The Amirs son was vexed at this and said to the broker，Who is it that bids against me for the slave-girl？It is the Vizier Jaafer，answered the broker，who is minded to buy her for Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.'Alaeddin continued to bid for her till he brought her price up to ten thousand dinars，and her owner sold her to him for that sum. So he took the girl and said to her，I give thee thy ******* for the love of God the Most High.'Then he married her and carried her to his house. When the broker returned，after having delivered the girl and received his brokerage，Hebezlem called him and said to him，Where is the girl？Quoth he，She was bought for ten thousand dinars by Alaeddin，who hath set her free and married her.'At this the young man was greatly cast down and heaving many a sigh，returned home，sick for love of the damsel. He threw himself on his bed and refused food，and passion and love-longing were sore upon him. When his mother saw him in this plight，she said to him，God keep thee，O my son！What ails thee？And he answered，Buy me Jessamine，O my mother.'When the flower-seller passes，'said she，I will buy thee a basketful of jessamine.'Quoth he，It is not the jessamine one smells I want，but a slave girl named Jessamine，whom my father would not buy for me.'So she said to her husband，Why didst thou not buy him the girl？And he replied，What is fit for the master is not fit for the servant，and I have no power to take her；for no less a man bought her than Alaeddin，Chief of the Sixty.'Then the youths weakness redoubled upon him，till he could neither sleep nor eat，and his mother bound her head with the fillets of mourning. Presently，as she sat at home，lamenting over her son，there came in to her an old woman，known as the mother of Ahmed Kemakim the arch-thief，a knave who would bore through the stoutest wall and scale the highest and steal the very kohl from the eye. From his earliest years he had been given to these foul practices，till they made him captain of the watch，when he committed a robbery and the Chief of the Police，taking him in the act，carried him to the Khalif，who bade put him to death. But he sought protection of the Vizier，whose intercession the Khalif never rejected；so he pleaded for him with the Commander of the Faithful，who said，How canst thou intercede for a wretch who is the pest of the human race？O Commander of the Faithful，'replied Jaafer，do thou imprison him；he who built the [first] prison was a sage，seeing that a prison is the sepulchre of the live and a cause for their enemies to exult.'So the Khalif bade lay him in chains and write thereon，Appointed to remain until death and not to be loosed but on the bench of the washer of the dead.'And they fettered him and cast him into prison. Now his mother was a frequent visitor to the house of the Master of the Police and used to go in to her son in prison and say to him，Did I not warn thee to turn from thy wicked ways？God decreed this to me，'would he answer；but，O my mother，when thou visitest the Amirs wife，make her intercede for me with her husband.'So when the old woman came in to the Lady Khatoun，she found her bound with the fillets of mourning and said to her，Wherefore dost thou mourn？For my son Hebezlem Bezazeh，'answered she，and the old woman exclaimed，God keep thy son！What hath befallen him？
So Khatoun told her the whole story，and she said，What wouldst thou say of him who should find means to save thy son？And what wilt thou do？asked the lady. Quoth the old woman，I have a son called Ahmed Kemakim the arch-thief，who lies chained in prison，and on his fetters is written，'Appointed to remain till death.'
So do thou don thy richest clothes and trinkets and present thyself to thy husband with an open and smiling favour；and when he seeks of thee what men use to seek of women，put him off and say，'By Allah，it is a strange thing！When a man desires aught of his wife，he importunes her till she satisfies him；but if a wife desire aught of her husband，he will not grant it to her.'
Then he will say，'What dost thou want？'And do thou answer，'First swear to grant my request.'If he swear to thee by his head or by Allah，say to him，'Swear to me the oath of divorce，'and so not yield to him，except he do this. Then，if he swear to thee the oath of divorce，say to him，'Thou hast in prison a man called Ahmed Kemakim，and he has a poor mother，who is instant with me to urge thee to intercede for him with the Khalif，that he may relent towards him and thou earn a reward from God.'I hear and obey，'answered Khatoun. So when her husband came in to her，she did as the old woman had taught her and extorted the required oath from him，before she would yield to his wishes. He lay with her that night and on the morrow，after he had made his ablutions and prayed the morning prayers，he repaired to the prison and said to Ahmed Kemakim，Harkye，O arch-thief，dost thou repent of thy ill deeds？I do indeed repent and turn to God，'answered he，and say with heart and tongue，'I ask pardon of Allah.'So he carried him，still chained，to the Divan and kissed the earth before the Khalif，who said to him，O Amir Khalid，what seekest thou？Then he brought forward Ahmed Kemakim，shuffling in his fetters，and the Khalif said to him，Kemakim，art thou yet alive？O Commander of the Faithful，answered he，the wretched are long-lived.'Then said the Khalif to the Amir，Why have thou brought him hither？And he replied，O Commander of the Faithful，he hath a poor，desolate mother，who hath none but him，and she hath had recourse to thy slave，imploring him to intercede with thee to set him free and make him Captain of the Watch as before；for he repenteth of his evil courses.'Quoth the Khalif to Ahmed，Dost thou repent of thy sins？I do indeed repent to God，O Commander of the Faithful，answered he；whereupon the Khalif called for the blacksmith and made him strike off his irons on the bench of the washer of the dead. Moreover，he restored him to his former office and charged him to walk in the way of good and righteousness. So he kissed the Khalifs hands and donning the captains habit，went forth，whilst they made proclamation of his appointment.
