The Tale of the Four Dervishes

I now commence my tale; pay attention to it, and be just to its merits. In the “Adventures of the Four Darwesh,” it is thus written, and the narrator has related, that formerly in the Empire of Rum there reigned a great king, in whom were innate justice equal to that of Naushirwan, and generosity like that of Hatim. His name was Azad-Bakht, and his imperial residence was at Constantinople, (which they call Istambol.) In his reign the peasant was happy, the treasury full, the army satisied, and the poor at ease. They lived in such peace and plenty, that in their homes the day was a festival, and the night was a shabi barat. Thieves, robbers, pickpockets, swindlers, and all such as were vicious and dishonest, he utterly exterminated, and no vestige of them allowed he to remain in his kingdom. The doors of the houses were unshut all night, and the shops of the bazar remained open. The travellers and wayfarers chinked gold as they went along, over plains and through woods; and no one asked them, “How many teeth have you in your mouth,” or “Where are you going?”