Part 2

A whole month passed without my seeing him; at the end of which time he appeared. “Where,” he asked me, “are the four thousand five hundred drachms of silver, which you owe me?”--“They are all ready,” I replied, “and I will immediately count them out to you.” As he was mounted upon an ass, I requested him to alight, and do me the honour to eat with me before he received his money. “No,” he answered, “I have not time at present, I have some urgent business, which requires my presence, and cannot stay; but, in coming back, I will call for my money; be so good as to have it ready for me.” Having said this, he went away. I waited for him a long time, but it was to no purpose, for he did not return till a month after. “This young merchant,” thought I to myself, “places a great deal of confidence in me, to leave the sum of four thousand five hundred drachms of silver in my hands, without knowing any thing of me. No one besides himself would surely act thus, for fear I should run away with the money.” At the end of the third month, I saw him come back, mounted upon the same ass, but much more magnificently dressed than he was before.

As soon as I perceived the young man, I went out to meet him. I entreated him to alight, and asked, whether he wished me to count out the money which I had of his. “Never mind that,” he replied, in a lively and contented manner, “I am in no hurry. I know it is in good hands: and I will come and take it when I shall have spent all I now have, and nothing more remains. Adieu,” added he, “and expect me again at the end of the week.” At these words, he gave his ass a cut with his whip, and was out of sight in a moment. “Vastly well;” said I to myself, “he has told me to expect him in a week, and yet if I may judge from the tenor of his conversation, I may not see him this age. Why should not I in the mean time make some use of his money? it will be of considerable advantage to me.”

I was not mistaken in my conjecture, for a whole year passed before I heard any thing of the young man. At the end of this time he again appeared, and as richly dressed as he had been the last time he came; but there seemed to me to be something or other which affected his spirits. I entreated him so far to honour me, as to come into my house. “I agree to it for this once,” he replied, “but it is only on condition, that you put yourself to no additional trouble or expence on my account.”--“I will do exactly as you please,” I said, “if you will favor me by coming in.” He immediately alighted, and entered my house. I then gave orders for the refreshments I wished to be procured, and while they were getting ready, we entered into conversation; and when the repast was served, we sat down to table. The very first morsel he took, I observed it was with his left hand, and I continued all the time to be much astonished at never seeing him make use of his right. I knew not what to think of it. “From the very first moment,” I said to myself, “I have known this merchant, I have always seen him behave with the greatest politeness; and it is impossible that he can act thus out of contempt for me. What can be the reason of his making no use of his right hand?” This matter continued to puzzle me extremely.

When the repast was over, and my servants had cleared every thing away, and left the room, we went and sat down on a sofa. I then offered, as a sort of relish, a very excellent kind of lozenge. Still he took it with his left hand. “I entreat you, sir,” at last I cried, “to pardon the liberty I take in asking you, how it happens, that you always make use of your left hand, and never of the right: some accident surely has happened to it?” At this he gave a deep sigh, and instead of answering me, he drew out his right arm from his robe, under which he had till now quite concealed it; when I saw, to my utter astonishment, that his hand was cut off. “You were much shocked, without doubt,” he said, “at seeing me eat with my left hand; but you now see I could not do otherwise.”--“May I inquire,” I answered, “how you had the misfortune to lose your right hand?” At this request he began to shed tears; after some time, however, he told me his history, which I am now going to repeat.

“I must in the first place inform you,” said the young man, “that I am a native of Bagdad. My father was extremely rich, and one of the most eminent men, both as to rank and quality, in that city. I had hardly begun to enter into the society of the world, when I was struck with the accounts which many people, who had travelled in that country, gave of the wonderful and extraordinary things in Egypt, and particularly at Grand Cairo. Their conversation made a deep impression on my mind; and I became excessively anxious to make a journey there. But my father, who was still alive, would not give me permission. He at length died, and as his death left me master of my own actions, I resolved to go to Cairo. I directly employed a large sum of money in the purchase of different sorts of the fine stuffs and manufactures of Bagdad and Moussoul, and began my travels.

“When I arrived at Cairo, I stopped at a khan, which they call the khan of Mesrour. I took up my abode there, and also hired a warehouse, in which I placed the bales of merchandize that I had brought with me on camels. When I had arranged this business, I retired to my apartment, in order to rest myself, and recover from the fatigue of my journey. In the mean time my servants, to whom I had given some money for that purpose, went and bought some provisions, and began to dress them. After I had satisfied my hunger, I went to see the castle, mosques, the public places, and every thing else, that was worthy of notice.

“The next morning, I dressed myself very neatly, and after taking from my bales a few very beautiful and rich stuffs, for the purpose of carrying them to a bezestein, [3] to know what they would offer me for them, I gave them to some of my slaves, and we went to the bezestein of the Circassians. I was instantly surrounded by a multitude of brokers and criers, who were soon informed of my arrival. I gave a specimen of my different stuffs to several criers, who went and showed them all over the bezestein; but I was offered by no merchant not even so much as the original cost of the merchandize, and the expenses of the carriage. This vexed me very much, and the criers were witness to my resentment and vexation. “If you will depend upon us,” they said, “we will show you a way to lose nothing by your stuffs.” I asked them what mode I ought to follow, in order to sell my goods to advantage. “Distribute them,” said they, “among different merchants, who will sell them in small quantities, and you may come twice every week, namely, on Mondays and Thursdays, and receive the money, for which they have been sold. By this method you will make some profit, instead of losing any thing, and the merchants also will have an advantage in the business. In the mean time, you will have opportunity and leisure to walk about and view the town, and to go upon the Nile.”

“I followed their advice, and carried them with me to my warehouse, from which I took out all my goods; and returning to the bezestein, I distributed them among the several merchants whom they pointed out to me as the most trusty and creditable. The merchants gave me a receipt in due form, properly signed and witnessed, with the condition, that I should make no demand for the first month.

“Having thus arranged all my business, I gave myself up entirely to pleasure and gaiety. I contracted a friendship with several young men about my own age, who contributed very much to make my time pass agreeably. When the first month had elapsed, I began to call upon my merchants regularly twice every week, accompanied by a proper public officer, to examine their books, and a money-changer to ascertain the goodness and different value of the various sorts of money they paid me. In this manner I constantly brought away, on those days, a considerable sum of money, which I took with me to the khan of Mesrour, where I lodged. This, however, did not prevent me from going, on the intermediate days of the week, to pass the morning sometimes with one merchant, and sometimes with another; and I was thus much pleased with their conversation, and with seeing what passed in the bezestein.

“One Monday, while I was sitting in one of these merchant’s shops, whose name was Bedreddin, a lady of distinction, as I easily conjectured both by her air and dress, and also by a female slave neatly attired, who followed her, entered the same shop, and sat down close to me. Her external appearance, joined to a certain natural grace in every thing she did, prejudiced me very much in her favour, and excited a great desire in me to know more of her than I did. I know not whether she perceived that I took a pleasure in beholding her, or whether my attention pleased her or not; but she lifted up the thick crape that hung over the muslin, which concealed the lower part of her face, and thus gave me an opportunity of seeing her black eyes, that quite charmed me. She at last completed her conquest, and made me quite in love with her, by the pleasant tone of her voice, and by her obliging and modest manner, when she addressed herself to the merchant, and inquired after his health, since she had seen him last.

“After she had conversed some time upon indifferent subjects, she told him that she was in search of a particular sort of stuff, with a gold ground: and that she came to his shop, because it contained the best assortment of goods of any in the bezestein; and that if he had such a thing, he would much oblige her by shewing it to her. Bedreddin opened a good many different pieces, and having fixed upon one, she stopped and asked the price of it. He said, he could afford to sell it her for eleven hundred drachms of silver. ‘I will agree to give you that sum,’ she replied, ‘though I have not the money about me; but I hope you will give me credit for it till to-morrow, and suffer me to carry the stuff home, and I will not fail to send you eleven hundred drachms, for which we have agreed, in the course of to-morrow.’ ‘Madam,’ answered the merchant, ‘I would give you credit with the greatest pleasure, and you should have full permission to take the stuff home with you, if it belonged to me; but it is the property of this young man, whom you see there, and this is one of the days fixed upon to give an account of the money for which his goods are sold.’--‘How comes it,’ cried the lady, ‘that you treat me in this manner? Am I not in the habit of coming to your shop? And every time I have bought any stuffs, you have desired me to carry them home, without first paying for them; and have I ever failed sending you the money on the following day?’ The merchant agreed to it. ‘It is all very true, madam,’ he answered, ‘but to-day I have occasion for the money.’--‘Well then,’ she cried, throwing it down, ‘take your stuff, and may God confound you, and all of your fellow merchants, for you are all alike, and have no regard for any one but yourselves.’ Having said this, she rose up in a passion and went away extremely piqued against Bedreddin.

“When I saw that the lady was gone, I began to feel very much interested about her, and before she was too far off, I called her back, and said, ‘Do me, madam, the favour to return, and perhaps I shall find a way to accommodate and satisfy both yourself and the merchant.’ She came back, but made me understand it was entirely on my account. ‘Sir,’ said I, at this moment, to the merchant, ‘how much do you say it is that you wish to receive for this stuff, which belongs to me?’--‘Eleven hundred drachms of silver,’ he replied, ‘nor can I possibly let it go for less.’ ‘Give it then,’ said I, ‘to the lady, and permit her to carry it home. I will give you one hundred drachms for your profit, and give you an order to take this sum out of the account of the other merchandize which you have of mine.’ I immediately wrote the order, signed it, and put it into the hands of Bedreddin. Then presenting the stuff to the lady, I said, ‘You have now, madam, full power to take it away with you, and with respect to the money, you may send it to-morrow, or the next day, or if you will do me the honour to accept of the stuff, it is quite at your service.’--‘This,’ replied the lady, ‘is very far from my intention. You have behaved with so much politeness, and in so obliging a manner, that I should be unworthy of appearing in the society of men, if I did not prove my gratitude to you. May God increase your fortune, suffer you to live a long time after I am gone; open the gates of heaven at your death; and may all the city publish the report of your generosity!’

“This speech gave me courage, and I said to her, ‘Suffer me then, madam, only to see your face, as a return for the favour you say I have done you. This will repay me, even with usury.’ At these words, she turned herself towards me, and lifting up the muslin which covered her face, she displayed a countenance most wonderfully beautiful. I was so much struck with it, that I could think of nothing to express what I felt at the sight. I was unable to take my eyes off, but she quickly covered her face again, for fear any one should perceive her, and after drawing down her long crape veil, she took up the piece of stuff, and went out from the shop, leaving me in a very different state from what I was in before her arrival. My mind continued greatly troubled, and strongly disordered for some length of time. Before I left the merchant, I asked him if he knew who the lady was; and he told me she was the daughter of an emir, who left her, at his death, an immense fortune.

“I had no sooner returned to the khan of Mesrour, than my people brought up supper; but I was unable to eat the least morsel. Nor could I close my eyes during the whole night, which appeared to me of more than ordinary length. As soon as it was day I got up, with the hopes of again beholding the object who thus disturbed my repose: and with the wish, should I be so fortunate of pleasing her, I dressed myself still nicer than I had done the day before. I then returned to the shop of Bedreddin.

“I had not been there a great length of time before I saw the lady approach, followed by her slave. She was much more magnificently dressed than on the preceding day. Paying no attention to the merchant, she addressed herself only to me. ‘You see, sir,’ she said, ‘that I have kept my word with you very exactly. I promised yesterday to do so, and have now come on purpose to bring you the amount of what you had the goodness to trust me, without knowing any thing of me. This is an act of generosity I shall never forget.’--‘There was not the least necessity, madam,’ I replied, ‘for you at all to hurry yourself.’ I was perfectly easy with respect to my money, and am sorry for the trouble you have given yourself.’--‘It would not, however, have been just in me to have abused your good nature,’ she replied. In saying this, she put the money into my hands, and sat down near me.

“Taking the advantage which this opportunity of conversing with her gave me, I declared the love I felt for her; but she got up and left me so hastily, that I believed she was offended at the confession I made. I followed her with my eyes, as long as I could see her; and when she was quite out of sight, I took my leave of the merchant, and left the bezestein without knowing where I went. I was meditating upon this adventure, when I felt some person pull me behind; I instantly turned round to see who it was, and recognized the young slave belonging to the lady by whom my whole mind was absorbed. This sight delighted me. ‘My mistress,’ said she, ‘who is the young lady that spoke to you in the shop of the merchant, wishes to speak a few words to you, if you will have the goodness to follow me.’ I instantly went with her, and in truth found her mistress waiting for me in the shop of a money-changer.

“She directly invited me to sit down near her, and began the conversation by saying, ‘Be not, my dear sir, surprised that I quitted you just now so abruptly: but I did not think it prudent, before that merchant, to give any thing like a favourable answer to the acknowledgment you made of my having inspired you with sentiments of affection. Far, however, from being offended at the confession, I own to you, it afforded me great pleasure to hear you say, that I was not indifferent to you; and I esteem myself happy in having acquired the regard of a man of your worth and merit. I know not what impression the sight of me may have made upon you, but with respect to myself, I can assure you, that I felt, on the very first moment I saw you, a very great inclination towards you. Ever since yesterday morning I have thought of nothing but what you said, and my haste and anxiety to discover you this morning was so great, that it ought to be sufficient to convince you, that you by no means displease me. ‘Madam,’ I exclaimed, transported with love, and filled with delight, ‘nothing I could possibly hear, could give me half so much pleasure as what you have now had the goodness to say to me. It is impossible for any one to feel a stronger regard than I have done for you, from the first happy moment I set my eyes upon you. They were quite dazzled with so many charms, and my heart yielded without the least resistance.’--‘Let us not then,’ she said, interrupting me, ‘lose any time in useless speeches, I do not doubt your sincerity, and you shall immediately be convinced of mine. Will you do me the honour of visiting my house? Or, if you had rather, I will accompany you.’--‘Madam,’ replied I, ‘I am quite a stranger in this city, and have only lodgings at a khan, which is by no means a proper place to receive a lady of your rank and quality. It will surely be much better for you to have the goodness to acquaint me with your residence; where I shall be delighted to have the honour of waiting upon you.’ The lady consented to this plan. ‘On Thursday next,’ said she, ‘which is the day after to-morrow, come directly after mid-day prayers into the street, called Devotion-street. You have only to inquire for the house of Abon Schamma, surnamed Bercour, and formerly chief of the emirs; at that place you will find me.’ Having said this, we separated, and I passed the whole of the next day with the greatest impatience.

“When Thursday came, I got up very early, and dressed myself in the handsomest robe I had. I put a purse, containing fifty pieces of gold, into my pocket, and I set out mounted upon an ass, which I had ordered the day before, and accompanied by the man of whom I had hired it. When we were come into Devotion-street, I desired the owner of the ass to inquire whereabout the house, which I was seeking after, was: some person immediately pointed it out, and he then conducted me to it. I alighted at the door, rewarded the man very liberally, and dismissed him; desiring him at the same time to observe well the house at which he left me, and not to fail to return for me the next morning, in order to take me back to the khan of Mesrour.

“I knocked at the door; when two little slaves, as white as snow, very neatly dressed, immediately came and opened it. ‘Come in, sir, if you please,’ they said, ‘our mistress has been waiting very impatiently for you. For two whole days she has never once ceased talking of you.’ I went into a court, and observed a pavilion, raised about seven steps from the ground, and surrounded with some trellis-work, which divided it from a very beautiful garden. Besides some trees, which served at the same time both for embellishment and shelter from the rays of the sun, there was an infinite number of others, which were loaded with all kinds of fruit. I was charmed with the warbling of a great many birds, which mingled their notes with the murmurs of a fountain, that threw its water to a vast height, in the midst of a parterre, enamelled with flowers. The fountain also was a very pleasing sight. Four large gilt dragons were seen at the four angles of the reservoir, which was exactly square: and these dragons threw up the water in great abundance, and clearer and more brilliant than rock chrystal. This place was so full of beauties, that it gave me a very high idea of the conquest I had made. The two little slaves desired me to go into a saloon, that was magnificently furnished; and while one of them was gone to inform her mistress of my arrival, the other remained with me, and pointed out all the beauties of the saloon.

“I had not been long in this place, before the lady, whom I was so much in love with, made her appearance, adorned with the finest diamonds and pearls, but she appeared still more brilliant from the lustre of her eyes than from that of her jewels. Her figure, which was now no longer concealed by her walking dress, as when I met her in the city, seemed to me to be the finest and most striking in the whole world. I can never express to you the delight we experienced at again beholding each other; indeed the strongest description would do injustice to our feelings. I can only say, that after the first compliments were over, we both sat down on a sofa, where we conversed together with the greatest satisfaction imaginable. They then served up the most delicate and exquisite dishes. We sat down to table, and after our repast, we recommenced our conversation, which lasted till the evening set in. They then brought us some most excellent wine, and also some dried fruits well adapted to excite a desire for drinking; and we drank to the sound of instruments on which some slaves played, and accompanied at the same time with their voices. The lady of the house also sung herself, and by this completely confirmed her conquest, and rendered me the most passionate of lovers. In short, I passed the whole night in a series of all kinds of delightful pleasures.

“The next morning, having first very slily put the purse with fifty pieces of gold in it, which I had brought with me, under her pillow, I got up and bid her adieu. Before I went, she asked me when I would return again. ‘I promise you, madam,’ I replied, ‘to come back this evening.’ She seemed delighted with my answer, conducted me herself to the door, and, at parting, she conjured me not to forget my promise.

“The same man, who had brought me the day before, was now waiting for me with his ass. I immediately mounted, and returned to the khan of Mesrour. In dismissing the man, I told him I would not pay him, but that he might come again with his ass after dinner, at the hour I fixed.

“As soon as I was returned to my khan, my first business was to go and purchase a nice lamb and several sorts of cakes, which I sent as a present to the lady by a porter. I then transacted my more important affairs, till the owner of the ass arrived, when I went with him to the lady’s house. She received me with as much joy as on the day before, and regaled me in quite as magnificent a style. When I left her the next morning, I put, as before, a purse, containing fifty pieces of gold, under the pillow, and returned to the khan of Mesrour.

“I continued thus to visit the lady every day, and each time I left a purse, with fifty pieces of gold in it. I pursued this plan, till the merchants to whom I had given my merchandise to dispose of, and whom I visited regularly twice a week, had nothing more of mine in their hands; I then found myself without any money, or the least chance of obtaining any.