THE STORY OF THE HUNCHBACK WITH THE TAILOR, THE JEW, THE CHRISTIAN, AND THE BARBER OF BAGHDAD
The young lady discovers that the young man lost his right hand. She thinks she is the cause of this loss.
So, she gives back all the money he has given her and they get married legally.
But, she gets sick and, less than two months after the marriage, she dies.
The Christian Broker's Narrative - Part 5
ON THE SEVENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
I walked away, wrapped my handkerchief around my arm, and hid it in the sleeve of my robe. And I had turned so pale and was in such a sorry state, from everything that had happened.
And, not really knowing where I was going, I headed towards my friend's house. When I arrived, I threw myself on the bed, exhausted. And the young lady saw my pallor and my despondency and said to me: “What are you suffering from? And why this change of complexion and this pallor?" And I answered her: "My head hurts, and I am not well!" At these words, she was greatly saddened and said to me: “O my master, do not burn my heart like this. Sit down, please, and raise your head a little towards me, and tell me what happened to you today. Because I read a lot of things on your face!" So I said to her: "Please, spare me the trouble of answering you!" She then began to cry and said to me: “Ah! I see well, now that I have nothing more to grant you of my favors, that you are weary and tired of me! Because you are no longer with me as usual!" Then she shed copious tears interspersed with sighs; and she stopped from time to time to repeat her questions to me, to which I did not answer, and that until nightfall. So they brought us something to eat, and presented the dishes to us, as usual. But I was careful not to accept, for I would have been ashamed to take the food with my left hand and afraid that she would ask me why. So I said to her: “I have no desire to eat at this hour." So she said to me: "Tell me what could have happened to you today, and why I see you so distressed, sad, and with your heart and mind in mourning." So I ended up saying to her: “In a moment I will tell you the story, little by little and slowly." At these words, she said to me with a relaxed air, handing me a cup of wine: “Come on! My friend, banish sad thoughts. Here is something to chase away all melancholy. So drink this wine, and then you will tell me the subject of your sorrows." And I answered: "If you absolutely want it, then give me a drink yourself, with your hand." And she brought the goblet to my lips and inclined it gently, and made me drink it. Then she filled it again and handed it to me, So I strained myself, stretched out my left hand, and took the cup from her. But I could not hold back my tears and I recited these stanzas:
“The fingers of the Most High hold all destinies.
He can, at will, make us deaf, blind, and ignorant.
He can, if he wants, tear our reason as easily as one tears a hair.
He can also, if he wants, restore us to sanity, but so that we can recognize our errors."
When I finished reciting these verses, I sobbed with all my soul. When she saw me weep like this, she could not restrain herself any longer. She took my head in her hands and exclaimed wildly: “Oh! Please, tell me at last the reason for your tears! You burned my heart! And tell me also how it is that you take the cup from me like this with your left hand." So I replied: “I have an abscess on my right hand." And she said to me: “Discover this abscess for me so that I can burst it, and you will be relieved." I replied: “Now is not the time to do this operation. So insist no more, for I am determined not to uncover my hand." At these words, I emptied the cup completely, and I continued to drink each time she offered me the full cup, and that until I was quite drunk. So I lay down and fell asleep.
So she took advantage of my sleep to uncover my arm, and she saw that I had no more hand. And she began to search me and found in my pocket the blue purse which contained the gold. Also, at the sight of my misfortune, she entered into boundless despair and felt a pain that no one in the world had ever felt.
When, the next morning, I came back from my sleep, I saw that she had already prepared breakfast for me. I found on a plate four boiled chickens and plenty of chicken broth and wine. And she gave me all of this. And I ate and drank; then I wanted to take my leave and go away. But she stopped me and said: “Where are you going?" I answered her: “Somewhere to distract me and dispel worries that overwhelm me and compress my heart!" She said: “Oh! Do not go! Keep staying!" So I sat down, and she looked at me for a long time and said to me: “My friend, what madness is yours! Your love for me drove you mad, I see, and made you spend all your money on me. Besides, it is certainly to me, I guess, that the loss of your right hand is due. But I swear to you, and Allah is my witness, never again will I separate myself from you and leave you far from me! And you will see that I say the truth! And even now I want to marry you legally!"
At these words, she sent for the witnesses, who came; and she said to them: "Be witnesses of my marriage to this young man. You are therefore going to write my contract with him and certify that I have received the marriage dowry from him."
Then the witnesses wrote our marriage contract. And she said to them: “I take you all to witness that all the riches which belong to me and which are there, in this chest which you see, and all that I possess, become from this moment the property of this young man." And the witnesses testified and took note of her declaration and also of my acceptance, and went away after receiving their wages.
Then the lady took me by the hand and led me to a cupboard, opened it, showed me a large crate, which she also opened, and said to me: 'Look a little at what is in this crate." I looked and saw that this box was filled with handkerchiefs, each forming a small packet. And she said to me: “All this is your own good, that which, in time, I had accepted from you. Indeed, each time you gave me a handkerchief containing fifty gold dinars, I took care to squeeze it carefully and hide it in this box. And now take back your property. It is Allah who has reserved it for you and has written it for you in your destiny. Today Allah protects you and has chosen me for the accomplishment of the things written by him! But also it is because of me, no doubt, that you lost your right hand. And I cannot really remunerate you to the extent of your devotion to me and my love; even if I sacrificed my soul, it would not be enough, and you would always lose." Then she added: "Take possession of your property!" And I complied, and had a new crate purchased, in which I put one by one the objects which I removed, as I went along, from the lady's crate; I thus recovered the money which I had given him, and my heart was filled with joy and all my sorrow vanished.
I then rose and hugged her, and we both sat down drinking merrily together. And she continued to speak the sweetest and kindest words to me and to apologize for the little she was doing for me compared to what I had done for her. Then, still wanting to top off all that she had already done for me, she got up and registered in my name all that was in her possession in terms of expensive clothes, jewels, securities and built properties, and land, and that by a certificate sealed with his own hand, and before witnesses.
And that night, despite all the antics we indulged in, she fell asleep very saddened by the misfortune that she said had happened to me because of her and that I had ended up telling her.
But from that moment she never stopped lamenting for me and grieving, so much so that after a month spent in this way, she fell into the sickness of languor, which increased day by day and worsened and caused that after fifty days she ended up expiring and becoming an elect of the other world.
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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