Arabian nights: Khalifa and caliph

Once upon a time, there lived a fisherman named Khalifa in Baghdad. He was as poor as a church mouse. He couldn't even get three meals a day, let alone get married and start a family.

One day, as usual, he got up early, took up his fishing net and went out of the city to the Tigris River. He was full of energy and cast two nets into the river, but he got nothing. Undaunted, he continued to cast nets. I know that God is omnipotent. Anything that is really important will definitely appear. Anything that God doesn't want will definitely not appear, and no one will stop his will. I beg God to give me the food and clothing I urgently need!

With that, he threw a fishing net into the river again, held the rope tightly, waited patiently for a while, and then closed the net with confidence. This time, the fishing net seemed to be quite heavy. He carefully lifted it out of the water. At first glance, there was no fish in the net, but there was a lame monkey who was blind in one eye.

There was nothing to do. The fisherman pulled the monkey to a tree by the river and put a rope around his neck. Just then, the one-eyed monkey suddenly spoke:

Khalifa, don't hit me, because it's useless for you to hit me. You should seize the opportunity and cast a net quickly, and God will give you food and clothing.

After listening to the monkey's words, the fisherman thought it was reasonable, so he threw away the branches, grabbed the fishing net and continued to throw it into the river. He made greater efforts and trawled ashore more carefully. At first sight, there was another monkey in the net! I saw it grinning, bleeding eyes, and wearing a ragged clothes. He was so angry that he pulled the second monkey under the tree and tied it firmly there, and lifted the dry branch, so he was going to beat it hard to relieve his resentment.

Khalifa, the second monkey also spoke. It is certainly useless for you to beat me hard. It is better to continue to spread it. I pulled it up with all my strength. As a result, it was still a monkey. I saw that his fur was all red, he was wearing a small blue coat, his hands and feet were stained with nails, his eyebrows were painted, and his eyes were painted with eye shadow. The fisherman lamented:

What happened to me today? It seems that I didn't come to fish, but to catch monkeys!

He was about to pull the monkey and tie him to the trunk when the monkey began to speak:

Khalifa, don't you know me?

how can I know you?

I'm a monkey from Seldo, Qian Shang.

What do you do there?

I accompany my master in the morning and help him earn five yuan; Stay with him in the afternoon and earn money in 5 yuan.

After listening to this monkey's introduction, the fisherman said to the first monkey, Look at him, he can still help his master earn some money. What about you? It will only bring me bad luck!

As he spoke, he tried to beat it with a dry branch. At this moment, the third monkey said: Khalifa, please hold your hand! Please come with me. I want to talk to you.

The fisherman threw away the branch again and followed it to the river.

You don't have to beat us in a hurry. It said, we will wait for you here, and then you can cast your net. Whatever you salvage, you can bring it to us. At that time, I still want to talk to you.

The fisherman cast his net into the river with a grain of salt and waited. His eyes are shining like gold coins. Although he has never seen such a strange fish, he is still extremely happy to finally catch it. He took it to the monkey and the monkey asked him, Tell me, Khalifa, what are you going to do with it? What will you do with us?

I think your monkey is still useful, and I plan to keep you for you to eat and drink every day. But those two monkeys are useless, and I want to kill them.

Since you have chosen me and are going to keep me, you should do as I say. You tie me to a tree with a rope, and then you go to the middle of the river and spread the net in the river. When you close the net later, I have my own words.

The fisherman did what the monkey said, and as a result, he caught a white fish as big as a sheep, with a head like a sheep's head and a tail like a sheep's tail, and its shape was very strange. He came to the monkey with the white fish, and the monkey said to him,

Don't worry about us, go and get some tender grass, spread some on the bottom of the basket and put the fish on the grass. Go to the shop in Seldo, Qian Shang. You put the basket in front of him, tell him that this is the fish specially fished for him, and tell him that you walked all the way from the river to his shop, and others didn't find it. If he accepts the fish and gives you a gold coin, you must never accept it. If he gives you two gold coins, you still don't want it. In short, whatever he gives you, you will refuse it, that is, it will give you the same weight as the fish. Just tell him that as long as he says a few words, let him publicly announce that he will exchange his own monkey and luck with yours as the price of the fish. If so, from now on, I will accompany you day and night, and let you make a net profit of ten gold coins every day. At the same time, let this lame monkey who is blind with one eye accompany Qian Shang, which will make him unlucky and lose money. Khalifa, just do as I say! I'm sure you'll be prosperous and increasingly developed in the future. Now, when my words are over, you can throw us all into the river!

The fisherman pushed all the monkeys into the river according to what the monkey said. He washed the fish, mowed some tender grass, and put them in the basket. Then, he carried the basket with the fish on his back and went all the way into Baghdad. No matter who asked about it, he ignored it.

Second,

The fisherman went straight to the money shop and saw Qian Shang sitting in the shop, leaning on a big round pillow embroidered with silk. There are a lot of servants under his command, just like an emperor.

He is looking at Qian Shang up and down. Unexpectedly, Qian Shang greeted him warmly like a good friend reunited after a long separation:

Hello, Khalifa! Welcome! Let me know what you want, and I'll make sure you're satisfied!

Well, I went fishing in the Tigris River this morning, and I caught this fish in one net. As he said, the fisherman pulled the tender grass out of the basket and put the fish in front of Qian Shang.

Great! When Qian Shang saw the fish, he clapped his hands for joy and said, Did anyone see you coming from the river with this fish on your back?

no one has seen it except you!

ok, I'll take this fish. Qian Shang said, reaching out and taking out a gold coin from his pocket, he handed it to the fisherman and said? Give you this gold coin as a reward!

The fisherman was so happy that he had never seen Huang Cancan's gold coin in his life. He took it and left. However, he just took a few steps and suddenly remembered what the monkey had said to him. He turned around and threw it in front of Qian Shang and said,

What, are you trying to taunt me? Give back my fish!

Qian Shang thought he was too short of money, so he took out a gold coin and gave it to him.

The fisherman didn't accept it. Qian Shang had an idea and said,

Don't you like gold coins? Otherwise, you will be satisfied by changing gold coins into silver coins, right?

I don't want gold coins or silver coins, as long as you give me back the fish!

Qian Shang took out three more gold coins and stuffed them into the fisherman's hand. However, the fisherman refused to accept them anyway. Qian Shang was so angry that he trembled and stormed:

Khalifa, you are so ungrateful. Your fish is worthless. I paid five gold coins to buy it, which is a great compliment to you. Why, you are whimsical! Well, tell me, how much do you want? !

I won't sell it for any money, as long as you say a few words!

Qian Shang thought that the fisherman's request was tantamount to insulting his personality, and he trembled with anger. He called several servants with big arms and round waist and said,

Come on, give me a good beating!

The servants didn't dare to neglect, so they all started to knock the fisherman to the ground and beat him with their fists and feet. Qian Shang thought he was subdued and asked him,

What's the matter now? Is it time to obey my orders?

No matter how much you torture me, I'm still the same sentence. Either you give me my fish back, or you go downtown and announce publicly that you are willing to exchange your monkey and luck with mine.

What's the difficulty! I thought it was a big deal! It turned out to be such a piece of cake.

So, he and the fisherman came to the city and said in front of everyone,

Merchants and vendors, please testify that I traded my monkey and luck for this fisherman's monkey and luck!

After the announcement, Qian Shang said to the fisherman, I have announced it in public according to your requirements. What else do you want?

No.

Goodbye then!

The fisherman returned to the Tigris River with his net and basket, and continued fishing. He cast his net, waited for a while, and felt very heavy when he closed it, so he dragged the net ashore hard. When he saw that the net was full of all kinds of fish, he was very happy.

At this time, many people gathered around, scrambling to buy his fresh fish, and each person bought a gold coin fish. Ten days later, I saved 1 gold coins.

There were many wealthy businessmen and tycoons living in the alley where the fisherman lived. One night, the fisherman was tossing and turning in bed, and it was difficult to sleep. He always thought that I was notoriously poor in this alley. Now my luck has changed, and I even got 1 gold coins every day. However, this sudden change has actually become one of the rich people. At that time, I had to say to him: O leaders of Mu Min, it is a rumor to say that I have a hundred gold coins. I am a poor man, how can I have so much money? After listening to my words, the caliph may be disappointed or jealous, and he will hand me over to the governor. At that time, the governor will order me to be tortured, force me to confess, hand over gold coins, and say that so much money comes from unknown sources, and it will be confiscated. If I defend myself, I will be beaten even more severely. It is better to make preparations now and whip myself with a whip, or to adapt to the governor's order to whip me in the future.

The fisherman thinks so.

At this time, in the dead of night, the fisherman's voice of flogging himself and groans of pain were heard by wealthy businessmen and tycoons nearby. People thought that his home had been robbed and thieves were torturing him, so they rushed to the fisherman's shack. People were surprised to see that the fisherman was flogging himself naked through the door and window! Everyone knocked on the door and asked,

Khalifa, what's the matter with you?

Ladies and gentlemen, the fisherman was busy getting dressed. He said sadly, I have been saving money for years, but I was afraid that it would spread to Rashid, the caliph, and he would make me enter the palace and demand money from me. At that time, I would deny it. In this case, he would make the governor send someone to torture me. Therefore, I might as well make preparations early.

After listening to this, all the neighbors couldn't help laughing, complaining, "You're just worrying about nothing, asking for trouble, but making us upset and restless. You still have to do what you have to do, or your property and life will really be unsafe!"!

The fisherman listened to his neighbor's advice, threw away his whip, undressed and went to bed. The next morning, he was just about to go out fishing. It suddenly occurred to him that the 1 gold coins that he had worked hard to catch fish in the past ten days were at home. If they were stolen, they wouldn't suffer. So he took them out and put them in a money bag and tied them around his waist. But on second thought, this was not appropriate, because if anyone saw them tied them around his waist, thieves would spy on my whereabouts. Finally, he decided to sew gold coins on the collar of his robe. After all the arrangements were made, he went out to fish with his net and basket.

When he reached the Tigris River, he cast his net, but he didn't catch any fish. He changed his place and still didn't catch any fish! So, he kept fighting along the Tigris River until he reached a section far away from Baghdad. Finally, he said angrily, Anyway, I only played this last net today! He angrily threw the fishing net into the river with all his life's strength. Unexpectedly, the collar of the robe he was wearing was untied, and a cloth bag containing 1 gold coins was scattered in the river and instantly washed away by the river. When he saw that the money bag was washed away, he took off his clothes in desperation, jumped into the river, followed it, ups and downs several times, and was exhausted, but he never caught the bag of gold coins. He returned to the shore in great depression and took a look. But his clothes were gone. He sat on the shore and wept for a while. There was no choice but to put a fishing net on his body, like a camel left behind, and walked aimlessly in the lost way.

Third,

It is said that Khalifa Rashid had a friend named Karnu, who was a famous jewelry tycoon in Baghdad. Because Karnu was in business as Khalifa Rashid. Whether it's the sale of antiques and famous paintings or the sale of slaves and servants, all of them go through his way. Only after he looks at it and nods, can the transaction be concluded.

On this day, a broker came to Karnu's shop with a beautiful woman with a slim figure and a face like a lotus, asking him for a valuation. Karnu carefully observed and asked about the girl, and found that she was not only beautiful in appearance, but also knowledgeable. She also prepared clothes and jewelry for her with 1, gold coins, and then took her to the palace to present it to Rashid, the caliph.

Rashid was immediately attracted by the girl's beauty, and then tested her with various questions. Knowing that she was brilliant and extraordinary, she left her and * * * rewarded Karnu with 1, gold coins.

From then on, the caliph named the girl Karbai, regardless of the queen and other palaces. Never leaving. Except for rushing to the mosque to attend the ceremony every Friday, the rest of the time is spent in the harem, neglecting the court affairs. The courtiers are nervous, and the admonition is invalid, so they have to complain to the prime minister Zhang Erfan. The prime minister can only go to the mosque on the ceremony day, and take the opportunity to see the caliph, patiently persuading him not to neglect the court affairs, but only to be obsessed with women, saying that this is harmful and not beneficial. Finally, he said The most proud way for sons and grandsons to have fun is to hunt in the mountains. If your majesty can go out hunting and enjoy the natural scenery, it will be beneficial and harmless to your body.

The caliph bowed his head for a long time and thought that the Prime Minister had a point. Then he said, Well, we will go tomorrow.