The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Anonymous (top young adult novels txt) 📖

me. Then directing his discourse to me, My child, said he, having now heard the cause of your disgrace, for which I am much concerned, I will give you an account of the disgrace that befel me. Know, then, that I am the father of those two young ladies of whom you were just speaking. I know that the first lady, who had the impudence to come to your house, was my eldest daughter. I had given her in marriage to one of her cousins, my own brother's son, at Cairo. Her husband died, and she returned home corrupted with all manner of wickedness, which she had learned in Egypt. Before I took her home, her younger sister, who died in that deplorable manner in your arms, was a very prudent young woman, and had never given me any occasion to complain of her conduct; but, after that, the eldest sister grew very intimate with her, and insensibly made her as wicked as herself.

The day after the death of the youngest, not finding her at table, I asked her eldest sister what was become of her? But she, instead of answering, fell a-crying bitterly, from which I formed a fatal presage. I pressed her to inform me of what I asked her. My father, said she, with sobs, I can tell you no more than that my sister put on her best clothes yesterday, and her fine necklace, and went abroad, and has not been heard of since. I made search of my daughter all over the town, but could learn nothing of her unhappy fate. In the mean time, the eldest, who doubtless repented of her jealous fury, very much bewailed the death of her sister, and denied herself all manner of food, and so put an end to her deplorable days.

Such, continued the governor, is the state of mankind; such are the unlucky accidents to which they are exposed; however, my child, added he, since we are both of us equally unfortunate, let us unite our sorrow, and not abandon one another. I give you in marriage a third daughter I have still left; she is younger than her sisters, and imitates their conduct in no manner of way; besides, she is handsomer than they were, and I assure you is of a humour fitted to make you happy: you shall have no other house but mine; and, after my death, you and she shall be my heirs. Sir, said I, I am ashamed of all your favours, and shall never be able to make a sufficient acknowledgment. That is enough, said he, interrupting me; let us not waste time in idle words. He then called for witnesses, ordered the contract of marriage to be drawn, and I married his daughter without further ceremony.

He was not satisfied with punishing the jeweller who had falsely accused me, but confiscated for my use all his goods, which were very considerable. As for the rest, since you have been called to the governor's house, you have seen what respect they pay me there. I must tell you further, that a man, who was sent by my uncles to Egypt on purpose to inquire for me there, passing through this city, found me out, and came last night, and delivered me a letter from them. They gave me notice of my father's death, and invited me to come and take possession of his estate at Moussol; but as the alliance and friendship of the governor has fixed me with him, and will not suffer me to remove from him, I have sent back the express, with an order which will secure to me what is my due. Now, after what you have heard, I hope you will pardon my incivility, during the course of my illness, in giving you my left hand.

This, said the Jewish physician, is the story I heard from the young man of Moussol. I continued at Damascus as long as the governor lived; after his death, being in the flower of my age, I had the curiosity to travel. Accordingly, I went over Persia to the Indies, and came at last to settle in your capital, where I practise physic with reputation and honour.

The sultan of Casgar was pretty well pleased with this last story. I must say, said he to the Jew, your story is very odd; but I declare freely, that little Humph's is yet more extraordinary, and much more comical; therefore yon are not to expect that I will give you your life any more than the rest; I will hang you all four. Pray, sir, stay a minute, said the tailor; and then prostrating himself at the sultan's feet. Since your majesty loves pleasant stories, I have one to tell you that is very comical. Well, I will hear thee too, said the sultan: but do not flatter thyself that I will suffer thee to live, unless thou tellest me some adventure that is yet more diverting than that of the hump-bucked man. Upon this the tailor, as if he had been sure of his project, spoke very briskly to the following purpose:

THE STORY TOLD BY THE TAILOR.

A citizen of this city did me the honour, two days ago, to invite me to a treat, which he was to give to his friends yesterday morning. Accordingly, I went pretty early, and found twenty persons waiting.

The master of the house was gone out upon some business, but in a very little time came home, and brought with him a young man, a stranger, well dressed, and very handsome, but lame. When he came in, we all rose, and, out of respect to the master of the house, invited the young gentleman to sit down with us upon the sofa. He was going to sit down; but all on a sudden, spying a barber in our company, he flew backwards, and made towards the door. The master of the house being surprised, stopped him: Where are you going? said he; I brought you along with me to do me the honour of being my guest, and you are no sooner got into my house than you run away again. Sir, said the young man, for God's sake do not stop me, let me go; I cannot, without horror, look upon that abominable barber; though he was born in a country where all the natives are whites, he resembles an Ethiopian; and when all is come to all, his soul is yet blacker, and yet more horrible than his face.

We were, continued the tailor, surprised to hear the young man speak so, and began to have a very bad opinion of the barber, without knowing what ground the young man had for what he said. Nay, we protested we would not suffer any one to remain in our company who bore so horrid a character. The master of the house entreated the stranger to tell us what reason he had for hating the barber. Gentlemen, said the young man, you must know that this cursed barber is the cause of my being lame, and of the most cruel accident that any one can imagine: for this reason, I have made an oath to avoid every place where he dwells. It was for this reason that I left Bagdad, where he then was, and travelled so far to settle in this city, in the heart of Great Tartary, a place where I flattered myself I should never see him; and now, after all, contrary to my expectations, I find him here. This obliges me, gentlemen, against my will, to deprive myself of the honour of being merry with you. This very day I take leave of your town, and will go, if possible, to hide me from him. This said, he would have left us, but the master entreated him to stop, and tell the cause of his aversion to the barber, who all this while looked down, and said nothing. We joined with the master of the house in requesting him to stay; and at last the young man, yielding to our instances, sat down upon the sofa; and, after turning his back to the barber, that he might not see him, gave us the following account.

My father's quality might have entitled him to the highest posts in the city of Bagdad, but he always preferred a quiet life to any honours he might deserve. I was his only child; and, when he died, I was already educated, and of age to dispose of the plentiful fortune he had left me, which I did not squander away foolishly, but applied to such uses, that every body respected me. I had never been in love, and was so far from being sensible of that passion, that I acknowledge, perhaps to my shame, that I cautiously avoided the conversation of women. One day, walking in the streets, I saw a great company of ladies before me, and, that I might not meet them, turned down a narrow lane just by, and sat down upon a bench by a door. I sat over against a window, where stood a pot with pretty flowers; and I had my eyes fixed upon this, when, all on a sudden, the window opened, and a young lady appeared, whose beauty was dazzling. Immediately she cast her eyes upon me; and, in watering the flower-pot with a hand whiter than alabaster, looked upon me with a smile that inspired me with as much love for her as I had formerly an aversion for all women. After having watered all her flowers, and darting upon me a glance full of charms that quite pierced my heart, she shut up the window again, and so left me in inconceivable trouble and disorder.

I had dwelt upon these thoughts long enough, had not a noise in the streets brought me to myself: alarmed thus, I turned my head in a rising posture, and saw it was the upper cadi of the city, mounted on a mule, and attended by five or six servants. He alighted at the door of the house where the young lady had opened the window, and went in there; so I concluded he was the young lady's father.

I went home in a different sort of humour from that in which I came, with a passion which was the mere violent as I had never felt before its assaults. In fine, I went to bed in a violent fever, at which all the family was greatly concerned. My relations, who had a great love for me, were so alarmed and moved at my sudden disorder, that they came about me, and importuned me to know the cause, which I took care not to reveal to them. My silence created an uneasiness which the physicians could not dispel, because they knew nothing of my distemper, and rather inflamed than repaired it, by the medicines they exhibited. My relations began to despair of my life, when a certain old lady of our acquaintance, learning my illness, came to see me. She considered and examined every thing with great attention, and dived, I do not know how, into the real cause of my illness. Then she took my relations aside, and desired they would retire from the room. When the room was clear, she sat down on the side of my bed: My child, said she, you are very obstinate in concealing hitherto the cause of your illness; but you have no occasion to reveal it to me, I have experience enough to penetrate into a secret; you will not surely disown that it is love that makes you sick. I can find a way to cure you, if you but let me know who the happy lady is that could move a heart so insensible as yours; for you have the name of a woman-hater, and I was not the last that perceived you to be of that temper; but, in short, what I foresaw has just come to pass, and am now glad of the opportunity to employ my talents in bringing you out of pain.

The old lady, having talked to me in this fashion, paused, expecting my answer; but, though what she had said made a strong impression upon me, I durst not lay open to her the bottom of my heart; I only turned to her, and fetched a deep sigh without saying any thing. Is it bashfulness, said she, that keeps you from speaking? or is it want of confidence in me? Do not doubt the effect of my promise. I could mention to you an infinite number of young men of your acquaintance, that have been in the same condition with you, and have received relief from me. In fine,