THE RUINED MAN WHO BECAME RICH AGAIN THROUGH A DREAM

THERE lived once in Baghdad a wealthy man and made of money, who
lost all his substance and became so destitute that he could earn

his living only by hard labor. One night he lay down to sleep dejected
and heavyhearted, and saw in a dream a speaker who said to him,

"Verily thy fortune is in Cairo. Go thither and seek it." So he set
out for Cairo, but when he arrived there, evening overtook him and

he lay down to sleep in a mosque. Presently, by decree of Allah
Almighty a band of bandits entered the mosque and made their way

thence into an adjoining house, but the owners, being aroused by the
noise of the thieves, awoke and cried out. Whereupon the Chief of

Police came to their aid with his officers.
The robbers made off, but the Wali entered the mosque, and finding

the man from Baghdad asleep there, laid hold of him and beat him
with palm rods so grievous a beating that he was well-nigh dead.

Then they cast him into jail, where he abode three days, after which
the Chief of Police sent for him and asked him, "Whence art thou?" and

he answered, "From Baghdad." Quoth the Wali, "And what brought thee to
Cairo?" and quoth the Baghdadi, "I saw in a dream One who said to

me, 'Thy fortune is in Cairo. Go thither to it.' But when I came to
Cairo the fortune which he promised me proved to be the palm rods thou

so generously gavest to me."
The Wali laughed till he showed his wisdom teeth and said, "O man of

little wit, thrice have I seen in a dream one who said to me: 'There
is in Baghdad a house in such a district and of such a fashion and its

courtyard is laid out gardenwise, at the lower end whereof is a
jetting fountain and under the same a great sum of money lieth buried.

Go thither and take it.' Yet I went not, but thou, of the briefness of
thy wit, hast journeyed from place to place on the faith of a dream,

which was but an idle galimatias of sleep."
Then he gave him money, saying, "Help thee back herewith to thine

own country," and he took the money and set out upon his homeward
march. Now the house the Wali had described was the man's own house in

Baghdad, so the wayfarer returned thither and, digging underneath
the fountain in his garden, discovered a great treasure. And thus

Allah gave him abundant fortune, and a marvelouscoincidence occurred.
And a story is also current of

• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• speaker [´spi:kə] n.演讲人；代言人 (初中英语单词)
• thither [´ðiðə] ad.到那里 a.那边的 (初中英语单词)
• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
• decree [di´kri:] n.法令；公告；天命 (初中英语单词)
• wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
• fountain [´fauntin] n.泉水；源泉；根源 (初中英语单词)
• abundant [ə´bʌndənt] a.丰富的；充分的 (初中英语单词)
• marvelous [´mɑ:viləs] (=marvellous) a.奇异的 (初中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• overtook [,əuvə´tuk] overtake的过去式 (英语四级单词)
• thieves [θi:vz] thief的复数 (英语四级单词)
• whereupon [,weərə´pɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语四级单词)
• grievous [´gri:vəs] a.痛苦的；严重的 (英语四级单词)
• generously [´dʒenərəsli] ad.慷慨地 (英语四级单词)
• thrice [θrais] ad.三倍地；三次 (英语四级单词)
• whereof [weər´ɔv] ad.关于什么；关于那事 (英语四级单词)
• coincidence [kəu´insidəns] n.巧合；符合；一致 (英语四级单词)
• destitute [´destitju:t] a.贫穷的；缺乏...的 (英语六级单词)
• beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
• herewith [,hiə´wið ,hiə´wiθ] ad.因此，附此 (英语六级单词)