第62章

whereupon the King said，'Tell thy tale，O Shahrazad.'So she pursued： It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the youth said to the Caliph，'The Lady Zubaydah kisseth the earth before thee and saith to thee，Thou knowest she hath bidden make this crown，which lacketh a great jewel for its dome-top； and she hath made search among her treasures，but cannot find a jewel of size to suit her mind.'Quoth the Caliph to his Chamberlains and Viceregents，Make search for a great jewel，such as Zubaydah desireth.'So they sought，but found nothing befitting her and told the Caliph who，vexed and annoyed thereat，exclaimed，'How am I Caliph and King of the Kings of the earth and cannot find so small a matter as a jewel？ Woe to you！ Ask of the merchants.'So they enquired of the traders，who replied，'Our lord the Caliph will not find a jewel such as he requireth save with a man of Bassorah，by name Abu Mohammed highs Lazybones.'Thereupon they acquainted the Caliph with this and he bade his Wazir Ja'afar send a note to the Emir Mohammed al-Zubaydi，Governor of Bassorah，commanding him to equip Abu Mohammed Lazybones and bring him into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful.The Minister accordingly wrote a note to that effect and despatched it by Masrur，who set out forthright for the city of Bassorah，and went in to the Emir Mohammed al-Zubaydi，who rejoiced in him and treated him with the high-most honour.Then Masrur read him the mandate of the Prince of True Believers，Harun al-Rashid，to which he replied，'I hear and I obey，'and forthwith despatched him，with a company of his followers，to Abu Mohammed's house.

When they reached it，they knocked at the door，whereupon a page came out and Masrur said to him，'Tell thy lord，The Commander of the Faithful summoneth thee.'The servant went in and told his master，who came out and found Masrur，the Caliph's Chamberlain，and a company of the Governor's men at the door.So he kissed ground before Masrur and said，'I hear and obey the summons of the Commander of the Faithful； but first enter ye my house.'They replied，'We cannot do that，save in haste； even as the Prince of True Believers commanded us，for he awaiteth thy coming.'But he said，'Have patience with me a little，till I set my affairs in order.'So after much pressure and abundant persuasion，they entered the house with him and found the vestibule hung with curtains of azure brocade，purfled with red gold，and Abu Mohammed Lazybones bade one of his servants carry Masrur to the private Hammam.Now this bath was in the house and Masrur found its walls and floors of rare and precious marbles，wrought with gold and silver，and its waters mingled with rose-water.Then the servants served Masrur and his company with the perfection of service； and，on their going forth of the Hammam，clad them in robes of honour，brocade-work interwoven with gold.And after leaving the bath Masrur and his men went in to Abu Mohammed Lazybones and found him seated in his upper chamber； and over his head hung curtains of gold-brocade，wrought with pearls and jewels，and the pavilion was spread with cushions，embroidered in red gold.Now the owner was sitting softly upon a quilted cloth covering a settee inlaid with stones of price； and，when he saw Masrur，he went forward to meet him and bidding him welcome，seated him by his side.Then he called for the food-trays； so they brought them，and when Masrur saw the tables，he exclaimed，'By Allah，never did I behold the like of these appointments in the palace of the Commander of the Faithful！'For indeed the trays contained every manner of meat all served in dishes of gilded porcelain.[227]'So we ate and drank and made merry till the end of the day （quoth Masrur） when the host gave to each and every of us five thousand dinars，and on the morrow he clad us in dresses of honour of green and gold and entreated us with the utmost worship.'Then said Masrur to him，'We can tarry no longer for fear of the Caliph's displeasure.'Answered Abu Mohammed Lazybones，'O my lord，have patience with us till the morrow，that we may equip ourselves，and we will then depart with you.'So they tarried with him that day and slept the night； and next morning Abu Mohammed's servants saddled him a she mule with selle and trappings of gold，set with all manner of pearls and stones of price； whereupon quoth Masrur to himself，'I wonder，when Abu Mohammed shall present himself in such equipage，if the Caliph will ask him how he came by all this wealth.'Thereupon they took leave of Al-Zubaydi and，setting out from Bassorah，fared on，without ceasing to fare till they reached Baghdad-city and presented themselves before the Caliph，who bade Abu Mohammed be seated.He sat down and addressed the Caliph in courtly phrase，saying，'O Commander of the Faithful，I have brought with me an humble offering by way of homage： have I thy gracious permission to produce it？'Al-Rashid replied，'There is no harm in that，'[228] whereupon Abu Mohammed bade his men bring in a chest，from which he took a number of rarities，and amongst the rest，trees of gold with leaves of white emeraid，[229] and fruits of pigeon blood rubies and topazes and new pearls and bright.And as the Caliph was struck with admiration he fetched a second chest and brought out of it a tent of brocade，crowned with pearls and jacinths and emeralds and jaspers and other precious stones； its poles were of freshly cut Hindi aloes-wood，and its skirts were set with the greenest smaragds.Thereon were depicted all manner of animals such as beasts and birds，spangled with precious stones，rubies，emeralds，chrysolites and balasses and every kind of precious metal.Now when Al-Rashid saw these things，he rejoiced with exceeding joy and Abu Mohammed Lazybones said to him，'O Commander of the Faithful，deem not that I have brought these to thee，fearing aught or coveting anything；