THE STORY OF THE HUNCHBACK WITH THE TAILOR, THE JEW, THE CHRISTIAN, AND THE BARBER OF BAGHDAD
The Christian broker is from Cairo. And in Cairo, he has business with a young man who has no right hand and is going to tell him how he lost it.
The Christian Broker's Narrative - Part 1
ON THE THIRD NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
Then the Christian broker said:
“Know, O king of time, that I have only come to these countries for a commercial affair. I am a stranger that Destiny sent to your kingdom. I was born, in fact, in the city of Cairo and I am a Copt among the Copts. And it was also in Cairo that I was raised, and that is where my father, before me, was a broker.
When my father died, I had already reached manhood; so I became a broker in his place since I saw all sorts of good dispositions for this trade, special to us Copts.
Now, one day among the days, I was sitting before the door of the khan of the grain merchants, and I saw a young man pass by, the most handsome that could be seen, dressed in the most sumptuous clothes, and mounted on a donkey saddled with a beautiful red saddle. When this young man saw me, he saluted me; and I got up immediately out of respect for him. So he took out a handkerchief that contained a small quantity of sesame, as a sample, and said to me: “How much is one measure of this kind of sesame worth?" I said to him: "That is well worth a hundred drachmas." He replied: “Then take with you the men who measure the grains and go to the khan Al-Gaonali in the district of Bab Al-Nassr: you will find me there." Then he left me and walked away, after giving me the handkerchief that contained the sesame sample.
So I went around to the grain merchants and showed them the sample which I had valued at a hundred drachmas. And the merchants estimated it at one hundred and twenty drachmas for each measure. So I was in the greatest joy and I took with me four measurers, and I immediately went to find the young man who was indeed waiting for me at the khan. When he saw me he came to me and led me to a storehouse where the grain was, and the measurers filled sacks and measured the grain, which amounted in all to fifty measures. And the young man said to me: “You will receive for your brokerage share ten drachmas per measure sold at one hundred drachmas. But you will collect all the money for me and you will keep it carefully at home until I claim it from you. As the total price is five thousand drachmas, you will take five hundred for yourself, and I will thus have four thousand five hundred left. As for me, as soon as I have finished my business, I will come to your house to take the money. So I answered him: "Let it be done according to your desire!" Then I kissed his hands and walked away.
And, indeed, that very day, I thus gained a thousand drachmas from brokerage, five hundred from the seller, and five hundred from the buyers, and I took the twenty percent in this way, according to our customs as Egyptian brokers.
As for the young man, after a month of absence, he came to see me and said: “Where are the drachmas?" And I said to him immediately: "At your command. Here they are all prepared in this bag.” But he said to me: “Keep them with you for a while longer until I come back to take them." And he went away and was absent again a month, and came back and said to me: "Where are the drachmas?" So I got up and greeted him and said: "They are at your disposal. Here they are." Then I said to him: “Now do you want to honor my house by agreeing to come and have a bite to eat with me?" But he refused and said to me: "As for the money, please keep it until I come back to claim it from you, after finishing some pressing business." Then he walked away. And I carefully shook the money that belonged to him and waited for his return. After a month, he came back and said to me: “Tonight, I will come back here to get the money!" So I had the money ready; but in vain I waited for him until nightfall, then on the other days, he did not come back until after a month, while I was saying to myself: “How full of confidence this young man is! In my life, since the time that I have been a broker in the khans and the souks, I have not seen such confidence!" So he came to me, and he was still on his donkey and dressed in sumptuous clothes, and he was as beautiful as the moon in its fullness, and had a bright and fresh face as from the hammam, and rosy cheeks. and his forehead like a dazzling flower and, on a corner of her lips, a black beauty mark like a drop of black amber, as the poet says:
The full moon, at the top of the tower, met the sun;
And both were in their brilliance and beauty.
Such were the two lovers. And those who looked at them
Could only admire and love them, and wish them happiness.
And now they are so beautiful and so marvelous that by them one feels the whole soul captive.
So glory to Allah who performs such wonders.
He shapes his creatures according to his desire.
When I saw him, I kissed his hands and called upon him all the blessings of Allah and I said to him: "O my master, I hope that this time you will touch your money!" He answered me: “Wait a little longer, until I finish all of my businesses, and then I will come and take the money back from you." Then he turned his back and walked away. And I thought he would stay a long time yet, and I took the money and put it at an investment of twenty percent as is the custom in our country, and so made it worth well for my account. And I said in my soul: “By Allah! when he returns, I will beg him to accept my invitation, and I will receive him with great generosity, for his money has been of great profit to me, and now I am becoming very rich!"
A year passed in this way, at the end of which he came; and he was dressed in a far more sumptuous robe than at other times, and still mounted on his thoroughbred white donkey.
So I implored him earnestly to come home with me and be my guest. And he answered me: “I am willing, but on condition that you do not deduct the expenses you are going to incur from the money which belongs to me and which is with you!" And he began to laugh. And me too. And I said to him: “Yes, of course, and with all my heart!" And I led him into my house, and bade him sit down; and I ran to the souk to buy all kinds of provisions, drinks and the like and put everything in his hands on the tablecloth and invited him to start by saying: “In the name of Allah!" So he approached the food served and put out his left hand and began to eat with that left hand. Then I was greatly surprised and I didn't know what to think. When we had finished eating, he washed his left hand without using his right hand; and I handed him the towel for him to dry himself; then we sat down to talk.
So I said to him: “O my master, please! relieve me of a weight that weighs me down and a sadness that saddens me. Why did you eat with your left hand? Do you happen to have a painful pain in your right hand?" At these words, the young man recited these two stanzas:
“Do not ask me what sufferings in my soul and acute pains. You would see my infirmity.
And above all, don't ask me if I'm happy. I was.
But so long ago! Since then, everything has changed.
However, against the inevitable, we must use wisdom."
Then he pulled his right hand from the sleeve of his robe: and I saw that this hand was cut off, for the arm had no longer a wrist. And I was enormously surprised. But he said to me: “Do not be surprised! And above all, don't think anymore that it was out of lack of consideration towards you that I ate with my left hand; for you see now that it is because my right hand is cut off. And the cause is quite amazing! So I asked him, "And what is that cause?"
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.