, thus giving him acute agony, though he had the
presence of mind to give no sign of life. They then left him, and
their place was taken by the old woman, who dragged him to a trapdoor
and threw him down into a vault filled with the bodies of murdered men.

At first the violence of his fall caused him to lose consciousness, but
luckily the salt which had been rubbed into his wounds had by its
smarting preserved his life, and little by little he regained his
strength. At the end of two days he lifted the trapdoor during the
night and hid himself in the courtyard till daybreak, when he saw the
old woman leave the house in search of more prey. Luckily she did not
observe him, and when she was out of sight he stole from this nest of
assassins and took refuge in my house.

I dressed his wounds and tended him carefully, and when a month had
passed he was as well as ever. His one thought was how to be revenged
on that wicked old hag, and for this purpose he had a purse made large
enough to contain five hundred gold pieces, but filled it instead with
bits of glass. This he tied round him with his sash, and, disguising
himself as an old woman, he took a sabre, which he hid under his dress.

One morning as he was hobbling through the streets he met his old enemy
prowling to see if she could find anyone to decoy. He went up to her
and, imitating the voice of a woman, he said, "Do you happen to have a
pair of scales you could lend me? I have just come from Persia and
have brought with me five hundred gold pieces, and I am anxious to see
if they are the proper weight."

"Good woman," replied the old hag, "you could not have asked anyone
better. My son is a money-changer, and if you will follow me he will
weigh them for you himself. Only we must be quick or he will have gone
to his shop." So saying she led the way to the same house as before,
and the door was opened by the same Greek slave.

Again my brother was left in the hall, and the pretended son appeared
under the form of the black slave. "Miserable crone," he said to my
brother, "get up and come with me," and turned to lead the way to the
place of murder. Alnaschar rose too, and drawing the sabre from under
his dress dealt the black such a blow on his neck that his head was
severed from his body. My brother picked up the head with one hand,
and seizing the body with the other dragged it to the vault, when he
threw it in and sent the head after it. The Greek s