Pagina 666 di 1116

O by the hoofs of the ass of Esdras!" Then he took up the body

and, carrying it into the house, told his wife what had happened

and she said to him, "Why dost thou sit still? If thou keep him

here till day break we shall both lose our lives. Let us two

carry him to the terrace roof and throw him over into the house

of our neighbour, the Moslem, for if he abide there a night the

dogs will come down on him from the adjoining terraces and eat

him up." Now his neighbour was a Reeve, the controller of the

Sultan's kitchen, and was wont to bring back great store of oil

and fat and broken meats; but the cats and rats used to eat it,

or, if the dogs scented a fat sheep's tail they would come down

from the nearest roofs and tear at it; and on this wise the

beasts had already damaged much of what he brought home.