"I wonder that he does not get giddy and fall," said Fatimah.
But the man went up easily, though he had a long way to climb. Like most date-palms, the tree was very tall, and the leaves and fruit all grew together on the very tip-top of the great stem or trunk. It was, as Hamid said, "just like the bunch of feathers on the end of his spear."
When the man finally did reach the bunch of dates, it was quite a job to cut through the big stem, which was nearly as large around as his arm.
"Isn't that a big bunch?" said Hamid, as the man lowered the great golden-coloured dates to the ground.
"Yes," said Rashid, "but look, there must be some larger bunches still, for some are tied up to keep them from breaking off their stems."
The women and children were collecting the gathered dates and packing them in skins and boxes and baskets to be sent away to the markets; but the dried dates that we so often eat are left much longer on the trees to ripen and grow sugary.
"Oh, Hamid, thou and Fatimah must have a 'necklace of sham' to wear! All the children have them!" said Rashid, who had been exploring the garden and had come running quickly back. "There is a woman making them now."
The woman was threading dates on a string and then dipping them into boiling water so that they would keep their pretty golden colour. Then she put them aside in the sun to dry.
Rashid bargained with the woman for three of the necklaces at once.