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Then quoth the Tailor to the King of China: When we heard the

Barber's tale and saw the excess of his loquacity and the way in

which he had wronged this young man, we laid hands on him and

shut him up, after which we sat down in peace, and ate and drank

and enjoyed the good things of the marriage feast till the time

of the call to mid afternoon prayer, when I left the party and

returned home. My wife received me with sour looks and said,

"Thou goest a pleasuring among thy friends and thou leavest me to

sit sorrowing here alone. So now, unless thou take me abroad and

let me have some amusement for the rest of the day, I will cut

the rope[FN#695] and it will be the cause of my separation from

thee." So I took her out and we amused ourselves till supper

time, when we returned home and fell in with this Hunchback who

was brimful of drink and trolling out these rhymes:

"Clear's the wine, the cup's fine; * Like to like they combine:

It is wine and not cup! * 'Tis a cup and not wine!"