Peace be
upon the men and dogs, whate'er befall!
THE SHARPER OF ALEXANDRIA AND THE
MASTER OF POLICE.
There was once, in the coast-fortress of Alexandria, a Master
of Police, Husameddin by name, who was one night sitting in his
seat of office, when there came in to him a trooper, who said
to him, 'Know, O my lord, that I entered the city this night
and alighted at such a khan and slept there, till a third part
of the night was past, when I awoke and found my saddle-bags
cut open and a purse of a thousand dinars stolen from them.' No
sooner had he done speaking than the magistrate called his
officers and bade them lay hands on all in the khan and clap
them in prison till the morning; and on the morrow, he caused
bring the instruments of torment and sending for the prisoners,
was about to torture them, [to make them confess], in the
presence of the owner of the stolen money, when, behold, a man
pressed through the crowd and coming up to the chief of the
police, said, 'O Amir, let these folk go, for they are wrongly
accused. It was I who robbed the trooper, and here is the purse
I stole from his saddle-bags.
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