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If I bring other than the murderer, it will be laid to my charge

by the Lord: in very sooth I wot not what to do." He kept his

house three days and on the fourth day the Caliph sent one of the

Chamberlains for him and, as he came into the presence, asked

him, "Where is the murderer of the damsel?" to which answered

Ja'afar, "O Commander of the Faithful, am I inspector of "

murdered folk that I should ken who killed her?" The Caliph was

furious at his answer and bade hang him before the palace-gate

and commanded that a crier cry through the streets of Baghdad,

"Whoso would see the hanging of Ja'afar, the Barmaki, Wazir of

the Caliph, with forty of the Barmecides, [FN#356] his cousins

and kinsmen, before the palace-gate, let him come and let him

look!" The people flocked out from all the quarters of the city

to witness the execution of Ja'afar and his kinsmen, not knowing

the cause.