Zgodba o tatu in aleksandrijskem upravitelju

Besedilo

Zgodba o tatu in aleksandrijskem upravitelju

It is told that in the port of Alexandria there was a governor named Husam al-Din. One night, as he sat in his seat of office, a soldier came before him and said, “Know, my lord governor, that I entered this city tonight and lodged at such-and-such an inn. I slept there until a third of the night had passed, and when I awoke I found my saddlebags slit open and a purse containing a thousand dinars stolen from them.” Scarcely had he finished speaking when the governor summoned his officers and ordered them to bring everyone who was staying at the inn and imprison them until morning. When morning came, he ordered the instruments of punishment brought out and had the prisoners led before him in the presence of the soldier whose money had been stolen. He was about to punish them when a man came forward, pushing his way through the crowd until he stood before the governor. But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she fell silent, leaving her tale untold.

When it was the three hundred and forty-second night

She said: It has reached me, O fortunate king, that the governor was about to punish them when a man came forward, pushing his way through the crowd until he stood before the governor and the soldier. He said, “O emir, release all these people, for they are innocent. I am the one who took this soldier’s money, and here is the purse I stole from his saddlebags.” Then he drew it from his sleeve and laid it before the governor and the soldier. The governor said to the soldier, “Take your money and receive it back. You have no further claim against these people.” The prisoners and all those present began praising the man and invoking blessings upon him. Then the man said, “O emir, the clever trick is not that I have come to you of my own accord and brought this purse. The clever trick would be to take it from this soldier a second time.” The governor asked him, “And how did you take it the first time, you rogue?” He replied, “O emir, I was standing in the money changers’ market in Cairo when I saw this soldier change his money into gold and put it in this purse. I followed him from alley to alley, but found no way to take the money from him. Then he set out on a journey, and I followed him from town to town, trying all manner of tricks along the road, but I could not get hold of it. When he entered this city, I followed him until he went into this inn. I took a place beside him and watched him until he fell asleep and I heard him snoring. Then I crept up to him little by little, slit the saddlebags with this knife, and took the purse like this.” He stretched out his hand, picked up the purse from before the governor and the soldier, and stepped back behind them. The people watched him, thinking he was showing them how he had taken the purse from the saddlebags. Suddenly he ran off and threw himself into a pool. The governor shouted to his attendants, “After him! Go down after him!” But before they could strip off their clothes and descend the steps, the rogue had gone on his way. They searched for him but could not find him, for all the alleys of Alexandria lead into one another. The men returned without catching him, and the governor said to the soldier, “You have no claim left against these people, for you have identified the man who robbed you and received your money back, but failed to keep it safe.” So the soldier rose to leave, his money lost, while the people were delivered from the hands of both soldier and governor, all through the grace of Almighty God.