Sayfa 529 / 1116

He was struck by her trappings of price and thought her a nice

beast fit for the riding of Wazirs or even of royalties; and the

more he looked the more was he perplexed till at last he said to

one of his pages, "Bring hither yon door-keeper," The page went

and returned to the Wazir with the porter who kissed the ground

between his hands, and the Minister asked him, "Who is the owner

of yonder mule and what manner of man is he?"; and he answered,

"O my lord, the owner of this mule is a comely young man of

pleasant manners, withal grave and dignified, and doubtless one

of the sons of the merchants." When the Wazir heard the

door-keeper's words he arose forthright; and, mounting his horse,

rode to the Khan [FN#379] and went in to Nur al-Din who, seeing

the minister making towards him, rose to his feet and advanced to

meet him and saluted him.