At this Al-Rashid fell a laughing again and all the Barmecides rose and kissed the ground before him，saying，'O Commander of the Faithful，Allah make joy to endure for thee and do away annoy from thee！ What was the cause of thy delaying when thou faredst to drink and what hath befallen thee？'Quoth the Caliph，'Verily，a right wonderous tale and a joyous adventure and a wonderous hath befallen me.'And he repeated to them what had passed between himself and the Fisherman and his words，'Thou stolest my clothes！'and how he had given him his gown and how he had cut off a part of it，finding it too long for him.Said Ja'afar，'By Allah，O Commander of the Faithful，I had it in mind to beg the gown of thee；but now I will go straight to the Fisherman and buy it of him.'The Caliph replied，'By Allah，he hath cut off a third part of the skirt and spoilt it！ But，O
Ja'afar，I am tired with fishing in the river，for I have caught great store of fish which I left on the bank with my master Khalifah，and he is watching them and waiting for me to return to him with a couple of frails and a matchet.[224]Then we are to go，I and he，to the market and sell the fish and share the price.'Ja'afar rejoined，'O Commander of the Faithful，I will bring you a purchaser for your fish.'And Al-Rashid retorted，'O Ja'afar，by the virtue of my holy forefathers，whoso bringeth me one of the fish that are before Khalifah，who taught me angling；I will give him for it a gold dinar.'So the crier proclaimed among the troops that they should go forth and buy fish for the Caliph，and they all arose and made for the river-side.Now；while Khalifah was expecting the Caliph's return with the two frails，behold，the Mamelukes swooped down upon him like vultures and took the fish and wrapped them in gold-embroidered kerchiefs；beating one another in their eagerness to get at the Fisherman.
Whereupon quoth Khalifah，'Doubtless these are of the fish of Paradise！'[225] and hending two fish in right hand and left；plunged into the water up to his neck and fell a-saying，'O Allah，by the virtue of these fish，let Thy servant the piper，my partner，come to me at this very moment.'And suddenly up to him came a black slave which was the chief of the Caliph's negro eunuchs.He had tarried behind the rest，by reason of his horse having stopped to make water by the way，and finding that naught remained of the fish，little or much，looked right and left，till he espied Khalifah standing in the stream，with a fish in either hand，and said to him，'Come hither，O Fisherman！'But Khalifah replied，'Begone and none of your impudence！'[226]So the eunuch went up to him and said，'Give me the fish and I will pay thee their price.'Replied the Fisherman，'Art thou little of wit？ I will not sell them.'Therewith the eunuch drew his mace upon him，and Khalifah cried out，saying，'Strike not，O loon！
Better largesse than the mace.'[227]So saying，he threw the two fishes to the eunuch，who took them and laid them in his kerchief.Then he put hand in pouch，but found not a single dirham and said to Khalifah，'O Fisherman，verily thou art out of luck for，by Allah，I have not a silver about me！ But come to-morrow to the Palace of the Caliphate and ask for the eunuch Sandal；whereupon the castratos will direct thee to me and by coming thither thou shalt get what falleth to thy lot and therewith wend thy ways.'Quoth Khalifah，'Indeed，this is a blessed day and its blessedness was manifest from the first of it！'[228] Then he shouldered his net and returned to Baghdad；
and as he passed through the streets，the folk saw the Caliph's gown on him and stared at him till he came to the gate of his quarter，by which was the shop of the Caliph's tailor.When the man saw him wearing a dress of the apparel of the Caliph，worth a thousand dinars，he said to him，'O Khalifah，whence hadst thou that gown？'Replied the Fisherman，'What aileth thee to be impudent？ I had it of one whom I taught to fish and who is become my apprentice.O forgave him the cutting off of his hand [229] for that he stole my clothes and gave me this cape in their place.'So the tailor knew that the Caliph had come upon him as he was fishing and jested with him and given him the gown；--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Eight Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night； She resume，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Caliph came upon Khalifah the Fisherman and gave him his own gown in jest wherewith the man fared home.Such was his case；but as regards Harun al-Rashid，he had gone out a-hunting and a-fishing only to divert his thoughts from the damsel，Kut al-Kulub.But when Zubaydah heard of her and of the Caliph's devotion to her；the Lady was fired with the jealousy which the more especially fireth women，so that she refused meat and drink and rejected the delights of sleep and awaited the Caliph's going forth on a journey or what not，that she might set a snare for the damsel.
