THE STORY OF THE HUNCHBACK WITH THE TAILOR, THE JEW, THE CHRISTIAN, AND THE BARBER OF BAGHDAD

The Steward's Narrative, Part 2.

ON THE TENTH NIGHT

Sheherazade said:

"Dinner was brought to me; but I scarcely touched it, for I was absorbed in the thought of her beauty and charms. And when I wanted to fall asleep, I could not.

And I remained in this state for a week, at the end of which the merchants came to ask me for the money; but, as I had not yet heard from the lady, I begged them to patient a little and to grant me another week's credit. And they consented to it. In fact, at the end of the week, I saw her arrive early one morning, mounted on her mule; and she was accompanied by a servant and two eunuchs. She greeted me and said: “O my master, excuse us for having thus delayed a little too long in coming to pay you. But here is the money. Bring in a money changer to check the gold coins and touch the money. And I called for the money changer; and one of the eunuchs gave him the money, which he checked and found to be in good nature. So I took the money; then I began to chat with the girl until the souk was open and the merchants had come to their shops. So she said to me: “I still need such and such a thing. Go buy them for me." And I bought for her, on my account, everything she asked for, and gave it to her. And she took it and went away without telling me anything about the money she owed me. So when I saw her go away, I repented of having acted in this way with too much confidence, because the purchase had cost me a thousand gold dinars. And when I had lost sight of her, I said in my soul: “I no longer understand anything about this passion and this friendship she has for me! She brings me the value of four hundred dinars and she takes me for a thousand dinars worth of goods! If it works out that way, all I have in front of me is bankruptcy and the loss of other people's property. And, besides, it's me alone that the frustrated merchants will come to attack. And I'm afraid this woman is a shrewd deceiver who comes to circumvent me with her charms and her beauty, a cunning one who takes advantage of the fact that I am a poor merchant without protection and without support. She makes fun of me and laughs behind my back. And I did not even ask her for the address of her residence!"

I remained thus filled with worries and tormenting thoughts for a whole month, at the end of which the merchants came to ask me for their money and insisted so much that I found myself obliged, to satisfy them, to tell them that I was going to sell everything, my shop and what it contained, my house and all my possessions. And so I was very close to ruin; and I sat down very worried while thinking about these sad thoughts, when suddenly I saw her appear at the top of the souk, go through the door of the souk, and come towards me. When I saw her, I immediately felt my suspicions and worries vanish, and I forgot the unhappy state in which I had been during the whole time of her absence. And she approached me and began to chat with me, speaking to me in her voice so beautiful and saying to me those words so deliciously. Then she said to me: "Bring the trebuchet and weigh the money I bring you!" And she gave me, in fact, all that was due to me and even more, in return for the purchases I had made for her.

Then she sat down beside me and began to talk to me with great ease. And I almost died of joy and happiness. And she ends up saying to me: “Are you single or do you have a wife?" So I say: “Oh no! I don't know a woman!" And I wept saying that. So she said to me: “What are you crying about?" And I said: "That's something that just crossed my mind." Then I took the servant at the back of the shop, handed him some gold dinars, and begged him to mediate between her and me in this matter. Then he began to laugh and said to me: “But know that she too is in love with you, and much more than you with her! And she had no desire to buy fabrics, and she only bought them to be able to talk to you and tell you her passion for you. Also, you can talk to her and tell her what you want; and certainly, she will find nothing to reproach you and will not oppose you."

But she, just as she was about to take leave of me, saw me hand the dinars to the servant who accompanied her. So she went back into the shop and sat down smiling. And I said to him: “Grant your slave the grace he is going to ask of you and forgive him in advance what he has to say to you!" Then I told her what was on my mind. And I saw that it pleased her, and she answered me kindly and said to me: “This servant will bring you my answer to your request, and my will! And you do exactly what he tells you to do." Then she got up and left.

So I went to hand over their money to the merchants and the gain they deserved. As for me, it was hardly a gain that I made, but I had a great affliction to see, after a while, that I had no more news of her. And, from the moment that I no longer saw her, I lost all my sleep during all my nights. But at last, after a few days, her servant came to find me; and I received him with eagerness and generosity and begged him to give me the news. He said: “She was sick the last few days." So I said: "Tell me a few details about her!" He said: “This young lady was brought up by our mistress Zobeida, the favorite wife of Harun Al-Rachid, and she became one of her servants. And our mistress Zobéida loves her like her own daughter and refuses her nothing. The other day, the young girl asked her mistress for permission to go out, saying to her: "My soul wishes to take a walk and then return to the palace!" And permission was granted. And, from that day, she did not stop going to town and returning to the palace, and so often that she ended up being very expert in purchases and thus became the purveyor of our mistress Zobeida. It was then that she saw you and spoke of you to her mistress and begged her to marry you to her. And his mistress said: "I can't do it until I see this young man myself. If I find that he resembles you in qualities, I will marry you to him!" Now, I come to tell you that our goal at this hour is to bring you into the palace. If, then, we can get you into it without anyone suspecting it, you can be sure of having her in marriage; but, if the case is discovered, you are sure to have your head cut off. What do you say?" I replied: "Certainly, I will go with you. So you have only to persist in this combination of which you have just spoken to me." So the servant said to me: 'When the night has come, go to the mosque that Lady Zobeida had built on the Tigris; come in and say your prayers and stay there waiting!" And I answered: "I obey, I love and I honor!" »

When evening came, I went to the mosque, where I entered and began to pray, and I spent the whole night there. At daybreak, I saw slaves arrive in a boat; and they had empty boxes with them, which they brought into the mosque and returned to their boat. But one of them fell behind the others, and I examined him and saw that he was the one who served as my intermediary. And after a few moments, I saw going up to the mosque and coming to me, my friend, the attendant from Sett-Zobéida. As she approached, I went quickly to her and kissed her, and she kissed me also; we sat down for a while to talk, and she explained her resolution to me. Then she took me and put me in one of the boxes, which she locked; and I had not yet had time to reflect that I was already in the palace of the caliph. And they took me out of the box, and they brought me effects and clothes which were certainly worth fifty thousand drachmas. Then I saw twenty other white slaves, all of them with wonderful breasts and all of them virgins. And in the midst of them was Sett-Zobéida, who could not move because of all the jewels and magnificent dresses she had on her. In front of her, when she was very close, the following ones stood in two rows, and I advanced and kissed the earth between her hands. Then she motioned me to sit down, and I sat down. So she started asking me about my business and my parents and my lineage. And I answered all the things she asked me. So she was very happy and said: “Wow! I see now that I have not lost my pains in bringing up this young girl, since I find such a husband for her!" Then she said to me: “Know that we hold this servant to be the equal of the very child of our marrow. And she will be a submissive and gentle wife to you before Allah and before you!" So I bowed and kissed the ground, and consented to marry the girl.

So she invited me to stay in the palace for ten days. And I stayed these ten days, during which I did not know what had become of the young girl. And, for my meals, it was other young servants who brought me lunch and dinner and served me.

At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.

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