"If I say as much as this," thought the Khoja, "they will call me a fool. Even half would be more than could be believed."
So he went back to the Bazaar and said, "It is the full forty-fifth of the month, quite that."
"O Khoja!" the neighbours replied, "there are only thirty days in a complete month, and do you tell us to-day is the forty-fifth?"
"O neighbours!" answered the Khoja, "believe me, I speak with moderation. If you look into the vase, you will find that according to its account to-day is the one hundred and twentieth."
Tale 8.—The Khoja and the Thief.
One day a thief got into the Khoja's house, and the Khoja watched him.
The thief poked here, there, and everywhere, and after collecting all that he could carry, he put the load on his back and went off.
The Khoja then came out, and hastily gathering up the few things which were left of his property, he put them on his own back, and hurried after the thief.
At last he arrived before the door of the thief's house, at which he knocked.
"What do you want?" said the thief.