ISHAK
There is no door. But first of all send word to the Palace Guard.
CHIEF OF POLICE
(To a soldier) Ali
(To the other ALI, who runs and says: Excellence, I hear and obey)
Not thou, fool. Did Allah make the name Ali for thee alone?
Who art thou that I should address thee? Are there not ten thousand Alis
in Bagdad, and wilt thou lift up thy head, O worm, when I say Ali?
(To POLICEMAN) Here is my ring. Take this paper,
and run with all thy might and show it to the Captain of the Palace Guard.
POLICEMAN
I hear and obey. (Starts off.)
ISHAK
(Stopping him) Wait!
CHIEF OF POLICE What right have you to stop my man, you bastard son of a quill-bearing barn-fowl?
ISHAK Since when had a bludgeoning policeman the practical good sense of a thought-breathing poet? Tell them, Ali, to send a few men with levers and ladders.
CHIEF OF POLICE
It is well ordered: run, run, Ali!
ISHAK
You other Ali, who brought the paper…
ALI
Master?
ISHAK
How long is it since any paper was thrown from the balcony?