The slaves who were about to be released were gathered before him; some were old and some young, but the one who called for the most attention was a tall and very handsome young man, whom the Sheik had purchased for a large sum of money, only a few days previously, of a slave trader from Tunis.
When several of the slaves had told their stories and it came to this young man’s turn, he arose, bowed to the Sheik, and said in a clear voice:
“My Lord, the stories that have already been told are so much more interesting than any I could tell relating to myself, that with your permission I will recount to you the adventures of one of my friends.
“Upon the slave ship which brought me from Algeria there was a young man of about my own age who seemed to have been born to a better position than that in which I found him.
“The rest of the unfortunate beings upon the ship were either of a low class, so that I did not care to mix with them, or else spoke a language I did not understand, and so, whenever I had any spare time, I spent it with this young man. His name was Almansor, and, by the manner in which he spoke, I judged him to be an Egyptian.
“We took great pleasure in each other’s society, and one day we told each other our stories, and his seemed certainly more interesting than mine.
“Almansor’s father held a distinguished position in an Egyptian town. He spent the days of his childhood surrounded by every comfort, although he was not spoilt or allowed to become effeminate, for his father was a wise man and trained him to be good and virtuous, and gave him for his instructor a very learned man who taught him all that a youth should know. Almansor was about ten years of age when the Franks came from over the sea and made war upon his nation.
“The boy’s father evidently incurred the displeasure of the Franks, for one day they came and demanded his wife as a hostage and a guarantee of his good intentions towards them, and upon his refusing to give her up they tore his son from him by force, and carried him away to their camp.”
As the young slave recounted this, the Sheik hid his face in his hands and a murmur of displeasure arose in the apartment.
“How could this young man be so foolish as to tell such a story?” the Sheik’s friends asked one another. “How can he be so cruel as to open Ali Banu’s wounds afresh instead of attempting to heal them? How can he renew his grief instead of trying to allay it?”