32 
KAIS. 
that, except a cat, she had nothing to send as an adventure, which yet 
she requested him to take. 
On arriving in India, he waited upon the King of the country, who 
having granted him permission to trade with his subjects, also invited 
him to dine. The merchant was surprised to see the beards of the 
King and his courtiers encased in golden tubes, and the more so, when 
he observed that every man had a stick in his hand. His surprise still 
increased, when, upon the serving up of the dishes, he saw swarms of 
mice sally out from the wall, and make such an attack upon the victuals, 
as to require the greatest vigilance of the guests in keeping them off 
with their sticks. This extraordinary scene brought the cat of the 
old woman of Siraf into the merchant’s mind. When he dined a 
second time with the King, he put the cat under his arm; and no 
sooner did the mice appear, than he let it go, and to the delight of the 
King and his courtiers, hundreds of mice were laid dead about the 
floor. The King, of course, longed to possess so valuable an animal; 
and the merchant agreed to give it up, provided an adequate compen¬ 
sation were made to its real owner. When the merchant was about 
his departure, he was shown a ship, finely equipped, laden with all 
sorts of merchandize, and which he was told was to be given to the 
old woman for her cat. She of course could scarcely yield credit to 
his tale; but when she found that he was in earnest, and that she was 
possessed of such vast wealth, she imparted her good fortune to her 
sons, who came over to her, and after having made merry with the 
ready money, embarked with their mother and the rest of the property, 
and established themselves at Kais. Here they traded with great suc¬ 
cess, until their name became so famous, that twelve ships, all at one 
time, were consigned to them. They managed by stratagem to make 
away with the owners of these ships, seized their property, and com¬ 
menced pirates. In this new character they were again successful; and 
became so powerful, that they braved the King of the country, who 
was too weak to destroy them. In the course of time, indeed, their 
descendants became the Kings of Kais; and are known in Persian his¬ 
tory under the name of the Beni Kaiser. At length their power was 
