Thousand & One Nights: 111th Night

One hundred and eleventh night. Shahrazad the queen and the story teller was present along with Shahriar, her husband and the King of India Indo china. The title of the story is "The young man with Severed hand and the girl."
The story was originally told by the Christian trader to the king of China. This is the second part of the story.

The Christian trader:
- The young man looked as if he had just come from the bath. When I saw him, I left the shop and went upto him, saying, "Sir, Will you take your money back?"
He replied, "What is the hurry? Wait till I sell the rest of my crop. I will take from you next week when it is sold." When he left I said to myself, "When he comes next time I will invite him to eat with me."

He was absent for the rest of the year, during which I used his money, trading with it and making a great deal of profit. At the end of the year, he came back again, dressed in fine clothes. I went upto him, and swore by the New Testament that he must eat with me as my guest. He agreed saying, "On one condition that what you spent on me will be from my own account."

I replied, "Very well, agreed." Then I went in, prepared the place for him and seated him. Then I went to the market and, getting enough of the beverages, stuffed chicken, and sweets, and set them before him, saying, "Please help yourself." He came to the table and began to eat with his left hand. I said to myself, "Only God is perfect. Here is a young man who is handsome and respectable, yet so conceited that he does not bother to use his right hand in eating with me." But I ate with him.

It was dawn.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

( 16 )CHARLES DICKENS: DAVID COPPERFIELD: CHAPTER 16: I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE

Next morning, after breakfast, I entered on school life again.  I went, accompanied by Mr Wickfield to the scene of my future studies- a grave building in a courtyard, with a learned air about it that suited very well to the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral tower to walk with a clerkly bearing on the grass plot - and was introduced to my new master, Doctor Strong. Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall iron rails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as the great stone urn that flanked them, and were set up, on the top of red brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, like sublimated skittles for Time to play at.  Doctor Strong was in his library, with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly combed, his knee-small unbraced, his long black gaiters unbuttoned, and his shoes  yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.  Turning upon me a lustreless eye, t...
Read more

Thousand & One Nights: 70th Night

Harun al Rashid on his roaming the country side, saw a fisherman who did not have any catch for the day and worried about his family's bread. The Caliph had brought him to the banks of Tigris and asked him to throw the net. When they pulled the net the catch was a locked heavy chest. The Caliph paid him one hundred dinars. The chest was taken to the palace. Now the story to continue: When the chest was opened there was a girl. She had been cut into nineteen pieces. The Caliph looked at her, felt very sad, and turned to Ja'far and said angrily, "You, dog of a vizier, people are being killed and thrown into river in my city while I take the responsibility of Doomsday. If you do not find her killer, I will hang you and forty of your kin with you." "O Commander of the Faithful, give me three days."Ja'far said. Ja'far went into the city, vexed, worried and sad. He had no idea what to do. He thought to himself, "Where shall I find the murderer?" ...
Read more

Thousand & One Nights: 66th Night:

When the wind began to blow, we set sail, and we sat chatting, my sisters asked me, "Sister, what will you do with this young man?" I replied, "I will make him my husband." Then I turned to him and said, "O My lord, when we reach Baghdad, I offer myself to you, and we will be husband and wife." The young man replied, "Yes, indeed, for you are my lady, and my mistress." I turned to my sisters and said, "Whatever goods we have are yours, my only reward is this young man. He is mine and I am his." We sailed under fair wind until we entered Sea of Safety and began to approach Basra. Night came. The young man and I fell asleep. My two sisters turned green with envy over him and harboured ill will towards me. They had been waiting patiently to get an opportunity. They carried me in my sleep, with my bed and threw me into the sea. They did the same to the young man. He was drowned. I wish I had drowned with him. But I was escaped. I was cast o...
Read more