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Papers by Scott Bradley

In his book The Unraveling of Secret Measures: What You Should Know about Hidden Treasures, Muham... more In his book The Unraveling of Secret Measures: What You Should Know about Hidden Treasures, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Razzaq narrates the following story: At the time of the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, there lived in Cairo a butcher named Wardan. Every day, a beautiful woman came to him. After wishing him a good morning, she gave him two gold dinars, bought a whole lamb from him, and asked him to chop it in two halves. Then she ordered a porter to carry it in his basket and walked away. This went on for a certain while. One day, when Wardan wondered about this woman's story, he had a look at the gold coins that he had received from her. As he found them to be minted long ago, he was puzzled. At first he thought that she must certainly be a pimp. He went to see the porter who would carry her lamb and asked him who she was. The porter said: "By God, Sir, she is indeed a wondrous person! When she orders me to carry the lamb, she goes to a Christian monk in the 'Castle of Candles,' gives him two golden dinars, and buys two bottles of wine from him. Then she gives him another dinar which he changes to 20 dirhams, and for IO dirhams she buys fruits, munchies, candles, and a little bread as well as other items needed for a meal such as vegetables, spices, and firewood. She asks me to carry all this to the vizier's garden in the vicinity of the mountains. There-she blindfolds me with two layers of bandages, takes me by the hand, and leads me through garbage and rubbish for a whole hour. When I finally place the basket on a large boulder, I ｧ ｲ ｾ ｢ ＠ an empty basket from there, and she leads me back to the place where she had blindfolded me. She removes the bandages, gives me IO dirhams in wages, and tells me to keep her secret so as not to endanger my livelihood." When Wardan heard this, he became even more certain that she was a pimp. He said to the porter: "My brother, by God you have told the truth! You are not gding to lose your income! We are going to make her pay dearly for the damage she causes. Now you keep the secret to yourself!" W ardan waited for the woman until she came again, bought the lamb as usual, and went away. He left his son in charge of the shop and followed her to the I86

Teaching Documents by Scott Bradley

In his book The Unraveling of Secret Measures: What You Should Know about Hidden Treasures, Muham... more In his book The Unraveling of Secret Measures: What You Should Know about Hidden Treasures, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Razzaq narrates the following story: At the time of the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, there lived in Cairo a butcher named Wardan. Every day, a beautiful woman came to him. After wishing him a good morning, she gave him two gold dinars, bought a whole lamb from him, and asked him to chop it in two halves. Then she ordered a porter to carry it in his basket and walked away. This went on for a certain while. One day, when Wardan wondered about this woman's story, he had a look at the gold coins that he had received from her. As he found them to be minted long ago, he was puzzled. At first he thought that she must certainly be a pimp. He went to see the porter who would carry her lamb and asked him who she was. The porter said: "By God, Sir, she is indeed a wondrous person! When she orders me to carry the lamb, she goes to a Christian monk in the 'Castle of Candles,' gives him two golden dinars, and buys two bottles of wine from him. Then she gives him another dinar which he changes to 20 dirhams, and for IO dirhams she buys fruits, munchies, candles, and a little bread as well as other items needed for a meal such as vegetables, spices, and firewood. She asks me to carry all this to the vizier's garden in the vicinity of the mountains. There-she blindfolds me with two layers of bandages, takes me by the hand, and leads me through garbage and rubbish for a whole hour. When I finally place the basket on a large boulder, I ｧ ｲ ｾ ｢ ＠ an empty basket from there, and she leads me back to the place where she had blindfolded me. She removes the bandages, gives me IO dirhams in wages, and tells me to keep her secret so as not to endanger my livelihood." When Wardan heard this, he became even more certain that she was a pimp. He said to the porter: "My brother, by God you have told the truth! You are not gding to lose your income! We are going to make her pay dearly for the damage she causes. Now you keep the secret to yourself!" W ardan waited for the woman until she came again, bought the lamb as usual, and went away. He left his son in charge of the shop and followed her to the I86