himself as a Persian so that no one would recognise him and hid a sword beneath his foreign-cut clothes. Then he went out and soon encountered the old woman. Speaking Arabic with a Persian accent, he said to her, "Venerable lady, I am a stranger who arrived only today in this city where I know no one. Do you have scales where I might weigh eleven hundred dinars? I will give you something from this amount for your trouble." "I have a son who is a money changer," she answered, "and he keeps all manner of scales. Come with me to him before he goes out, and he will weigh your gold for you." My brother said, "Lead on!" She took him to the house, and the young lady herself came out and opened the door. The old woman smiled at her and said, "I bring you fine meat today." The lady took my brother by the hand and led him to the same chamber as before. She sat with him for a while and then rose and said, "Do not move from this seat until I return," and left.

Soon the accursed slave came in with his drawn sword. "Get up, you damned dog!" he cried to my brother. My brother rose, and as the slave walked ahead of him, my brother drew the sword from under his clothes and struck off the slave's head, separating it from his body in one blow. He dragged the corpse to the dungeon by the feet and called out, "Where is the salt girl?" The girl came up carrying the tray of salt and, seeing my brother with a sword in his hand, tried to flee. But he caught her and struck off her head as well. Then he called out, "Where is the dungeon keeper?" The old woman came in, and he said to her, "Do you recognise me, O cursed hag?" "No, my lord," she replied. And he said, "I am the man with five hundred gold pieces whose house you entered to make your ablutions and pray, and whom you lured here and betrayed." "Fear Allah and spare me!" she cried, but he paid no heed. He struck her with the sword again and again until he had cut her into pieces. Then he went to look for the young lady.

When she saw him, she cried out in terror, "Mercy! Mercy!" He spared her life and asked, "Why did you consort with that black slave?" She answered, "I was enslaved to a merchant, and the old woman used to visit me. I grew to like her, and one day she said to me, 'We have a wedding celebration at our house unlike any you have ever seen, and I wish you to attend.' I said, 'I hear and I obey.' I dressed in my finest robes and jewels and took with me a purse containing a hundred gold pieces. But when I entered this house, the black slave seized me, and I have remained his captive for three whole years through the treachery of that accursed old woman." My brother he asked, "Is there treasure in this house?" She answered, "A great store of wealth. If you are able to carry it away, take it, and may Allah bless you for it!" My brother went with her as she opened several chests filled with money bags. He was astounded at the wealth. She said to him, "Go now and leave me here. Hire men to come and remove the money."

He went out and hired ten men, but when he returned, he found the door standing open and the lady gone. Nothing remained but some small coins and household goods. He realised the lady had deceived him. So he opened the remaining storage rooms and took everything that was in them, as well as all the remaining money, leaving nothing in the house. He spent the night rejoicing in his recovery of wealth, but when dawn broke, he found twenty soldiers at his door. "The Governor wants you!" they said, seizing him. My brother begged them to let him return to his house and offered them a large sum of money, but they refused. They bound him with ropes and carried him away. On the way, they met a friend of my brother who grabbed his arm and pleaded with him to help deliver him from their grasp. The friend stopped and asked the soldiers what the matter was. They answered, "The Governor has ordered us to bring this man before him. Look, we are doing our duty." My brother's friend urged the soldiers to release him and offered them five hundred dinars, saying, "Tell the Governor you could not find him."

But they would not listen. They dragged my brother before the Governor, who asked him, "Where did you get this wealth and these goods?" My brother answered, "I ask for your mercy!" The Governor granted him safe conduct to speak, and my brother told him everything that had happened, from his encounter with the old woman to the lady's deception, ending with, "Take whatever you wish of what I have, but leave me enough to support myself." But the Governor took everything—all the goods and all the money—for himself. Fearing the matter might reach the Sultan's ears, he summoned my brother and said, "Leave this city at once, or I will have you hanged." "I hear and I obey," said my brother, and he set out for another town. On the way, thieves attacked him, stripped him, beat him, and cut off both his ears. But I heard of his misfortunes and went out to find him. I brought him clothes and brought him secretly back into the city, where I gave him a daily allowance for food and drink. Then the Caliph agreed to hear