SOME CURRENT PERSIAN TALES. ; 385 



lay down close by Thin-beard. 1 The thieves entered, and seeing two corpses pushed 

 them aside and sat down. A sword happened to be part of the loot. One of the thieves 

 said, " This falls to my share." Another said, " No ; whoever can cut this corpse in two 

 with one blow will have a right to the sword." A third got up, rolled up his sleeves and 

 said, " I'm the man for this job ; I'll cut both in two with one blow." 



The official now whispered to Thin-beard, who was lying close to the bier, " Hie 

 comrade ! You'll be killed yourself and you'll get me killed : do something." Sud- 

 denly Thin-beard rose from the washing plank clapping his hands, and shouted out, 

 "Oh ye dead! rise and seize the living ! ' The official sprang up from the bier and 

 cried out, " Seize them, strangle them ! ' When the thieves saw the dead rise they left 

 their loot and fled. 



Afterwards the thieves consulted together deciding that the dead would not 

 carry off the booty and that some one ought to go and see what had happened. One 

 came forward and said that he would go and see whether the dead had departed or not. 

 Thin-beard looked out and saw one of the thieves approaching : he went and hid behind 

 the door. As soon as the thief put his head inside to see whether the dead had gone or 

 not, Thin-beard snatched off the thief's cap, saying to one of the dead, " This is your 

 farthing share." 2 The thief ran off and returned to his comrades and said, " Friends ! 

 there are so many ' deaders ' there, that of our loot the share of each amounts to only 

 a farthing. One had not got his share, so my cap was taken to make it up." The 

 thieves all vanished. 



In the morning Thin-beard said to the officer, " Come, let us be friends and divide 

 the spoil." Thin-beard took his share, and went to his companions and related what 

 had happened. — And now good-bye, my tale is done. 



III. 



THE SHIRAZ SWINDLE. 



There were two companions who came to Isfahan to perpetrate some paying swin- 

 dle and they were citizens of Shiraz. 3 Each of them had three hundred tumans in cash. 

 One of them with his money came to the shop-door of a certain cloth-seller and struck 

 up an acquaintance with him. They entered into conversation. The cloth-seller said 

 to his shop assistant, " Walk this gentleman's horse about." The man took the horse 

 and the money, and disappeared. In a short time the master of the man that had taken 

 away the horse and money, made some excuse and shut up his shop and went his way. 

 The new-comer was left where he was, lost and bewildered. Suddenly he spied a woman 

 with a bundle on her head coming out of the bath. She addressed him and said, " Carry 



1 The kusa would be on the low washing-table, and the bier would be on the ground. 



2 Vide page 403, note 2. :.-::'. . 



3 Vide page 403, note 4. 



