646 Jotirnal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [December, 1907. 



two of them caifie to tlie house of a certain man who was sleeping 

 with his wife. The couple became aware of the presence of the 

 thieves. The man shook tip his wife and said, ''Thieves on the 

 roof." Said his ^"ife, "I^'o, they are not thieves. Were they 

 thieves, they wouhln'i have come to the east part of the house, 

 when our valuables are in the south." Now, there was in the 

 south, a wall so delapidated that were anyone to cross it, it would 

 fall. A thief overheard what the woman said and called to his 

 brother, "The woman says so-and-so. Let us go to the south of 

 the house." " He replied, " Come on.'* They went to the south of 

 the house and the wall came before them. There was no other 

 way except across it, so they got on it, Now, there was a well 

 underneath. The wall fell with them, and they dropped into the 

 well. The man heard the fall and said to the woman, *' What is 

 this ? " She said, *' Eight ; those were thieves that you perceived. 

 They heard me say that our valuables were in the southern portion 

 of the house. Now my sole idea in saying this was to make them 

 go to the south of the house, as I knew they had no other way but 

 over the wall." In tlie morning, the man looked down the well and 

 saw the thieves. He said to . them, *' Who ■ are these in the 

 well ?!' They said, '* We ; men of such and such a tribe." He said, 



What 



fii 



W 



house, but fate decreed otherwise. Now, take us out of the well." 

 He said, " No, no ; die where you are." He went and called the 

 elders of the village to consult with them. 'J'hey cf»me, and he 

 said to them, " Such and such is the case. What do you say ? '' 

 They said, "Cast stones at them till they die; and when dead, 

 take them out and bury them." As agreed upon, they stoned 

 them to death and then baried them, only a few persons being 

 privy to the matter. The friends of the thieves waited for two 

 months, but the thieves did not make their appearance; so their 

 friends set out to make enquiries about them. They came to the 

 village and asked about them. The villagers said, " We have never 

 seen them," The friends were about to leave, when a bitch of an 

 old woman said to them, *' What has brought you here, people 

 of such and such a tribe." They said, *' We have come to enquire 

 about So-and-so and So-and-so, who have been absent for the last 

 two months and have not yet made their appearance." She said, 

 "May the living one save you ! So-and-so and So-and-so were 

 killed by- the people of this village and buried in such and such 

 a place ; but do not say 1 said so." *' All right," said they. They 

 then went to tlie people of the village and addressed them saying, 

 " You have killed them and baried them in such and such a place. 

 What have you to say to this ? " The villagers said, " We will con- 

 sult together and then give you an answer." The people of the vil- 

 lage consulted together, and agreed to confess the deed. So they 

 confessed saying, " We killed them ; it is now for you to decide ; 

 we will agree to jour terms.'* The Bedouins said, ^' We want the 

 price of blood customary amongst genuine Arabs," They said, 

 "AH right"; and they paid the blood money. When I left, the 

 Bedoums were still in the village. 



