THE STORY OF THE HUNCHBACK WITH THE TAILOR, THE JEW, THE CHRISTIAN, AND THE BARBER OF BAGHDAD
Apparently, the woman is also in love with the young man and she invites him to her house.
The Christian Broker's Narrative - Part 3
ON THE FIFTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
The woman said to me: “O my master, do not let your absence last too long, or I shall die of desolation!" Then she walked away; and I remained alone with the merchant, in the souk, until nightfall.
And I was there, completely as if I had lost my senses and my reason, and was completely possessed by the madness of this sudden passion. And the violence of this feeling made me venture to question the merchant about the lady. So before getting up to leave, I said to him: “Do you know who this lady is?" He said to me: “Yes, of course. She is a very rich lady. Her father was an illustrious emir, who died and left her a lot of property and wealth."
So I took leave of the merchant and went away, and returned to the khan Serur, where I was staying. And my servants offered me something to eat: but I thought of her and could touch nothing, and I lay down to sleep, but no sleep came to me; and thus I spent the whole night awake, until morning.
So I got up and put on a robe even more beautiful than the one I had on the day before, and I drank a cup of wine and breakfasted on a small piece and returned to the merchant's shop; I saluted him and sat down in my accustomed place. I was barely seated when I saw the young woman arrive, and she was accompanied by a slave girl. She came in, sat down, and greeted me without wishing Badreddine the slightest peace. And, in a suave voice and in an incomparable way of speaking and of unparalleled gentleness, she said to me: "Send someone with me to collect the thousand and two hundred drachmas, the price of the piece of silk." And I answered her: “But there is no hurry. So why this haste?" And she said to me: "How munificent you are! But still, I mustn't be for you a cause of loss." Then she decided to put the price of the fabric into my hand herself. And we began to talk, and suddenly I took the courage to reveal to her, by signs, the liveliness of my feelings. And she immediately understood that I ardently desired my union with her. So she got up quickly and went away quickly after having said to me, however, out of politeness, a word to take leave. So I could hold out no longer, and I left the shop, my heart violently drawn towards her, and began to walk behind her, a long way off, until I had arrived outside the souk. And suddenly I lost sight of her; but, at that very moment, I saw coming to me a young girl whom I did not know and whom I could not guess because of her veil; and she said to me: “O my master, come to my mistress who has to speak to you!" So I was very surprised and said: "But no one here knows me!" And the young girl said to me: “Oh! how quickly you forget! Don't you remember that I am the servant whom you saw just now in the souk with the young lady, in the shop of the merchant such?" So I began to walk behind her until I saw her mistress in a corner of the street of the money brokers. When she saw me, she came quickly to my side, took me to the corner of the street, and said to me: “My darling, know that you occupy all my thoughts and that you fill my heart with love. And, since the hour when I saw you, I no longer taste the rest of sleep, and I neither eat nor drink!" And I replied: "And me too, it's the same thing! But my present happiness forbids me any complaint." She said to me: "My darling, tell me! must I go to your house, or will you come to my house?" I said to her: “I am a foreign man; and I have no other dwelling than the khan, which is really a place too frequented! Also, if you have enough confidence in my friendship to accept me in your home, my happiness will be at its height." She replied: “Certainly! but tonight is Friday night, and we really can't!... But tomorrow, after the midday prayer, get on your donkey and find out about the Habbaniat district; and, when you have arrived there, you will ask where is the residence of Barakat, the former governor, known under the name of Aby-Schâma. This is where I live. And above all, do not fail to come, because I will be there waiting for you." »
Then I was extremely happy. We separated and I returned to khan Serour, where I lived, and I spent the whole night without being able to sleep. But at daybreak I hastened to get up, and changed my clothes; I perfumed myself with the sweetest odors, and I provided myself with fifty gold dinars which I put in a handkerchief; and I left the khan Serour and I went towards the place called Bab-Zaouïlat; there I hired a donkey and I said to the donkey driver: “Let’s go to the Habbaniat district!" And immediately, in less than the twinkling of an eye, he led me there; we came to a street called Darb Al-Mônkari; and I said to the donkey driver: “Inquire now, in this street, about the house of the governor Aby-Schâma." The donkey driver went and came back after a few moments with the information requested and said to me: “You can get off the donkey." So I dismounted, and said to him: "Walk in front of me to show me the way." And he took me to the house and I said to him: “Tomorrow morning, you will come back here to fetch me to take me back to my khan." And the donkey driver replied: “At your orders!" So I gave him a quarter of a gold dinar; and he took it and put it to his lips, then to his forehead, to thank me, and went away.
So I knocked on the door of the house. And the door was opened to me by two little girls, two young virgins with straight, white breasts rounded like two moons; and they said to me: “Come in, my lord! Our mistress is impatiently waiting. She no longer sleeps at night, because of the ardor of her passion for you." I then entered a courtyard and saw a magnificent building with seven doors, and the whole facade was adorned with windows overlooking a vast garden. This garden contained fruit trees of all kinds and colors: it was watered by running water; you could hear the birds talking. As for the house, it was all white marble and diaphanous and so polished that you could see your own image reflected in it; and gold covered all the interior ceilings; and all around ran inscriptions and designs of all shapes; and it contained all the things that could please the eye. It was entirely paved with very valuable marble of all colors. In the middle of the great hall, there was a basin of white marble encrusted with pearls and precious stones; silk carpets covered the whole floor, and fabrics of all colors were hung on the walls; large sofas furnished the room.
It was only a few moments since I walked in and sat down...
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.