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Said the lady to him, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he

answered, "By Allah, I will not go until I hear the stories of

these others." Then the lady, turning towards the Caliph and

Ja'afar and Masrur, said to them, "Do ye also give an account of

yourselves, you men!" Whereupon Ja'afar stood forth and told her

what he had told the portress as they were entering the house;

and when she heard his story of their being merchants and Mosul

men who had outrun the watch, she said, "I grant you your lives

each for each sake, and now away with you all." So they all went

out and when they were in the street, quoth the Caliph to the

Kalandars, "O company, whither go ye now, seeing that the morning

hath not yet dawned?" Quoth they, "By Allah, O our lord, we know

not where to go." "Come and pass the rest of the night with us,"

said the Caliph and, turning to Ja'afar, "Take them home with

thee and tomorrow bring them to my presence that we may chronicle

their adventures." Ja'afar did as the Caliph bade him and the

Commander of the Faithful returned to his palace; but sleep gave

no sign of visiting him that night and he lay awake pondering the

mishaps of the three Kalandar princes and impatient to know the

history of the ladies and the two black bitches.