sible to get his gear save after his death. So, when we have slain
him, we shall become lords and will take all that is in his treasuries
of gems and things of price and divide them between us. Then will we
send the Caliph a present and demand of him the government of Cufah, and
thou shalt be governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us shall
have formal estate and condition, but we shall never effect this, except
we put him out of the world!” Answered Mansur, “Thou sayest sooth, but
how shall we do to kill him?” Quoth Nasir, “We will make an
entertainment in the house of one of us and invite him thereto and serve
him with the uttermost service. Then will we sit through the night with
him in talk and tell him tales and jests and rare stories till his heart
melteth with sitting up when we will spread him a bed, that he may lie
down to sleep. When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle
him and throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say:—His
sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and said to
him:—O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou shouldst complain of
me to the Commander of the Faithful? Deemest thou that we dread him? As
he is a King, so we too are Kings, and if he mend not his manners in our
regard we will do him die by the foulest of deaths. But meantime I will
slay thee, that we may see what the hand of the Prince of True Believers
availeth to do. So saying, she caught him up and clave the earth and
disappeared with him which when we saw, we swooned away. Then we revived
and we reck not what is become of him. And saying this we will send to
the Caliph and tell him the case and he will invest us with the
government in his room. After awhile, we will send him a sumptuous
present and seek of him the government of Cufah, and one of us shall
abide in Bassorah and the other in Cufah. So shall the land be pleasant
to us and we will be down upon the True Believers and win our wishes.”
And quoth Mansur, “Thou counsellest well, O my brother