"Yes."

"Then get down."

"Get down yourself."

"What for?"

"To leave me the horse."

"To leave you my horse! What mean you
by that?"

"I mean that he belongs to me. Know
you not that we are now in the town of the just
Cadi, and that if we bring the case before
him, he will certainly decide in my favour?"

"Why should he do so, when the animal
belongs to me?"

"Don't you think that when he sees us two,
—you with your strong straight limbs, which
Allah has given you for the purpose of walking,
and I with my weak legs and distorted
feet, he will decree that the horse shall belong
to him who has most need of him?"

"Should he do so, he would not be the just
Cadi," said Bou-Akas.

"Oh! as to that," replied the cripple,
laughing, "although he is just, he is not
infallible."

"So!" thought the Scheik to himself, "this
will be a capital opportunity of judging the
judge." He said aloud, "I am content—we
will go before the Cadi."

Arrived at the tribunal, where the judge,
according to the eastern custom, was publicly
administering justice, they found that two
trials were about to go on, and would of
course take precedence of theirs.

The first was between a taleb or learned
man, and a peasant. The point in dispute
was the taleb's wife, whom the peasant had
carried off, and whom he asserted to be his
own better half, in the face of the philosopher,
who demanded her restoration.

The woman, strange circumstance!
remained obstinately silent, and would not
declare for either; a feature in the case which
rendered its decision excessively difficult.
The judge heard both sides attentively,
reflected for a moment, and then said, "Leave
the woman here, and return to-morrow."

The savant and the labourer each bowed
and retired; and the next cause was called.

This was a difference between a butcher
and an oil-seller. The latter appeared covered
with oil, and the former was sprinkled with
blood.

The butcher spoke first:—

"I went to buy some oil from this man, and
in order to pay him for it, I drew a handful of
money from my purse. The sight of the
money tempted him. He seized me by the
wrist. I cried out, but he would not let me
go; and here we are, having come before your
worship, I holding my money in my hand,
and he still grasping my wrist. Now, I swear
by the Prophet, that this man is a liar, when
he says that I stole his money, for the money
is truly mine own."

Then spoke the oil-merchant:—

"This man came to purchase oil from me.
When his bottle was filled, he said, 'Have
you change for a piece of gold?' I searched
my pocket, and drew out my hand full of
money, which I laid on a bench in my shop.
He seized it, and was walking off with my
money and my oil, when I caught him by the
wrist, and cried out 'Robber!' In spite of
my cries, however, he would not surrender
the money, so I brought him here, that your
worship might decide the case. Now, I
swear by the Prophet that this man is a liar,
when he says that I want to steal his money,
for it is truly mine own."

The Cadi caused each plaintiff to repeat his
story, but neither varied one jot from his
original statement. He reflected for a moment,
and then said, "Leave the money with me,
and return to-morrow."

The butcher placed the coins, which he had
never let go, on the edge of the Cadi's mantle.
After which he and his opponent bowed to
the tribunal, and departed.

It was now the turn of Bou-Akas and the
cripple.

"My lord Cadi," said the former, "I came
hither from a distant country, with the
intention of purchasing merchandise. At the
city gate I met this cripple, who first asked
for alms, and then prayed me to allow him
to ride behind me through the streets, lest he
should be trodden down in the crowd. I
consented, but when we reached the market-
place, he refused to get down, asserting that
my horse belonged to him, and that your
worship would surely adjudge it to him, who
wanted it most. That, my lord Cadi, is
precisely the state of the case—I swear it by
Mahomet!"

"My lord," said the cripple, "as I was
coming on business to the market, and riding
this horse, which belongs to me, I saw this
man seated by the road-side, apparently half
dead from fatigue. I good-naturedly offered
to take him on the crupper, and let him ride
as far as the market-place, and he eagerly
thanked me. But what was my astonishment,
when, on our arrival, he refused to get down,
and said that my horse was his. I immediately
required him to appear before your
worship, in order that you might decide
between us. That is the true state of the case—
I swear it by Mahomet!"

Having made each repeat his deposition,
and having reflected for a moment, the Cadi
said, "Leave the horse here, and return to-
morrow."

It was done, and Bou-Akas and the cripple
withdrew in different directions. On the
morrow, a number of persons, besides those
immediately interested in the trials, assembled
to hear the judge's decisions.

The taleb and the peasant were called, first.

"Take away thy wife," said the Cadi to the
former, "and keep her, I advise thee, in good
order."

Then turning towards his chinaux, he added,
pointing to the peasant, "Give this man fifty
blows."