THE STORY OF THE PORTER WITH THE YOUNG LADIES
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The first saâlouk finishes his story, which is astonishing and very sad.
ON THE NINTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
It came to me, O fortunate King, that the saâlouk said to the young lady, while the whole assembly, as well as the caliph and Ja'far, listened to the story:
So, after my uncle, with the sole of his slipper, struck his son in the face, who was lying there like black coal, I was prodigiously astonished at that blow. And I grieved a great deal over my uncle's son, seeing them thus become black coal, him and the girl! Then I exclaimed, “By Allah! O my uncle, let's go! lighten the cares of your heart a little! Because, me, my heart works a lot as well as my intimate being about what is happening to your child! And above all, I am sorry to see him and the girl thus become black coal; and to see you, his father, not content with that and hitting him with the sole of your slipper!" Then my uncle told me this:
“O son of my brother! know that this child, who is mine, from his childhood was inflamed with love for his own sister. And I always kept her away from her, and I said to myself: “Don’t worry! they are still too young! But not at all! No sooner had they become pubescent than the evil deed occurred between them, and I learned of it! But, really, I didn't quite believe it! However, I reprimanded him with a terrible rebuke, and said to him: “Beware of these evil deeds, which no one did before you and no one will do after you! Otherwise, we will be, among the kings, in shame and ignominy until death! And the couriers on horseback will spread our stories all over the world! So beware of these acts, otherwise, I will curse you and kill you! Then I took care to separate him from her and separate her from him. But it must be believed that this scoundrel loved him with considerable love! Because the devil consolidated his work in them!
So when my son saw that I had separated him from his sister, he then had to make this place which is underground, without telling anyone. And, as you see, he carried food there, and all that! And he took advantage of my absence when I was hunting, to come here with his sister!
It was then that the justice of the Highest and Most Glorious was moved! And it burned them both right here! But the torment of the future world is even more terrible and more lasting!"
And thereupon my uncle began to cry, and I too with him. Then he said to me: “From now on you will be my child in place of the other!"
So I, for an hour, began to meditate on the affairs of this world here below, and, among other things, on the death of my father by order of the vizier, on his usurped throne, on my eye damaged you see, all of you! and all the strange things that had happened to my uncle's son; and I couldn't help crying!
After that, we came out of the tomb; and we closed the lid; then we covered it with earth and put the tomb in the state it was before; and then we returned to our home.
Scarcely had we arrived and seated there, when we heard the sounds of instruments of war, drums, and trumpets, and we saw warriors running: and the whole city was full of rumors, noise, and dust raised by horse hooves. And truly our minds became very perplexed at not being able to come to know the cause of all this. Finally the king, my uncle asked the reason, and he was told: "Your brother was killed by his vizier, who hastened to gather all the soldiers and all the troops and come here as quickly as possible to suddenly storm the city! But the inhabitants of the city saw that they could not resist him: so they handed over the city to him at his discretion!"
At these words, I said to myself: “Surely he would kill me if I fell into his hands!" And, again, the sorrows and worries piled up in my soul, and I went back to remembering sadly all the misfortunes that had happened to my father and my mother. And I didn't know what to do anymore. On the other hand, if I were to show myself, the townspeople and my father's soldiers would recognize me, and would seek to kill and destroy me! And I found hardly any other expedient than that of shaving my beard. So I shaved off my beard, disguised myself in other clothes, and left town. And I set off towards this city of Baghdad, where I hoped to arrive in safety and to find someone who would send me to the palace of the Emir of the Believers, the caliphate of the Master of the Universes, Harun al-Rachid to whom I wanted to tell my story and my adventures.
I finally arrived safely in the city of Baghdad, that very night. And I didn't know where to go or where to come, and I got very puzzled. But suddenly I found myself face to face with this saâlouk. So I wished him peace and said: “I am a stranger." He replied: "I am a foreigner too." We were talking in a friendly way when we saw this saâlouk, our third companion, coming towards us. He wished us peace and said: “I am a stranger." We answered him: "We are foreigners, too." So we walked together until the darkness overtook us. Then fate led us happily here, to you, our mistresses!
And such is the cause of my shaved beard and my damaged eye! »
At this story of the first saâlouk, the young girl said to him: “Come on! It's good! and now stroke your head a little. And go quickly!"
But the first saâlouk answered her: “O my mistress, truly I will not leave until I have heard the story of all my companions here."
During this time, the entire audience was amazed by this astonishing story, and the caliph even said to Ja'far: “Certainly, in my life, I have never heard of an adventure like that of this saâlouk!"
Then the first saâlouk sat down, crossing his legs; and the second saâlouk came forward, kissed the earth between the hands of the young mistress of the house, and started to tell his story.
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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Eighth Night