Read "The Mercy of Allah" by Hilaire Belloc online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
When his nephews next filed into the presence of Mahmoud at the hour / of public executions their first act was to stand in a line and / salaam; their next to push forward the eldest, who with much catching / up of himself and in the humblest tones, desired to apologize to his / uncle for the interruption of which he had been guilty during their / last audience.
"It is not my fault, Revered Sir," said he, "that I was born a little / thick-headed in the matter of figures. The whole thing has been / explained to me most fully by my father, my mother, my brothers, / and sundry guests that came in last night after the evening meal: / to which (alas! ) we could not afford to invite them. I now see very / clearly where and how a million can become two without breeding, and / I only hope that in the further story of your adventures we shall / find miraculously increasing with every year the fortune which the / Almighty bestowed upon you in reward for your ceaseless efforts to / benefit mankind."