277
the sieve and brought the cooking-pot.” “What hath troubled thee?” asked he; and she said, “I dropped the dirhem thou gavest me in the market and was ashamed to search for it before the folk; yet I grudged to lose the money, so I gathered up the earth from the place where it fell and brought it away, thinking to sift it [when I came home]. Wherefore I went to fetch the sieve, but brought the cooking-pot instead.” Then she fetched the sieve and gave it to her husband, saying, “Do thou sift it; for thine eyes are better than mine.” So he sat, sifting the earth, till his face and beard were covered with dust; and he discovered not her trick, neither knew what had befallen her. This then, O King,’ said the Vizier, ‘is an instance of the malice of women, and consider the saying of God the Most High, “Verily, the malice of you [women] is great!”[1] And again, “Indeed, the malice of Satan is weak [in comparison with that of women].”’[2]
The King gave ear to his Vizier’s speech and was persuaded thereby and by what he cited to him of the sayings of God and the lights of good counsel arose and shone in the firmament of his understanding and he turned from his purpose of putting his son to death. But, on the fourth day, the favourite came in to him and kissing the earth before him, said, ‘O august King and lord of good counsel, I have made plainly manifest to thee my grievance and thou hast dealt unjustly by me and hast forborne to avenge me on him who hath wronged me, for that he is thy son and the darling of thy heart; but God (blessed and exalted be He!) will succour me against him, even as he succoured the king’s son against his father’s vizier.’ ‘And how was that?’ asked the King. ‘I have heard tell, O King,’ replied she, ‘that
