ered he, "surely
thou must be blind or under enchantment; but, old as the goat is,
if thou wilt sell it, I will give thee a koorsh for her." I
angrily refused, and he went away; when presently up came
another; and, in short, in regular succession the whole forty,
the last of whom was the chief of the butchers. I perceived the
connivance to cheat me, and resolving to be revenged, said, "I am
convinced I am deceived, so you shall have the goat, if such she
is, for the koorsh, provided you let me have her tail." This was
agreed to, and it being cut off, I delivered my calf to the chief
of the butchers, received the money, and returned home.

On my arrival at home, my mother asked if I had sold the calf; to
which I replied, "Yes, for a koorsh, and her tail into the
bargain." She thought me stupid or mad, and inquired what I would
do with the latter. I answered, "I will be amply revenged on the
sharpers, who pretended that my calf was a she-goat, and force
from them, at least, a thousand times the price they gave me."
After this, I skinned the tail, cut the leather into thongs, and
twisted them into a whip with hard thick knots. I then disguised
myself in female attire, taking pains to make myself look as
handsome as possible with the assistance of my mother, who put
soorma into my eyelids, and arranged my eyebrows, stained my
hands with hinna, and directed me how to ogle and smile. In
short, as I was then a beardless lad, and reckoned comely, I
appeared as a very desirable maiden in my disguise.

On my arrival at the house of the chief of the butchers, I found
him sitting with his companions in the court. The whole of my
calf had been cooked in various ways, and they were just going to
spread the cloth and feast upon it. On my entrance I made a
profound salutation: upon which they all rose up to return it,
and having treated me welcomely, whispered one to another,
saying, "By Allah, this will be a night of glorious festivity,
illumined by so much beauty! however, our chief must have the
preference, this night shall be his; after which we will all cast
lots for his turn of enjoyment."

When we had feasted on my calf, and the night was far advanced,
the butchers took leave, departed to their homes, and I remained
alone with the chief, who began to entertain me with amusing
conversation. Observing a rope hanging from the ceiling of an
apartment, I, as if ignorant of its purpose, inquired the use of
it; when the venerable