vase that he had taken care of for so long.
"Oh certainly," said he, "I am only glad I could be of use to you in the matter.
Here is the key of my shop; you will find the vase in the place where you put it."
Ali Cogia fetched his vase and carried it to his room at the inn, where he opened
it. He thrust down his hand but could feel no money, but still was persuaded it
must be there. So he got some plates and vessels from his travelling kit and
emptied ont the olives. To no purpose. The gold was not there. The poor man
was dumb with horror, then, lifting up his hands, he exclaimed, "Can my old
friend really have committed such a crime?"
In great haste he went back to the house of the merchant. "My friend," he cried,
"you will be astonished to see me again, but I can find nowhere in this vase a
thousand pieces of gold that I placed in the bottom under the olives. Perhaps you
may have taken a loan of them for your business purposes; if that is so you are
most welcome. I will only ask you to give me a receipt, and you can pay the
money at your leisure."
The merchant, who had expected something of the sort, had his reply all ready.
"Ali Cogia," he said, "when you brought me the vase of olives did I ever touch it?"
"I gave you the key of my shop and you put it yourself where you liked, and did
you not find it in exactly the same spot and in the same state? If you placed any
gold in it, it must be there still. I know nothing about that; you only told me there
were olives. You can believe me or not, but I have not laid a finger on the vase."
Ali Cogia still tried every means to persuade the merchant to admit the truth. "I
love peace," he said, "and shall deeply regret having to resort to harsh
measures. Once more, think of your reputation. I shall be in despair if you oblige
me to call in the aid of the law."
"Ali Cogia," answered the merchant, "you allow that it was a vase of olives you
placed in my charge. You fetched it and removed it yourself, and now you tell me
it contained a thousand pieces of gold, and that I must restore them to you! Did
you ever say anything about them before? Why, I did not even know that the
vase had olives in it! Yon never showed them to me. I wonder you have not
demanded pearls or diamonds. Retire, I pray you, lest a crowd should gather in
front of my shop."
By this time not only the casual passers-by, but also the neighbouring merchants,
were standing round, listening to the dispute, and trying every now and then to
smooth matters between them. But at the merchant's last words Ali Cogia
resolved to lay the cause of the quarrel before them, and told them the whole
story. They heard him to the end, and inquired of the merchant what he had to
say.
The accused man admitted that he had kept Ali Cogia's vase in his shop; but he
denied having touched it, and swore that as to what it contained he only knew
what Ali Cogia had told him, and called them all to witness the insult that had
been put upon him.
"You have brought it on yourself," said Ali Cogia, taking him by the arm, "and as
you appeal to the law, the law you shall have! Let us see if you will dare to repeat
your story before the Cadi."
Now as a good Mussulman the merchant was forbidden to refuse this choice of a
judge, so he accepted the test, and said to Ali Cogia, "Very well; I should like
nothing better. We shall soon see which of us is in the right."
So the two men presented themselves before the Cadi, and Ali Cogia again
repeated his tale. The Cadi asked what witnesses he had. Ali Cogia replied that
he had not taken this precaution, as he had considered the man his friend, and
up to that time had always found him honest.
The merchant, on his side, stuck to his story, and offered to swear solemnly that
not only had he never stolen the thousand gold pieces, but that he did not even
know they were there. The Cadi allowed him to take the oath, and pronounced
him innocent.
Ali Cogia, furious at having to suffer such a loss, protested against the verdict,
declaring that he would appeal to the Caliph, Haroun-al-Raschid, himself. But the
Cadi paid no attention to his threats, and was quite satisfied that he had done
what was right.
Judgment being given the merchant returned home triumphant, and Ali Cogia
went back to his inn to draw up a petition to the Caliph. The next morning he
placed himself on the road along which the Caliph must pass after mid-day
prayer, and stretched out his petition to the officer who walked before the Caliph,
whose duty it was to collect such things, and on entering the palace to hand them
to his master. There Haroun-al-Raschid studied them carefully.
Knowing this custom, Ali Cogia followed the Caliph into the public hall of the
palace, and waited the result. After some time the officer appeared, and told him
that the Caliph had read his petition, and had appointed an hour the next morning
to give him audience. He then inquired the merchant's address, so that he might
be summoned to attend also.
That very evening, the Caliph, with his grand-vizir Giafar, and Mesrour, chief of
the eunuchs, all three disguised, as was their habit, went out to take a stroll
through the town.
Going down one street, the Caliph's attention was attracted by a noise, and
looking through a door which opened into a court he perceived ten or twelve
children playing in the moonlight. He hid himself in a dark corner, and watched
them.
"Let us play at being the Cadi," said the brightest and quickest of them all; "I will
be the Cadi. Bring before me Ali Cogia, and the merchant who robbed him of the
thousand pieces of gold."
The boy's words recalled to the Caliph the petition he had read that morning, and
he waited with interest to see what the children would do.
The proposal was hailed with joy by the other children, who had heard a great
deal of talk about the matter, and they quickly settled the part each one was to
play. The Cadi took his seat gravely, and an officer introduced first Ali Cogia, the
plaintiff, and then the merchant who was the defendant.
Ali Cogia made a low bow, and pleaded his cause point by point; concluding by
imploring the Cadi not to inflict on him such a heavy loss.
The Cadi having heard his case, turned to the merchant, and inquired why he
had not repaid Ali Cogia the sum in question.
The false merchant repeated the reasons that the real merchant had given to the
Cadi of Bagdad, and also offered to swear that he had told the truth.
"Stop a moment!" said the little Cadi, "before we come to oaths, I should like to
examine the vase with the olives. Ali Cogia," he added, "have you got the vase
with you?" and finding he had not, the Cadi continued, "Go and get it, and bring it
to me."
So Ali Cogia disappeared for an instant, and then pretended to lay a vase at the
feet of the Cadi, declaring it was his vase, which he had given to the accused for
safe custody; and in order to be quite correct, the Cadi asked the merchant if he
recognised it as the same vase. By his silence the merchant admitted the fact,
and the Cadi then commanded to have the vase opened. Ali Cogia made a
movement as if he was taking off the lid, and the little Cadi on his part made a
pretence of peering into a vase.
"What beautiful olives!" he said, "I should like to taste one," and pretending to put
one in his mouth, he added, "they are really excellent!
"But," he went on, "it seems to me odd that olives seven years old should be as
good as that! Send for some dealers in olives, and let us hear what they say!"
Two children were presented to him as olive merchants, and the Cadi addressed
them. "Tell me," he said, "how long can olives be kept so as to be pleasant
eating?"
"My lord," replied the merchants, "however much care is taken to preserve them,
they never last beyond the third year. They lose both taste and colour, and are
only fit to be thrown away."
"If that is so," answered the little Cadi, "examine this vase, and tell me how long
the olives have been in it."
The olive merchants pretended to examine the olives and taste them; then
reported to the Cadi that they were fresh and good.
"You are mistaken," said he, "Ali Cogia declares he put them in that vase seven
years ago."
"My lord," returned the olive merchants, "we can assure you that the olives are
those of the present year. And if you consult all the merchants in Bagdad you will
not find one to give a contrary opinion."
The accused merchant opened his mouth as if to protest, but the Cadi gave him
no time. "Be silent," he said, "you are a thief. Take him away and hang him." So
the game ended, the children clapping their hands in applause, and leading the
criminal away to be hanged.
Haroun-al-Raschid was lost in astonishment at the wisdom of the child, who had
given so wise a verdict on the case which he himself was to hear on the morrow.
"Is there any other verdict possible?" he asked the grand-vizir, who was as much
impressed as himself. "I can imagine no better judgment."
"If the circumstances are really such as we have heard," replied the grand-vizir,
"it seems to me your Highness could only follow the example of this boy, in the
method of reasoning, and also in your conclusions."
"Then take careful note of this house," said the Caliph, "and bring me the boy to-morrow, so that the affair may be tried by him in my presence. Summon also the
Cadi, to learn his duty from the mouth of a child. Bid Ali Cogia bring his vase of
olives, and see that two dealers in olives are present." So saying the Caliph
returned to the palace.
The next morning early, the grand-vizir went back to the house where they had
seen the children playing, and asked for the mistress and her children. Three
boys appeared, and the grand-vizir inquired which had represented the Cadi in
their game of the previous evening. The eldest and tallest, changing colour,
confessed that it was he, and to his mother's great alarm, the grand-vizir said that
he had strict orders to bring him into the presence of the Caliph.
"Does he want to take my son from me?" cried the poor woman; but the grand-vizir hastened to calm her, by assuring her that she should have the boy again in
an hour, and she would be quite satisfied when she knew the reason of the
summons. So she dressed the boy in his best clothes, and the two left the house.
When the grand-vizir presented the child to the Caliph, he was a little awed and
confused, and the Caliph proceeded to explain why he had sent for him.
"Approach, my son," he said kindly. "I think it was you who judged the case of Ali
Cogia and the merchant last night? I overheard you by chance, and was very
pleased with the way you conducted it. To-day you will see the real Ali Cogia and
the real merchant. Seat yourself at once next to me."
The Caliph being seated on his throne with the boy next him, the parties to the
suit were ushered in. One by one they prostrated themselves, and touched the
carpet at the foot of the throne with their foreheads. When they rose up, the
Caliph said: "Now speak. This child will give you justice, and if more should be
wanted I will see to it myself."
Ali Cogia and the merchant pleaded one after the other, but when the merchant
offered to swear the same oath that he had taken before the Cadi, he was
stopped by the child, who said that before this was done he must first see the
vase of olives.
At these words, Ali Cogia presented the vase to the Caliph, and uncovered it.
The Caliph took one of the olives, tasted it, and ordered the expert merchants to
do the same. They pronounced the olives good, and fresh that year. The boy
informed them that Ali Cogia declared it was seven years since he had placed
them in the vase; to which they returned the same answer as the children had
done.
The accused merchant saw by this time that his condemnation was certain, and
tried to allege something in his defence. The boy had too much sense to order
him to be hanged, and looked at the Caliph, saying, "Commander of the Faithful,
this is not a game now; it is for your Highness to condemn him to death and not
for me."
Then the Caliph, convinced that the man was a thief, bade them take him away
and hang him, which was done, but not before he had confessed his guilt and the
place in which he had hidden Ali Cogia's money. The Caliph ordered the Cadi to
learn how to deal out justice from the mouth of a child, and sent the boy home,
with a purse containing a hundred pieces of gold as a mark of his favour.
The Enchanted Horse
It was the Feast of the New Year, the oldest and most splendid of all the feasts in
the Kingdom of Persia, and the day had been spent by the king in the city of
Schiraz, taking part in the magnificent spectacles prepared by his subjects to do
honour to the festival. The sun was setting, and the monarch was about to give
his court the signal to retire, when suddenly an Indian appeared before his
throne, leading a horse richly harnessed, and looking in every respect exactly like
a real one.
"Sire," said he, prostrating himself as he spoke, "although I make my appearance
so late before your Highness, I can confidently assure you that none of the
wonders you have seen during the day can be compared to this horse, if you will
deign to cast your eyes upon him."
"I see nothing in it," replied the king, "except a clever imitation of a real one; and
any skilled workman might do as much."
"Sire," returned the Indian, "it is not of his outward form that I would speak, but of
the use that I can make of him. I have only to mount him, and to wish myself in
some special place, and no matter how distant it may be, in a very few moments
I shall find myself there. It is this, Sire, that makes the horse so marvellous, and if
your Highness will allow me, you can prove it for yourself."
The King of Persia, who was interested in every thing out of the common, and
had never before come across a horse with such qualities, bade the Indian
mount the animal, and show what he could do. In an instant the man had vaulted
on his back, and inquired where the monarch wished to send him.
"Do you see that mountain?" asked the king, pointing to a huge mass that
towered into the sky about three leagues from Schiraz; "go and bring me the leaf
of a palm that grows at the foot."
The words were hardly out of the king's mouth when the Indian turned a screw
placed in the horse's neck, close to the saddle, and the animal bounded like
lightning up into the air, and was soon beyond the sight even of the sharpest
eyes. In a quarter of an hour the Indian was seen returning, bearing in his hand
the palm, and, guiding his horse to the foot of the throne, he dismounted, and laid
the leaf before the king.
Now the monarch had no sooner proved the astonishing speed of which the
horse was capable than he longed to possess it himself, and indeed, so sure was
he that the Indian would be quite ready to sell it, that he looked upon it as his
own already.
"I never guessed from his mere outside how valuable an animal he was," he
remarked to the Indian, "and I am grateful to you for having shown me my error,"
said he. "If you will sell it, name your own price."
"Sire," replied the Indian, "I never doubted that a sovereign so wise and
accomplished as your Highness would do justice to my horse, when he once
knew its power; and I even went so far as to think it probable that you might wish
to possess it. Greatly as I prize it, I will yield it up to your Highness on one
condition. The horse was not constructed by me, but it was given me by the
inventor, in exchange for my only daughter, who made me take a solemn oath
that I would never part with it, except for some object of equal value."
"Name anything you like," cried the monarch, interrupting him. "My kingdom is
large, and filled with fair cities. You have only to choose which you would prefer,
to become its ruler to the end of your life."
"Sire," answered the Indian, to whom the proposal did not seem nearly so
generous as it appeared to the king, "I am most grateful to your Highness for
your princely offer, and beseech you not to be offended with me if I say that I can
only deliver up my horse in exchange for the hand of the princess your daughter."
A shout of laughter burst from the courtiers as they heard these words, and
Prince Firouz Schah, the heir apparent, was filled with anger at the Indian's
presumption. The king, however, thought that it would not cost him much to part
from the princess in order to gain such a delightful toy, and while he was
hesitating as to his answer the prince broke in.
"Sire," he said, "it is not possible that you can doubt for an instant what reply you
should give to such an insolent bargain. Consider what you owe to yourself, and
to the blood of your ancestors."
"My son," replied the king, "you speak nobly, but you do not realise either the
value of the horse, or the fact that if I reject the proposal of the Indian, he will only
make the same to some other monarch, and I should be filled with despair at the
thought that anyone but myself should own this Seventh Wonder of the World. Of
course I do not say that I shall accept his conditions, and perhaps he may be
brought to reason, but meanwhile I should like you to examine the horse, and,
with the owner's permission, to make trial of its powers."
The Indian, who had overheard the king's speech, thought that he saw in it signs
of yielding to his proposal, so he joyfully agreed to the monarch's wishes, and
came forward to help the prince to mount the horse, and show him how to guide
it: but, before he had finished, the young man turned the screw, and was soon
out of sight.
They waited some time, expecting that every moment he might be seen returning
in the distance, but at length the Indian grew frightened, and prostrating himself
before the throne, he said to the king, "Sire, your Highness must have noticed
that the prince, in his impatience, did not allow me to tell him what it was
necessary to do in order to return to the place from which he started. I implore
you not to punish me for what was not my fault, and not to visit on me any
misfortune that may occur."
"But why," cried the king in a burst of fear and anger, "why did you not call him
back when you saw him disappearing?"
"Sire," replied the Indian, "the rapidity of his movements took me so by surprise
that he was out of hearing before I recovered my speech. But we must hope that
he will perceive and turn a second screw, which will have the effect of bringing
the horse back to earth."
"But supposing he does!" answered the king, "what is to hinder the horse from
descending straight into the sea, or dashing him to pieces on the rocks?"
"Have no fears, your Highness," said the Indian; "the horse has the gift of
passing over seas, and of carrying his rider wherever he wishes to go."
"Well, your head shall answer for it," returned the monarch, "and if in three
months he is not safe back with me, or at any rate does not send me news of his
safety, your life shall pay the penalty." So saying, he ordered his guards to seize
the Indian and throw him into prison.
Meanwhile, Prince Firouz Schah had gone gaily up into the air, and for the space
of an hour continued to ascend higher and higher, till the very mountains were
not distinguishable from the plains. Then he began to think it was time to come
down, and took for granted that, in order to do this, it was only needful to turn the
screw the reverse way; but, to his surprise and horror, he found that, turn as he
might, he did not make the smallest impression. He then remembered that he
had never waited to ask how he was to get back to earth again, and understood
the danger in which he stood. Luckily, he did not lose his head, and set about
examining the horse's neck with great care, till at last, to his intense joy, he
discovered a tiny little peg, much smaller than the other, close to the right ear.
This he turned, and found him-self dropping to the earth, though more slowly
than he had left it.
It was now dark, and as the prince could see nothing, he was obliged, not without
some feeling of disquiet, to allow the horse to direct his own course, and midnight
was already passed before Prince Firouz Schah again touched the ground, faint
and weary from his long ride, and from the fact that he had eaten nothing since
early morning.
The first thing he did on dismounting was to try to find out where he was, and, as
far as he could discover in the thick darkness, he found himself on the terraced
roof of a huge palace, with a balustrade of marble running round. In one corner of
the terrace stood a small door, opening on to a staircase which led down into the
palace.
Some people might have hesitated before exploring further, but not so the prince.
"I am doing no harm," he said, "and whoever the owner may be, he will not touch
me when he sees I am unarmed," and in dread of making a false step, he went
cautiously down the staircase. On a landing, he noticed an open door, beyond
which was a faintly lighted hall.
Before entering, the prince paused and listened, but he heard nothing except the
sound of men snoring. By the light of a lantern suspended from the roof, he
perceived a row of black guards sleeping, each with a naked sword lying by him,
and he understood that the hall must form the ante-room to the chamber of some
queen or princess.
Standing quite still, Prince Firouz Schah looked about him, till his eyes grew
accustomed to the gloom, and he noticed a bright light shining through a curtain
in one corner. He then made his way softly towards it, and, drawing aside its
folds, passed into a magnificent chamber full of sleeping women, all lying on low
couches, except one, who was on a sofa; and this one, he knew, must be the
princess.
Gently stealing up to the side of her bed he looked at her, and saw that she was
more beautiful than any woman he had ever beheld. But, fascinated though he
was, he was well aware of the danger of his position, as one cry of surprise
would awake the guards, and cause his certain death.
So sinking quietly on his knees, he took hold of the sleeve of the princess and
drew her arm lightly towards him. The princess opened her eyes, and seeing
before her a handsome well-dressed man, she remained speechless with
astonishment.
This favourable moment was seized by the prince, who bowing low while he
knelt, thus addressed her:
"You behold, madame, a prince in distress, son to the King of Persia, who, owing
to an adventure so strange that you will scarcely believe it, finds himself here, a
suppliant for your protection. But yesterday, I was in my father's court, engaged
in the celebration of our most solemn festival; to-day, I am in an unknown land, in
danger of my life."
Now the princess whose mercy Prince Firouz Schah implored was the eldest
daughter of the King of Bengal, who was enjoying rest and change in the palace
her father had built her, at a little distance from the capital. She listened kindly to
what he had to say, and then answered:
"Prince, be not uneasy; hospitality and humanity are practised as widely in
Bengal as they are in Persia. The protection you ask will be given you by all. You