At the head of his caravan, proudly rode Benazir, the merchant prince of Ninevah. He liked fine paintings, which he displayed even in his costly robes and jars led by his servants. He held a fine painting of Gula, a painter in damascus. He smiled and nodded satisfactorily as he sat easily upon his spirited Arabian stallion.
He lowered his brow and clenched his jaw as he remembered the words of Gula 'This painting holds a curse, it's at your peril that you've chosen to go with it '. To look at him one would hardly have suspected that he was inwardly troubled.
The journey from Jerusalem is long and the hardships of the desert are many. These he minded not. The painting by Gula filled his void heart allowing his eyes wandered through every detail of it. On it was a picture of an unclad lady, with three pieces of gems that covered the most sensitive parts. Benazir has had no rest since he saw the painting. He emptied his purses until it was enough to convince Gula to sell it out. 'Give him more gold, men are greedy for gain and he'll let it out' Nada, his right hand man advised.
It was a dark and stormy night. The leaves waver in the direction of the wind, soft whispers could be heard following the trails of the wind. Benazir's blood ran cold, he stood unblinking,trying to process what he had seen. On the other end were his servants fast asleep, waiting for the day to break to begin their journey to Nineveh. Benazir's eyes grew impossibly wide, he rubbed his brow, not wanting to believe what he just saw. The unclad lady which was once on the portrait laid outside the painting frame, motioning him to come. His knees grew weak and his feet heavy as he took a step and another moving toward the live lady when Nada's voice suddenly jerked him, pulling him out of his reverie.
Benazir turned to look at the frame once again, but this time the portrait was as it was with the unclad lady on it. Thoughts creeped up his mind but waved them off, he might have been hallucinating, he thought, and went to join Nada to sit beside the campfire.
The first rays of sunlight lit up the wood. The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in. Benazir rubbed his bleary eyes and walked to his portrait, the thought of the night was heavy in his heart. It was at this moment he began to ponder on Gula's words. He knew what he had seen yesternight but Nada may ridicule him if he shares such a story with him, he had never believed in magic or anything mystical, it may look weak of him if he becomes the one to talk about mysteries and strange beings. 'maybe it was his fear and not realistic what he had seen' he said to himself and decided to wave off the thoughts.
The blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds that drifted lazily in the gentle breeze when they arrived at Nineveh. Benazir smiled at the glamorous town filled with artistic work; he couldn't wait to place the painting he had bought in Damascus with plenty of gold among the other paintings that were hung on the wall. It was one of the paintings he had became drawn to, he never minded about the consequences, 'Gula can't scare me ' he muttered under his breath as he hung it gently, like a fragile egg that could crack at any given opportunity.
The next morning report came from the villagers,
"Last night, we saw an unclad woman in the heart of the town. No one knows who she is, she sat like a loner and when we went to enquire why she sat that way, she walked into the dark and no one knew what way she went " one of the villagers narrated.
The experience continued and the villagers were troubled. He knew the portrait had been the curse in his land, the terrifying news was spoken of just a day after he had brought the portrait , but he wasn't ready to let go, he was ready to keep the portrait no matter what it'll cost him.
"The only way the curse can be taken off the portrait is when the buyer sacrifices his life for it" Gula sent messages to him after he had enquired of him of the curse.
Benazir sat on the horns of his dilemma, He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He sat with blood drained from face. He loved his kingdom as much as he loved his portrait. After many days of thoughts. He called his sons together, and said to them,
'When I'm dead, take this portrait and put it beside my grave. I'll love to see it over and over again whenever my spirit desires to find peace'
After those words , he lowered his eyebrows , welling up with tears, he gave the ultimate sacrifice.
