Then he gave her a cake of barley-bread and said to her， "I do not love to be answered， when I am angry： so henceforth give me no more of these insolent words， and I will sell thee to an honest fellow like myself， who will use thee well， even as I have done." "It is well，" answered she； and when the night was long upon her and hunger gnawed her， she ate a little of the barley-cake. In the middle of the night， the Bedouin gave the signal for departure； so they loaded the camels and he mounted one of them， taking Nuzhet ez Zeman up behind him. Then they set out and journeyed， without stopping， for three days， till they reached the city of Damascus， where they alighted at the Sultan"s khan， hard by the Viceroy"s Gate. Now she had lost her colour and her charms were changed by grief and the fatigue of the journey，and she ceased not to weep. So the Bedouin came up to her and said， "Hark ye， city wench！ By my bonnet， an thou leave not this weeping， I will sell thee to a Jew！" Then he took her by the hand and carried her to a chamber， where he left her and went to the bazaar. Here he went round to the merchants who dealt in slave-girls and began to parley with them， saying， "I have with me a slave-girl， whose brother fell ill， and I sent him to my people at Jerusalem， that they might tend him till he was cured.
The separation from him was grievous to her， and since then， she does nothing but weep. Now I purpose to sell her， and I would fain have whoso is minded to buy her of me speak softly to her and say to her， "Thy brother is with me in Jerusalem， ill；" and I will be easy with him about her price." Quoth one of the merchants， "How old is she？" "She is a virgin， just come to the age of puberty，" replied the Bedouin， "and is endowed with sense and breeding and wit and beauty and grace. But from the day I sent her brother to Jerusalem， she has done nothing but grieve for him， so that her beauty is fallen away and her value lessened." When the merchant heard this， he said， "O chief of the Arabs， I will go with thee and buy this girl of thee， if she be as thou sayest for wit and beauty and accomplishments； but it must be upon conditions， which if thou accept， I will pay thee her price， and if not， I will return her to thee." "If thou wilt，" said the Bedouin， "take her up to Prince Sherkan， son of King Omar ben Ennuman， lord of Baghdad and of the land of Khorassan， and I will agree to whatever conditions thou mayst impose on me； for when he sees her， she will surely please him，and he will pay thee her price and a good profit to boot for thyself." "It happens，" rejoined the merchant， "that I have just now occasion to go to him， that I may get him to sign me patent，exempting me from customs-dues， and I desire of him also a letter of recommendation to his father King Omar. So， if he take the girl， I will pay thee down her price at once." "I agree to this，"
answered the Bedouin. So they returned together to the khan，where the Bedouin stood at the door of the girl"s chamber and called out， saying， "Ho， Najiyeh！" which was the name he had given her. When she heard him， she wept and made no answer. Then he turned to the merchant and said to him， "There she sits. Do thou go up to her and look at her and speak kindly to her， as I enjoined thee." So he went up to her courteously and saw that she was wonder-lovely and graceful especially as she was acquainted with the Arabic tongue； and he said to the Bedouin， "Verily she is even as thou saidst， and I shall get of the Sultan what I will for her." Then he said to her， "Peace be on thee， O daughterling！
How dost thou？" She turned to him and replied， "This was written in the book of Destiny." Then she looked at him and seeing him to be a man of reverend appearance， with a handsome face， said to herself， "I believe this man comes to buy me. If I hold aloof from him， I shall abide with this tyrant， and he will beat me to death. In any case， this man is comely of face and makes me hope for better treatment from him than from this brute of a Bedouin.
