The Arabian Nights Entertainments - Anonymous (best novels to read in english .TXT) 📗

young rake can make such an impression upon me as those of my jester? Well, I am resolved to hang you all four to revenge his death.

This said, the purveyor fell down at the sultan's feet. Sir, said he, I humbly beseech your majesty to suspend your just wrath, and hear my story; and if my story appears to your majesty to be prettier than that of your jester, to pardon us all four. The sultan having granted his request, the purveyor began his story.

THE STORY TOLD BY THE SULTAN OF CASGAR'S PURVEYOR.

Sir, a person of quality invited me yesterday to his daughter's wedding; I went accordingly to his house at the hour appointed, and found there a large company of doctors, ministers of justice, and others of the best quality in the city. After the ceremony was over, we had a splendid treat; and, among other things set upon the table, there was a course with garlic sauce, which was very delicious and palatable to everybody; but we observed that one of the guests did not touch it, though it stood just before him, and thereupon we invited him to do as we did: he conjured us, however, not to press him upon that head. I will take care, said he, not to touch any thing that has garlic in it; I remember well what the tasting of such a thing cost me once before. We entreated him to tell us what was the occasion of his aversion to garlic; but before he had time to make answer, Is it thus, said the master of the house, that you honour my table? This ragoo is excellent, therefore do not you pretend to be excused from eating of it; you must do me that favour as well as the rest. Sir, said the gentleman, who was a Bagdad merchant, I hope you do not think that I refuse to eat of it out of mistaken nicety; if you will have me eat of it, I will do so; but upon this condition, that, after eating of it, I may wash my hands, by your leave, forty times with alcali[Footnote: This in English is called salt wort.*], forty times more with the ashes of the same plant, and forty times again with soap, I hope you will not take it ill that I stipulate so, as it is in pursuance of an oath I have made never to taste garlic without observing this rule. The master of the house would not dispense with the merchant from eating of the ragoo with garlic, and therefore ordered his servant to get ready a bason of water together with alcali, the ashes of the same plant, and soap, that the merchant might wash as often as he pleased. When every thing was got ready, Now, said he to the merchant, I hope you will do as we. The merchant, displeased with the violence that was offered him, reached out his hand to take a bit, which he put to his mouth trembling, and ate with a reluctance that surprised us all. But the greatest surprise was, that he had only four fingers and no thumb, which none of us observed before, though he had eaten of other dishes. You have lost your thumb, said the master of the house; how came that about? It must have been occasioned by some extraordinary accident, a relation of which will be an agreeable entertainment to the company. Sir, replied the merchant, I have not a thumb on either the right or left hand. He then showed us his left hand, as well as his right. But this is not all, continued he, I have not a great toe on either of my feet! I hope you will take my word for it. I was maimed in this manner by an unheard-of accident, which I am willing to relate to you, if you have the patience to hear me. The relation will equally astonish, and affect you with pity; but suffer me to wash my hands first. Upon this he rose from the table, and, after washing his hands an hundred and twenty times, took his place again, and thus proceeded:

You must know, gentlemen, that, in the reign of the caliph Haroun Alrasehid, my father lived at Bagdad, the place of my nativity, and was reputed one of the richest merchants in the city; but, being a man too much addicted to pleasure, one that loved an irregular life, and neglected his private affairs, instead of leaving me a plentiful fortune at his death, he left me in such a condition, that all my economy was scarcely sufficient to clear his debts. With much ado, however, I paid them all, and, through industry and care, my little fortune began to assume a smiling countenance.

One morning as I opened my shop, a lady mounted upon a mule, attended by an eunuch and two women slaves, stopped near my shop-door, and, with the assistance of the eunuch, alighted. Madam, said the eunuch, I said you would be too soon, you see there is nobody yet in the bezestein; if you had taken my advice, you might have saved yourself the trouble of waiting here. The lady looked around her, and finding there was no shop open but mine, addressed herself to me, asking leave to sit in my shop till the rest of the merchants came; of course I could do no less than return a civil answer, and invite the lady into my shop. She sat down in my shop, and, observing there was nobody in the whole bezestein save the eunuch and me, uncovered her face to take the air; and I must say I never saw any thing so pretty in my lifetime. I had no sooner a sight of her face than I loved her; of course I fixed my eyes upon her, and perceived that she was not displeased; for she gave me a full opportunity to look upon her, and did not cover her face till she was afraid of being taken notice of. Having let down her veil, she told me that she wanted several sorts of the richest and finest stuffs, and asked me if I had them? Alas! madam, said I, I am but a young man, just beginning the world, and have not stock enough for such great concerns; and it is a mortification to me that I have nothing to show you such as you want: but to save you the trouble of going from shop to shop, as soon as the merchants come, I will go, if you please, and fetch from them what you want, with the lowest prices; and so you may do your business without going any further. She complied with my proposal, and entered into discourse, which continued so much the longer, that I still made her believe that the merchants who could furnish what she wanted were not yet come.

I was charmed no less with her wit than I had been before with the beauty of her face; but there was a necessity for denying myself the pleasure of her conversation: I ran out to seek for the stuffs she wanted, and after she had pitched upon what she liked, we struck the price at five thousand drams of coined silver; so I wrapped up the stuffs in a small bundle, and gave it to the eunuch, who put it under his arm; after which, she rose and took leave. I still continued to look after her, till she had got to the bezestein gate; and mounted her mule again.

The lady had no sooner disappeared than I perceived that love was the cause of great oversights; it had so engrossed all my thoughts; that I did not recollect she had gone off without paying the money; nor had I the consideration to ask who she was, or where she dwelt. However, I considered that I was accountable for a large sum to the merchants, who, perhaps, would not have the patience to stay for their money; so I went to them, and made the best excuse I could, pretending that I knew the lady; but came home equally affected with love, and with the burden of such a heavy debt.

I had desired my creditors to stay eight days for their money, and, when the eight days were past, they did not fail to dun me; then I intreated them to give me eight days more, which they agreed to; and the very next day I saw the lady come to the bezestein, mounted on her mule, with the same attendants as before, and exactly at the same hour of the day. She came straight to my shop. I have made you stay some time, said she, but here is your money at last; carry it to a banker, and see that it is all good. The eunuch, who brought me the money, went along with me to the banker's, and we found it very right. I came back again, and had the happiness of conversing with the lady till all the shops in the bezestein were open: though we talked of ordinary things, she gave them such a turn, that they appeared new and uncommon, and convinced me that I was not mistaken in admiring her wit.

As soon as the merchants were come, and had opened their shops, I carried to the respective people the money due for their stuffs, and was readily intrusted with more which the lady had desired to see. In short, the lady took stuffs to the value of an hundred pieces of gold, and again carried them away without paying for them: nay, without saying one word, or informing me where she was. I was astonished when I considered that at this rate she left me without any security of not being troubled, if she never came back again. She has paid me, thinks I to myself, a good round sum, but she leaves me in the lurch for another that runs much deeper. Surely she cannot be a cheat; it is not possible she can have any design to inveigle me: the merchants do not know her, and will all come upon me. In short, my love was not so powerful as to remove the uneasiness I felt when I reflected upon all circumstances. A whole month passed before I heard any thing of the lady again; and during that time the alarm grew higher and higher every day. The merchants were impatient for their money; and, to satisfy them, I was even going to sell off all I had, when the lady returned one morning with the same equipage as before. Take your weights, said she, and weigh the gold I have brought you. These words dispelled my fear, and inflamed my love. Before we told down the money, she asked me several questions, and particularly if I was married? I made answer, I never was. Then reaching out the gold to the eunuch, let us have your interposition, said she, to accommodate our matters: upon which the eunuch fell a laughing, and, calling me aside, made me weigh the gold. While I was weighing, the eunuch whispered in my ear, I know by your eyes that you love this lady, and am surprised to find you have not the assurance to disclose your love to her: she loves you more passionately than you do her. Do you imagine that she has any real occasion for your stuffs? She only makes an errand to come hither, because you have inspired her with a violent passion. Do but ask her the question; it will be your fault if you do not marry her. It is true, said I, I have had a love for her from the first moment I cast my eyes upon her; but I did not aspire to the happiness of thinking my love acceptable to her. I am entirely hers, and shall not fail to retain a grateful sense of your good offices in that matter. In fine, I made an end of weighing the gold, and while I was putting it into the bag, the eunuch turned to the lady, and told her I was satisfied, that being the word they had both agreed upon between themselves. Presently after that, the lady rose and took leave; telling me she would send the eunuch to me, and that I should do what he directed me to do in her name.

I carried every one of the merchants their money, and waited some days with impatience for the eunuch. At last he