第272页 / 共1116页

And they ceased not to eat and drink and chat, nibbling dry

fruits and laughing and playing tricks for the space of a full

hour when lo! a knock was heard at the gate. The knocking in no

wise disturbed the seance, but one of them rose and went to see

what it was and presently returned, saying, "Truly our pleasure

for this night is to be perfect." "How is that?" asked they; and

she answered, "At the gate be three Persian Kalandars[FN#167]

with their beards and heads and eyebrows shaven; and all three

blind of the left eye-which is surely a strange chance. They are

foreigners from Roum-land with the mark of travel plain upon

them; they have just entered Baghdad, this being their first

visit to our city; and the cause of their knocking at our door is

simply because they cannot find a lodging.