Ajib's Memoirs

Ajib reveled in the joy that money brought him and Tahira. For a week the two of them lived the most delightful of lives. Then one day Ajib came home to find the door to his house broken open, ransacked of all silver and gold items. The terrified cook emerged from hiding and told him that robbers had taken Tahira. A stranger knocked at their door and said: I have a message for you. Your wife is safe. What ransom would you have? He asked. Ten thousand in ours. That is more than all I possessed. Do not haggle with me.