THE HISTORY OF MOHAMMED THE LANGUID.
It was in the time of the Caliph, the Prince of the Faithful, Haroun al Rashid, he sat in his court with his vizirs. And he saw a young slave come in. And he said, "My mistress, the Lady Zubeydeh, sends her compliments, and after compliments, she has made a crown to be worn, and has fallen short one jewel; so look out for her one jewel, a large one." And he looked in his chests, and searched without finding one so large as she wanted.
And he said, "Bring me the crown, that I may look at it." And he brought him the crown, which was made of jewels only. And he told his vizirs who sat with him. And he showed them the crown, and told them, "I want a jewel fit for the top of the crown."
And so it was, each man went out and went to his house to seek for the jewel the caliph wanted, and each one searched without finding it. What they had were too small to serve for the top of the crown. And he went into the town to the merchants, to seek for a jewel large enough, without finding one.
A certain man spoke, and said to the caliph, "No jewel that will do is to be found here in the district of Bagdad. Perhaps in the district of Bussorah, there is a certain man,
