So he came down from the niche and Mehmoud mounted him on a mule and fared on with him，till they reached Baghdad，where he brought him to his own house and bade his servants carry him to the bath，saying to him，O my son，the goods and money were the ransom of thy life；but，if thou wilt harken to me，I will give thee the worth of that thou hast lost，twice told.' When he came out of the bath，Mehmoud carried him into a saloon with four estrades，decorated with gold，and let bring a tray of all manner meats. So they ate and drank and Mehmoud turned to Alaeddin and would have taken a kiss of him；but he received it upon his hand and said，Dost thou persist in thy evil designs upon me？Did I not tell thee that，were I wont to sell this merchandise to other than thee for gold，I would sell it thee for silver？Quoth Mehmoud，I will give thee neither mule nor clothes nor merchandise save at this price；for I am mad for love of thee，and God bless him who said：
Abou Bilal his saw of an object of love，Which from one of his elders himself did derive'The lovers not healed of the pangs of desire By clips nor by kisses，excepting he swive.'
This may never be，'replied Alaeddin. Take back thy dress and thy mule and open the door，that I may go out.' So he opened the door，and Alaeddin went forth and walked on，with the dogs yelping at his heels，till he saw the door of a mosque open and going in，took shelter in the vestibule. Presently，he espied a light approaching and examining it，saw that it came from a pair of lanterns borne by two slaves before two merchants，an old man of comely aspect and a youth. He heard the latter say to the other，O my uncle，I conjure thee by Allah，give me back my wife！' The old man replied，Did I not warn thee，many a time，when the oath of divorce was always in thy mouth，as it were thy Koran？Then he turned and seeing Alaeddin，as he were a piece of the moon，said to him，Who art thou，O my son？Quoth he，I am Alaeddin，son of Shemseddin，Provost of the merchants at Cairo. I besought my father for merchandise；so he packed me fifty loads of goods and gave me ten thousand dinars，wherewith I set out for Baghdad；but when I came to the Lions Copse，the Bedouins fell upon me and took all I had. So I entered this city，knowing not where to pass the night，and seeing this place，I took shelter here.' O my son，'said the old man，what sayst thou to a thousand dinars and a suit of clothes and a mule worth other two thousand？To what end wilt thou give me this？asked Alaeddin，and the other answered，This young man，whom thou seest，is the only son of my brother and I have an only daughter called Zubeideh the Lutanist，who is endowed with beauty and grace. I married her to him and he loves her，but she hates him. Now he took an oath of triple divorcement and broke it.[96] As soon as she heard of this，she left him，and he egged on all the folk to intercede with me to restore her to him；but I told him that this could not lawfully be done but by an intermediate marriage，and we have agreed to make some stranger the intermediary，so none may taunt him with this affair. So，as thou art a stranger，come with us and we will marry thee to her；thou shalt lie with her to-night and on the morrow divorce her，and we will give thee what I said.' By Allah，'quoth Alaeddin to himself，it were better to pass the night with a bride on a bed in a house，than in the streets and vestibules！' So he went with them to the Cadi，who，as soon as he saw Alaeddin，was moved to love of him and said to the old man，What is your will？Quoth he，We wish to marry this young man to my daughter，as an intermediary，and the contract is to be for ten thousand dinars，dowry precedent，for which he shall give us a bond. If he divorce her in the morning，we will give him a thousand dinars and a mule and dress worth other two thousand；but if he divorce her not，he shall pay down the ten thousand dinars，according to the bond.' The Cadi drew up the marriage contract to this effect and the ladys father took a bond for the dowry. Then he took Alaeddin and clothing him anew，carried him to his daughters house，where he left him at the door，whilst he himself went in to the young lady and gave her the bond，saying，Take the bond of thy dowry，for I have married thee to a handsome youth by name Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat；so do thou use him with all consideration.' Then he left her and went to his own lodging. Now the ladys cousin had an old waiting-woman，to whom he had done many a kindness and who used to visit Zubeideh；so he said to her，O my mother，if my cousin Zubeideh see this handsome young man，she will never after accept of me；
so I would fain have thee contrive to keep them apart.' By thy youth，'answered she，I will not suffer him to approach her！'
Then she went to Alaeddin and said to him，O my son，I have a warning to give thee，for the love of God the Most High，and do thou follow my advice，for I fear for thee from this damsel： let her lie alone and handle her not nor draw near to her.' Why so？asked he，and she answered，Because her body is full of elephantiasis and I fear lest she infect thy fair youth.' Quoth he，I have no need of her.' Moreover，she went to the lady and said the like to her of Alaeddin；and she replied，I have no need of him，but will let him lie alone，and on the morrow he shall go his way.' Then she called a slave-girl and said to her，Take him the tray of food，that he may sup.' So the maid carried him the tray of food and set it before him，and he ate his fill；
after which he sat down and fell to reciting the chapter called Ya-sin[97] in a sweet voice. The lady listened to him and found his voice as melodious as the psalms of David，which when she heard，she exclaimed，Beshrew the old hag that told me that he was affected with leprosy！Surely，that is a lie against him，for this is not the voice of one who hath such a disease.' Then she took a lute of Indian workmanship and tuning it，sang the following verses，in a voice，whose music would stay the birds in mid-heaven：
I am enamoured of a fawn with black and languorous eyes；The willow-branches，as he goes，are jealous of him still.
