There was no plant and no vegetable which escaped his eye , but he lingered longest of all before his one date tree . Now the sultan had seven sons . Six of them he was proud of , for they were strong and manly , but the youngest he disliked , for he spent all his time among the women of the house . The sultan had talked to him , and he paid no heed ; and he had beaten him , and he paid no heed ; and he had tied him up , and he paid no heed , till at last his father grew tired of trying to make him change his ways , and let him alone . Time passed , and one day the sultan , to his great joy , saw signs of fruit on his date tree . And he told his vizir , ` My date tree is bearing ; ' and he told the officers , ` My date tree is bearing ; ' and he told the judges , ` My date tree is bearing ; ' and he told all the rich men of the town . He waited patiently for some days till the dates were nearly ripe , and then he called his six sons , and said : ` One of you must watch the date tree till the dates are ripe , for if it is not watched the slaves will steal them , and I shall not have any for another year . ' And the eldest son answered , ' I will go , father , ' and he went . The first thing the youth did was to summon his slaves , and bid them beat drums all night under the date tree , for he feared to fall asleep . So the slaves beat the drums , and the young man danced till four o'clock , and then it grew so cold he could dance no longer , and one of the slaves said to him : ` It is getting light ; the tree is safe ; lie down , master , and go to sleep . ' So he lay down and slept , and his slaves slept likewise . A few minutes went by , and a bird flew down from a neighbouring thicket , and ate all the dates , without leaving a single one . And when the tree was stripped bare , the bird went as it had come . Soon after , one of the slaves woke up and looked for the dates , but there were no dates to see . Then he ran to the young man and shook him , saying : ` Your father set you to watch the tree , and you have not watched , and the dates have all been eaten by a bird . ' The lad jumped up and ran to the tree to see for himself , but there was not a date anywhere . And he cried aloud , ` What am I to say to my father ? Shall I tell him that the dates have been stolen , or that a great rain fell and a great storm blew ? But he will send me to gather them up and bring them to him , and there are none to bring ! Shall I tell him that Bedouins drove me away , and when I returned there were no dates ?
And he will answer , `` You had slaves , did they not fight with the XXXXX ? ''
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