第94章 ALAEDDIN ABOU ESH SHAMAT.(4)

Moreover，he sent thither all that was needful for cooking，such as sheep and butter and so forth，and spread two tables，one in the saloon and another in the upper chamber. Then he and his son girded themselves，and he said to the latter，O my son，when a graybeard enters，I will meet him and carry him into the upper chamber and seat him at the table；and do thou，in like manner，receive the beardless youths and seat them at the table in the saloon.' O my father，'asked Alaeddin，why dost thou spread two tables，one for men and another for youths？O my son，'answered Shemseddin，the beardless boy is ashamed to eat with men.' And his son was content with this answer. So when the merchants arrived，Shemseddin received the men and seated them in the upper chamber，whilst Alaeddin received the youths and seated them in the saloon. Then the servants set on food and the guests ate and drank and made merry，whilst the attendants served them with sherbets and perfumed them with the fragrant smoke of scented woods；and the elders fell to conversing of matters of science and tradition. Now there was amongst them a merchant called Mehmoud of Balkh，a Muslim by profession but at heart a Magian，a man of lewd life，who had a passion for boys. He used to buy stuffs and merchandise of Alaeddins father；and when he saw the boy，one look at his face cost him a thousand sighs and Satan dangled the jewel before his eyes，so that he was taken with desire and mad passion for him and his heart was filled with love of him. So he arose and made for the youths，who rose to receive him. At this moment，Alaeddin，being taken with an urgent occasion，withdrew to make water；whereupon Mehmoud turned to the other youths and said to them，If ye will incline Alaeddins mind to journeying with me，I will give each of you a dress worth much money.' Then he returned to the mens party；and when Alaeddin came back，the youths rose to receive him and seated him in the place of honour. Presently，one of them said to his neighbour，O my lord Hassan，tell me how thou camest by the capital on which thou tradest.' When I came to mans estate，answered Hassan，I said to my father，'O my father，give me merchandise.'O my son，'answered he，'I have none by me： but go thou to some merchant and take of him money and traffic with it and learn to buy and sell and give and take.' So I went to one of the merchants and borrowed of him a thousand dinars，with which I bought stuffs and carrying them to Damascus，sold them there at a profit of two for one. Then I bought Syrian stuffs and carrying them to Aleppo，disposed of them there at a like profit；after which I bought stuffs of Aleppo and repaired with them to Baghdad，where I sold them with the same result；nor did I cease to buy and sell，till I was worth nigh ten thousand dinars.' Each of the others told a like tale，till it came to Alaeddins turn，when they said to him，And thou，O my lord Alaeddin？Quoth he，I was brought up in a chamber underground and came forth from it but this week and I do but go to the shop and return home.' Thou art used to abide at home，'rejoined they，and knowest not the delight of travel，for travel is for men only.' I reck not of travel，'answered he，and value ease above all things.'

Whereupon quoth one to the other，This youth is like the fish：

when he leaves the water he dies.' Then they said to him，Alaeddin，the glory of the sons of the merchants is not but in travel for the sake of gain.' Their talk angered him and he left them，weeping-eyed and mourning-hearted，and mounting his mule，returned home. When his mother saw him thus，she said to him，What ails thee to weep，O my son？And he answered，All the sons of the merchants made mock of me and said to me，'There is no glory for a merchants son save in travel for gain.' O my son，'rejoined she，hast thou a mind for travel？Yes，'said he. And whither wilt thou go？asked she. To the city of Baghdad，'answered he；for there folk make a profit of two to one on their goods.' O my son，'said she，thy father is a very rich man，and if he provide thee not with merchandise，I will do so of my own monies.' Quoth he，The best of favours is that which is quickly bestowed；if it is to be，now is the time for it.' So she called the servants and sent them for packers；then opening a store-house，brought out ten loads of stuffs，which the packers made up into bales for him. Meanwhile Shemseddin missed his son and enquiring after him，was told that he had mounted and gone home；so he too mounted and followed him. When he entered the house，he saw the bales packed ready and asked what they were；whereupon his wife told him what had passed between Alaeddin and the young merchants and he said，O my son，may God curse foreign travel！Verily，the Prophet （whom God bless and preserve） hath said，'It is of a mans good fortune that he have his livelihood in his own land；' and it was said of the ancients，'Leave travel，though but for a mile.' Then he said to his son，Art thou indeed resolved to travel and wilt thou not turn back from it？