adding，'Is not this the Anis al-Jalis whom thy father bought of me for ten thousand dinars？''Yes，'said Nur al-Din.Thereupon the broker went round to the merchants， but found that all had not yet assembled.So he waited till the rest had arrived and the market was crowded with slave-girls of all nations， Turks， Franks andCircassians；Abyssinians，Nubiansand Takruris；[31]
Tartars， Georgians and others； when he came forward and standing cried aloud，'O merchants！ O men of money！ every round thing is not a walnut and every long thing a banana is not； all reds are not meat nor all whites fat， nor is every brown thing a date！[32]O merchants， I have here this union-pearl that hath no price： at what sum shall I cry her？''Cry her at four thousand five hundred dinars，'quoth one of the traders. The broker opened the door of sale at the sum named and， as he was yet calling， lo！
the Wazir Al-Mu'in bin Sawi passed through the bazar and， seeing Nur al-Din Ali waiting at one side， said to himself，'Why is Khakan's son[33] standing about here？ Hath this gallows-bird aught remaining wherewith to buy slave-girls？'Then he looked round and， seeing the broker calling out in the market with all the merchants around him， said to himself，'I am sure that he is penniless and hath brought hither the damsel Anis al-Jalis for sale；'adding，'O how cooling and grateful is this to my heart！'
Then he called the crier， who came up and kissed the ground before him； and he said to him，'I want this slave-girl whom thou art calling for sale.' The broker dared not cross him， so he answered，'O my lord， Bismillah！ in Allah's name so be it；'and led forward the damsel and showed her to him.She pleased him much whereat he asked，'O Hasan， what is bidden for this girl？'
and he answered，'Four thousand five hundred dinars to open the door of sale.'Quoth Al-Mu'in，'Four thousand five hundred is MY bid.'When the merchants heard this， they held back and dared not bid another dirham， wotting what they did of the Wazir's tyranny， violence and treachery. So Al-Mu'in looked at the broker and said to him，'Why stand still？ Go and offer four thousand dinars for me and the five hundred shall be for thyself.'
Thereupon the broker went to Nur al-Din and said，'O my lord， thy slave is going for nothing！''And how so？'asked he. The broker answered，'We had opened the biddings for her at four thousand five hundred dinars； when that tyrant， Al-Mu'in bin Sawi， passed through the bazar and， as he saw the damsel she pleased him， so he cried to me，'Call me the buyer at four thousand dinars and thou shalt have five hundred for thyself.'I doubt not but that he knoweth that the damsel if thine， and if he would pay thee down her price at once it were well； but I know his injustice and violence； he will give thee a written order upon some of his agents and will send after thee to say to them，'Pay him nothing.'So as often as though shalt go in quest of the coin they will say，'We'll pay thee presently！'and they will put thee off day after day， and thou art proud of spirit； till at last， when they are wearied with thine importunity， they will say，'Show us the cheque.'Then， as soon as they have got hold of it they will tear it up and so thou wilt lose the girl's price.'
When Nur al-Din heard this he looked at the broker and asked him，'How shall this matter be managed？'； and he answered，'I will give thee a counsel which， if thou follow， it shall bring thee complete satisfaction.''And what is that？'quoth Nur al-Din.
Quoth the broker，'Come thou to me anon when I am standing in the middle of the market and， taking the girl from my hand， give her a sound cuffing and say to her，'Thou baggage， I have kept my vow and brought thee down to the slave-market， because I swore an oath that I would carry thee from home to the bazar， and make brokers cry thee for sale.'If thou do this， perhaps the device will impose upon the Wazir and the people， and they will believe that thou broughtest her not to the bazar， but for the quittance of thine oath.'He replied，'Such were the best way.'Then the broker left him and， returning into the midst of the market， took the damsel by the hand， and signed to the Wazir and said，'O my lord， here is her owner.'With this up came Nur al-Din Ali and， snatching the girl from the broker's hand， cuffed her soundly and said to her，'Shame on thee， O thou baggage！I have brought thee to the bazar for quittance of mine oath； now get thee home and thwart me no more as is thy wont.Woe to thee！ do I need thy price， that I should sell thee？ The furniture of my house would fetch thy value many times over！'When Al-Mu'in saw this he said to Nur al-Din，'Out on thee！Hast thou anything left for selling or buying？'And he would have laid violent hands upon him， but the merchants interposed （for they all loved Nur al-Din）， and the young man said to them，'Here am I in your hands and ye all know his tyranny.''By Allah，'cried the Wazir，'but for you I had slain him！'Then all signed with significant eyes to Nur al-Din as much as to say，'Take thy wreak of him； not one of us will come between thee and him.'Thereupon Nur al-Din， who was stout of heart as he was stalwart of limb， went up to the Wazir and， dragging him over the pommel of his saddle， threw him to the ground.Now there was in that place a puddling- pit for brick-clay，[34] into the midst of which he fell， and Nur al-Din kept pummelling and fisti-cuffing him， and one of the blows fell full on his teeth， and his beard was dyed with his blood.Also there were with the minister ten armed slaves who， seeing their master entreated after this fashion， laid hand on sword-hilt and would have bared blades and fallen on Nur al-Din to cut him down； but the merchants and bystanders said to them，'This is a Wazir and that is the son of a Wazir； haply they will make friends some time or other， in which case you will forfeit the favour of both.
Or perchance a blow may befal your lord， and you will all die the vilest of deaths； so it were better for you not to interfere.'
