The Adventures of Haroun-al-Raschid

The Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid sat in his palace, wondering if there was anything left in the world that could possibly give him a few hours' amusement, when Giafar the grand-vizir, his old and tried friend, suddenly appeared before him. Bowing low, he waited, as was his duty, till his master spoke ¹, but Haroun-al-Raschid merely turned his head and looked at him, and sank back into his former weary（疲倦的） posture ³. , ,Now Giafar had something of importance to say to the Caliph, and had no intention of being put off by mere ² silence, so with another low bow in front of the throne, he began to speak. , ,"Commander of the Faithful," said he, "I have taken on myself to remind your Highness that you have undertaken secretly to observe for yourself the manner in which justice is done and order is kept throughout the city. This is the day you have set apart to devote to this object, and perhaps in fulfilling this duty you may find some distraction ⁴ from the melancholy⁵（忧郁） to which, as I see to my sorrow, you are a prey ⁶." , , ,A few moments later they both re-entered the hall, disguised as foreign merchants, and passed through a secret door, out into the open country. Here they turned towards the Euphrates, and crossing the river in a small boat, walked through that part of the town which lay along the further bank, without seeing anything to call for their interference. Much pleased with the peace and good order of the city, the Caliph and his vizir made their way to a bridge, which led straight back to the palace, and had already crossed it, when they were stopped by an old and blind man, who begged for alms. , ,The Caliph gave him a piece of money, and was passing on, but the blind man seized his hand, and held him fast. , ,The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒 。,That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。