on
afterwards at leisure.'

"'No, my dear brother,' said I, drawing back, 'you are too good: Murad
the Unlucky shall not enter your house, lest he should draw down
misfortunes upon you and yours. I come only to ask for my vase.'

"'It is safe,' cried he; 'come in, and you shall see it: but I will not
give it up till I have you in my house. I have none of these
superstitious fears: pardon me the expression, but I have none of these
superstitious fears.'

"I yielded, entered his house, and was astonished at all I saw. My
brother did not triumph in his prosperity; but, on the contrary, seemed
intent only upon making me forget my misfortunes: he listened to the
account of them with kindness, and obliged me by the recital of his
history: which was, I must acknowledge, far less wonderful than my own.
He seemed, by his own account, to have grown rich in the common course of
things; or rather, by his own prudence. I allowed for his prejudices,
and, unwilling to dispute farther with him, said, 'You must remain of
your opinion, brother, and I of mine; you are Saladin the Lucky, and I
Murad the Unlucky; and so we shall remain to the end of our lives.'

"I had not been in his house four days when an accident happened, which
showed how much I was in the right. The favourite of the sultan, to whom
he had formerly sold his china vase, though her charms were now somewhat
faded by time, still retained her power and her taste for magnificence.
She commissioned my brother to bespeak for her, at Venice, the most
splendid looking-glass that money could purchase. The mirror, after many
delays and disappointments, at length arrived at my brother's house. He
unpacked it, and sent to let the lady know it was in perfect safety. It
was late in the evening, and she ordered it should remain where it was
that night, and that it should be brought to the seraglio the next
morning. It stood in a sort of ante-chamber to the room in which I
slept; and with it were left some packages, containing glass chandeliers
for an unfinished saloon in my brother's house. Saladin charged all his
domestics to be vigilant this night, because he had money to a great
amount by him, and there had been frequent robberies in our
neighbourhood. Hearing these orders, I resolved to be in readiness at a
moment's warning. I laid my scimitar beside me upon a cushion, and left
my door half open, that I might hear the slightest noise in the
ante-chamber or the great