ve followed. Anyhow,
in Ma'aruf the Cobbler's case, the result is satisfactory. Arriving by
the aid of a Jinn at a far-away city, he found a friend, who directed
him how to behave, and to tell everybody that he was a great and
wealthy merchant, but that his merchandise was still on the way, and
expected daily. Pending the arrival of his baggage-train, Ma'aruf
borrowed from everybody, gave it all away in largesse to the poor, and
behaved generally as if he were very well-to-do. By these means he
made such an impression on the King of the place that the latter
married him to his daughter, and made large advances from the treasury
in anticipation of the arrival of the merchandise.

Time goes on, but still the baggage does not turn up. The King,
instigated by his Wazir, becomes suspicious, and persuades his
daughter to worm out the real story from her husband. This she does in
a clever way, and Ma'aruf tells her his true history. The woman
behaves admirably, refuses to expose his vagaries, and, giving him
fifty thousand dinars, advises him to fly to a foreign country, to
begin to trade there, and to keep her informed of his whereabouts and
the turn of his fortunes. The Cobbler departs during the night, while
his wife the next morning tells the King and the Wazir a long
rigmarole story of how her husband had been summoned by his servants,
who had informed him that his baggage-train and merchandise had been
attacked by the Arabs, and that he had gone himself to look after his
affairs.

Meanwhile Ma'aruf departs sore at heart, weeping bitterly, and, like
all 'Arabian Nights' heroes in adversity, repeating countless verses.
After various adventures he falls in with a vast treasure, and a
casket containing a seal ring of gold, which, when rubbed, causes the
slave of the seal ring, naturally a Jinn, to appear and carry out
every wish and order that Ma'aruf might give him. With the aid, then,
of the Jinn, Abu Al-Saddat by name, the Cobbler returns to his wife
laden with treasure and merchandise, and thus proves to all the
doubters that he is a true man. He pays all his debts, gives a great
deal to the poor, and bestows presents of an enormous value on his
wife, her attendants, and all the people of the Court.

As a matter of course, all this prosperity is followed by adversity.
The King and his Wazir combine together, and ask Ma'aruf to a
garden-party, make him drunk, and get him to relate the story of his
success. Recklessly