One day there was a tailor named Zuqzuq who lived with his wife Hanan. One day, the tailor went to his shop, and while he was sitting, a hunchbacked man passed by and sat next to his shop and started singing cheerful songs. Zuqzuq was delighted by his singing and asked him to accompany him to his home to sing for him and his wife.
At home, Zuqzuq prepared food for Al-Arundis. While eating, Al-Arundis told Zuqzuq and his wife amusing funny stories, but he ate greedily and swallowed the food quickly. Suddenly a piece of fish got stuck in Al-Arundis’s throat and he choked. Zuqzuq thought he had died.
Zuqzuq feared the police would accuse him of killing him. His wife said to him: Let’s carry him to the doctor. Indeed, they carried him and headed to the doctor’s house. They knocked on the door and the servant opened for them. They told him they wanted to see the doctor, and they left Al-Arundis in front of the doctor’s house and left.
The doctor came down to see who was calling him and found Al-Arundis lying in front of the house door. The doctor feared the police would accuse him of killing Al-Arundis. He carried the corpse and placed it as if it was standing on top of his neighbor the merchant’s roof. The merchant returned from outside at a late time and saw a person standing on top of his house. He thought he was a thief, so he brought his large wooden stick, approached him, and struck him on the head with it. He said to him: So you’re the one who steals my warehouses, and I was accusing the mice. But Al-Arundis didn’t respond. The merchant examined the corpse and found it dead. He feared the police would arrest him for killing Al-Arundis.
The merchant carried the corpse and took it to the mosque, placing it in front of the mosque door. It was late so no one saw him. The merchant left immediately. At dawn, the muezzin came out of his house heading to the mosque. The muezzin had weak vision, so he stepped on Al-Arundis’s corpse and the corpse rolled toward him. The muezzin feared he was a thief, so he rained blows upon him and started screaming to call the police.
A policeman came to find that Al-Arundis had died. He thought the muezzin had killed him, so he took him to prison to appear before the judge. The judge ruled to execute him by hanging and summoned the people to witness the muezzin’s execution.
The merchant heard the story and feared the muezzin would be killed unjustly. He immediately went to the judge before the execution was carried out on the muezzin and told the judge what had happened. The judge released the muezzin and ruled to execute the merchant. The news of the ruling to execute the merchant spread in the city. When the doctor heard the news, he feared the merchant would be killed unjustly. He immediately went to the judge and told him what had happened. The judge was surprised and ordered to acquit the merchant and release him, ruling to execute the doctor instead of him.
The judge announced in the city the news of the ruling to execute the doctor. When the tailor Zuqzuq heard the news, he knew the doctor was accused of killing Al-Arundis and feared he would be executed unjustly. The merchant immediately went to the judge, and the judge was surprised by this strange story.
He ordered the tailor to be imprisoned for now, and he was surprised by the courage of the tailor, the merchant, and the doctor. He sent to the Sultan telling him what had happened to consult him about the tailor’s matter. When the Sultan learned of the matter, he went to the court with the minister. The corpse of Al-Arundis was still stretched inside the court. The minister looked at it and said to them: This hunchback is still alive. Everyone was amazed.
The minister punched Al-Arundis hard on his back, and the piece of fish came out of his throat. He recovered from his unconsciousness. Everyone rejoiced. The Sultan was delighted by this ending and was impressed by the courage of the accused. He made Al-Arundis his companion from that day forward.