on the day of resurrection.' Now I, oh venerable cadi, do not desire to be of the company of the accursed." "I swear to you," said the cadi, "an inviolable oath, that I will not act treacherously to you." And the robber said to him, "I have heard from my father, who had it from my grandfather, who had it from Ali bin Abu Talib (may Allah be gracious to him), who had it from our blessed Prophet, that to break an improper (i. e. extorted) oath is no crime-but come, dismount and strip. And the cadi was unable to find an answer, so he dismounted from the back of his mule, and stripped off his clothes, and delivered them to the robber, and there remained to him only his shirt. And the robber asked him, "Have you another shirt at home?” The robber said, "My father told me that my grandfather told him that Abu Horairah (may Allah reward him) related, that the blessed Prophet has said, 'The prayer of a naked man is good.' And the cadi said to him, "How? Must I strip, and pray naked ?" The robber answered, "This arises from your ignorance. What do you say of a man who has been shipwrecked, and who escapes from the sea naked ?—is his prayer good or not?" He replied, "It is good." The thief rejoined, "Your condition is the same as his." And the cadi took off his shirt, and gave it to the robber. Then the robber saw on his hand a signet-ring worth five mithkals, and he said to him, "Oh reverend cadi, give me the signet-ring, that I may remember you gratefully, according to the saying of the Prophet, Verily let deeds be sealed.""* 6 And the cadi replied, "This is the ring of prayer." The thief rejoined, "This is not correct-and how can a cadi dare to lie? The ring is on your right hand, whereas if it were the ring of prayer it would be on your left hand.” And the cadi was unable to make any reply; but after a moment's thought he said, "Can you play chess ?" The robber answered, "Yes." And the cadi said, "Let us make a match, and if you beat me the ring is yours, but if I beat you it remains mine." The thief replied, "I am content." And they played, and the robber won; so the cadi took off his ring, and said to the thief, "Thou art the doctor of law, and I (only) a learned man; thou art the reader of the Koran and I the questioner, and it is you who are the (better) player." And he threw him the ring, and said, "May the blessing of Allah not go with it." And the robber took it, and said, "May Allah not accept the sacrifice from thee." Then the cadi went to his house, naked and vexed in mind, and he *It is difficult to give the Arabic pun any force in English, but it will render it more intelligible to observe that, in the East, every man of property has his name engraved on a signet-ring; and no document can be authenticated by him unless he seal it with this: a signature in his own handwriting merely, not being valid. entered his house, and slept till the day appeared. And he said to his wife, "Bring me some clothes," and she brought them. And he made the morning prayer, and when he had finished his prayer he sat down on his seat of judgment grieved at heart. And his wife said to him, "Why art thou sorrowful, oh my lord?” And he related unto her the story from the beginning to the end, and said to her, "If this robber had disputed with Malik, or Abu Hanyfeh, or Es-Shafai, or the Imam Ahmed bin Hambel, he would have overcome them, and taken away their clothes, with his arguments and traditions." And while they were talking, behold a knock at the gate; and he said, "Oh, wife! see who is there.' And she said to him, "A man riding on a mule with some clothes." And he said, "Shut the door, that the robber may not enter into us." And he had not finished speaking when the robber entered, and sat down in the seat of honour without giving the salam. And the cadi said, "Why have you not given the salam? Do you not know that the proof of a true believer is the salam?" The robber answered, "The salam presents one of two aspects, either fear or covetousness; now I neither fear or covet." And the cadi said, "Why have you come to me, and what do you want with me?" "I am come, oh worshipful cadi," replied the thief, "on account of something which you have forgotten." "What is that?" said the cadi. And the robber answered, "When I parted from you and returned to my house I lit a lamp, and turned over some of my books, and I found, oh reverend sir, that a cadi is a slave." (A Mamluk.) And the cadi said, "Refrain your tongue from these words, and tell me what you want of me, and what is your intention." And the robber answered, "After I had left you last night I bought a house for fifty dinars, and your ring was only worth five dinars, so I am come to you that you may give me the remainder; and if you will give them to me I will write you a quittance with my own hand, that there shall be no lawsuit, and no demand between me and thee." And the cadi said, "With all and departed. my heart." and the robber went out and left him And the cadi's wife came to him and said, "Was it not sufficient what he did to you yesterday, but he must come again to-day ?" And the cadi said, "Be silent, lest he hear your words and return, and claim you as his wife, and prove it by demonstrations and arguments from the traditions and the Koran." And this is what has reached us of the story of the cadi and the robber. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe! KING WENZEL'S ESCAPE. FROM THE GERMAN OF MORITZ HARTMANN. BY JOHN OXENFORD. [According to history, Wenzel VI., King of Bohemia, better known as the Emperor Wenceslas, having been imprisoned for his misdeeds by the insurgent citizens of Prague, effected his escape through the assistance of a woman of low origin, named Susan, who took him into a fishing-boat while he was bathing, and rowed him across the Moldau. The version of the story given in the following poem differs from the common account, inasmuch as Wenzel is represented, not as a prisoner, but as in peril from a mob while he is taking a bath.] EXTENDED in his bath King Wenzel lies; A noise arouses him-a distant cry- Then comes a thump of clubs-a clash of swords, A shout triumphant-angry mutter'd words, * A massacre of Jews was one of the horrors of this horrible period of Bohemian history.-J. O. This favourite executioner, whom Wenzel called his gossip, he afterwards beheaded with his own hand.-J. O. This is probably an exaggeration, though Wenzel's queen, Johanna, was attacked and killed by one of his dogs.-J. O. Blended together in a tempest dread. King Wenzel, much amaz'd, lifts up his head, The words grew plainer as the sound increas'd: Long live John Huss, and down with ev'ry priest !" Nay; is that all?-pray take the priests," quoth he; "John Huss for ever!-there we both agree." "Down with the king's advisers!" says a shout, "They starve our bodies till the soul flies out.' "With all my heart, if such is your fond pleasure," Says Wenzel," I detest them beyond measure." Forth now the storm with greater fury breaks, The pond'rous clubs against the portals knock, But stout Susanna, with her steady oar, Quick by the islands, edg'd with verdant grass, King Wenzel on his bench, with all his care, With love-sick glance, and thinks her passing fair, And something like repentance fills my breast, Into the open country flies the king, * Wlasta is an important personage in the old mythic history of Bohemia. |