Certainly he had poured the proper poison in Anazeh's ear, and the old man understood my value to a nicety.
He took me by the arm and led me in, Mahommed ben Hamza following like a dog that was too busy wagging its tail to walk straight.
You would have thought Anazeh and I were father and son by the way he leaned toward me and found a way for me among the crowded cushions.
He had no meek notions about choosing a low place.

Expecting to be taken at his own valuation, he chose a high place to begin with.

There were several unoccupied cushions near the door, and there were half-a-dozen servants busy in a corner with coffee- pots and cakes.

He prodded one of the servants and ordered him to take two cushions to a place he pointed out, up near the window close to Abdul Ali.

There was no room there.