Page:Swahili tales.djvu/323

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SELL DEAR.
303

And he said, "All right, all right; I know where he lives. There, away at the end of the town, there is a little lean-to near the shore; there he lives with the one eyed beggar who goes about begging, he is his friend; that is where he lives, he has no other place."

And the Vizir arose in the night, at twelve o'clock, when every one was asleep, he and one of his slaves, a confidential slave of his, and they went on till they arrived. And the Vizir tapped at the lean-to and called, "Ali! Ali!" And he was afraid and did not answer. And he said, "Ali!"

And he said to his friend, "Wake, wake!" And he asked him, "What is the matter?" And he said, "There is a man knocking at our shed, and I wonder at night now whether it is a drunken man, or a man coming to steal inside here. But we are beggars, we have nothing. Perhaps the man wants to insult us, and to take our lives." And he said, "However, I say, let us wait quiet a bit and listen; and if he taps at our door a third time let us answer; perhaps we may know his voice."

And he said, "How come you to be so silly, Ali? Some one is come in the middle of the night and we don't know where he comes from, and we are not used to have people come tapping at our door. What does this man want, except perhaps he has three things he wants with us, as God has granted me, I think of these three things in my soul, it is as Almighty God pleases."

And Ali said, "What then, my friend, what is the meaning of these three things which you think of in your soul? Tell me, that I may know, that we may both know. Tell me the first."

And he said, "The first, he wants to come stealing; the second, he wants to come and kill us; the third, perhaps he thinks his wife, or his female slave is here. These