The Arabian Nights

One Date Stone

Nights 2, The Merchant and the Ifrit

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A huge jinni rises out of smoke with his sword raised, while the merchant kneels below and pleads.
Illustration by William Harvey, Lane's Thousand and One Nights, Chatto and Windus, 1883 (wood engravings of 1838 to 1840)Original

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A merchant was travelling a long road. Trade had gone well, his packs were full and his mind was easy. When the sun climbed he sat down in the shade of a tree to rest.

He took dates out of his bag and ate them. The stones he flicked away as he finished each one. It is what anybody does on a road.

There was no wind and it was quiet all round. In that place there was him and one tree. So far as his eyes could tell him.

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