What I have now told you will induce you to excuse me for eating with my left hand. I am greatly obliged to you for the trouble you have given yourself on my account. I can never make sufficient acknowledgment of your fidelity. Since God has still given me a competent estate, notwithstanding I have spent a great deal, I beg you to accept of the sum now in your hand as a present from me. Over and above this, I have a proposal to make to you, which is this: for as much as, by reason of this fatal accident, I am obliged to depart from Cairo, I am resolved never to see it more. So, if you please to accompany me, we shall trade together as equal partners, and divide the profits.
I thanked the young man, said, the Christian merchant, for the present he made me; and as to the proposal of travelling with him, I willingly embraced it, assuring him that his interest should always be as dear to me as my own. We accordingly get a day for our departure, and set out upon our travels. We passed through Syria and Mesopotamia, travelled all over Persia, and, after stopping at several cities, came at last, sir, to your metropolis. Some time after our arrival in this place, the young man having formed a design of returning to Persia, and settling there, we settled our accounts, and parted very good friends; so he went from hence, and I continue here at your majesty's service. This, sir, is the story I had to tell you: does not your majesty find it yet more surprising than that of the crooked buffoon?
The sultan of Casgar fell into a passion against the Christian merchant: you are very bold, said he, to tell me a story so little worth my hearing, and then to compare it with that of my jester. Can you flatter yourself so far as to believe that the trifling adventures of a young rake can make such an impression upon me as those of my jester? Well, I am resolved to hang you all four to revenge his death.
This said, the purveyor fell down at the sultan's feet. Sir, said he, I humbly beseech your majesty to suspend your just wrath, and hear my story; and if my story appears to your majesty to be prettier than that of your jester, to pardon us all four. The sultan having granted his request, the purveyor began his story.
THE STORY TOLD BY THE SULTAN OF CASGAR'S PURVEYOR.
Sir, a person of quality invited me yesterday to his daughter's wedding; I went accordingly to his house at the hour appointed, and found there a large company of doctors, ministers of justice, and others of the best quality in the city. After the ceremony was over, we had a splendid treat; and, among other things set upon the table, there was a course with garlic sauce, which was very delicious and palatable to everybody; but we observed that one of the guests did not touch it, though it stood just before him, and thereupon we invited him to do as we did: he conjured us, however, not to press him upon that head. I will take care, said he, not to touch any thing that has garlic in it; I remember well what the tasting of such a thing cost me once before. We entreated him to tell us what was the occasion of his aversion to garlic; but before he had time to make answer, Is it thus, said the master of the house, that you honour my table? This ragoo is excellent, therefore do not you pretend to be excused from eating of it; you must do me that favour as well as the rest. Sir, said the gentleman, who was a Bagdad merchant, I hope you do not think that I refuse to eat of it out of mistaken nicety; if you will have me eat of it, I will do so; but upon this condition, that, after eating of it, I may wash my hands, by your leave, forty times with alcali[Footnote: This in English is called salt wort.*], forty times more with the ashes of the same plant, and forty times again with soap, I hope you will not take it ill that I stipulate so, as it is in pursuance of an oath I have made never to taste garlic without observing this rule. The master of the house would not dispense with the merchant from eating of the ragoo with garlic, and therefore ordered his servant to get ready a bason of water together with alcali, the ashes of the same plant, and soap, that the merchant might wash as often as he pleased. When every thing was got ready, Now, said he to the merchant, I hope you will do as we. The merchant, displeased with the violence that was offered him, reached out his hand to take a bit, which he put to his mouth trembling, and ate with a reluctance that surprised us all. But the greatest surprise was, that he had only four fingers and no thumb, which none of us observed before, though he had eaten of other dishes. You have lost your thumb, said the master of the house; how came that about? It must have been occasioned by some extraordinary accident, a relation of which will be an agreeable entertainment to the company. Sir, replied the merchant, I have not a thumb on either the right or left hand. He then showed us his left hand, as well as his right. But this is not all, continued he, I have not a great toe on either of my feet! I hope you will take my word for it. I was maimed in this manner by an unheard-of accident, which I am willing to relate to you, if you have the patience to hear me. The relation will equally astonish, and affect you with pity; but suffer me to wash my hands first. Upon this he rose from the table, and, after washing his hands an hundred and twenty times, took his place again, and thus proceeded:
You must know, gentlemen, that, in the reign of the caliph Haroun Alrasehid, my father lived at Bagdad, the place of my nativity, and was reputed one of the richest merchants in the city; but, being a man too much addicted to pleasure, one that loved an irregular life, and neglected his private affairs, instead of leaving me a plentiful fortune at his death, he left me in such a condition, that all my economy was scarcely sufficient to clear his debts. With much ado, however, I paid them all, and, through industry and care, my little fortune began to assume a smiling countenance.
One morning as I opened my shop, a lady mounted upon a mule, attended by an eunuch and two women slaves, stopped near my shop-door, and, with the assistance of the eunuch, alighted. Madam, said the eunuch, I said you would be too soon, you see there is nobody yet in the bezestein; if you had taken my advice, you might have saved yourself the trouble of waiting here. The lady looked around her, and finding there was no shop open but mine, addressed herself to me, asking leave to sit in my shop till the rest of the merchants came; of course I could do no less than return a civil answer, and invite the lady into my shop. She sat down in my shop, and, observing there was nobody in the whole bezestein save the eunuch and me, uncovered her face to take the air; and I must say I never saw any thing so pretty in my lifetime. I had no sooner a sight of her face than I loved her; of course I fixed my eyes upon her, and perceived that she was not displeased; for she gave me a full opportunity to look upon her, and did not cover her face till she was afraid of being taken notice of. Having let down her veil, she told me that she wanted several sorts of the richest and finest stuffs, and asked me if I had them? Alas! madam, said I, I am but a young man, just beginning the world, and have not stock enough for such great concerns; and it is a mortification to me that I have nothing to show you such as you want: but to save you the trouble of going from shop to shop, as soon as the merchants come, I will go, if you please, and fetch from them what you want, with the lowest prices; and so you may do your business without going any further. She complied with my proposal, and entered into discourse, which continued so much the longer, that I still made her believe that the merchants who could furnish what she wanted were not yet come.
I was charmed no less with her wit than I had been before with the beauty of her face; but there was a necessity for denying myself the pleasure of her conversation: I ran out to seek for the stuffs she wanted, and after she had pitched upon what she liked, we struck the price at five thousand drams of coined silver; so I wrapped up the stuffs in a small bundle, and gave it to the eunuch, who put it under his arm; after which, she rose and took leave. I still continued to look after her, till she had got to the bezestein gate; and mounted her mule again.
The lady had no sooner disappeared than I perceived that love was the cause of great oversights; it had so engrossed all my thoughts; that I did not recollect she had gone off without paying the money; nor had I the consideration to ask who she was, or where she dwelt. However, I considered that I was accountable for a large sum to the merchants, who, perhaps, would not have the patience to stay for their money; so I went to them, and made the best excuse I could, pretending that I knew the lady; but came home equally affected with love, and with the burden of such a heavy debt.