THE STORY OF THE HUNCHBACK WITH THE TAILOR, THE JEW, THE CHRISTIAN, AND THE BARBER OF BAGHDAD
The Steward's Narrative, Part 3.
ON THE ELEVENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
I stayed there for ten days, during which I did not know what had become of the young girl. And, for my meals, it was other young servants who brought me lunch and dinner and served me.
At the end of the lapse of time necessary for the preparations for the marriage, Sett-Zobéida begged the emir of the Believers to grant him permission to marry her servant; and he permitted her and gave her maid ten thousand dinars of gold. Then Sett-Zobéida sent for the kadi and the witnesses, who wrote the marriage contract. Then, that finished, we started the party. Sweets of all kinds and customary dishes were prepared, and we ate and drank, and dishes were distributed on plates to the whole town. And they made the feast last ten whole days. Only then did the young woman enter the hammam to prepare her for me according to custom.
Meanwhile, the tablecloth was laid out for me and my guests, and exquisite dishes were brought; and among other things, there was, in the midst of roast chickens, pastries of all kinds, delicious stuffings and sweets flavored with musk and rose water, a dish of kabsa capable of driving mad the wisest and calmest man! And me, barely sitting in front of the tablecloth, by Allah! I couldn't help but rush to this kabsa and gorge myself on it. Then I wiped my hands but forgot to wash them...
After that, I got up and lay quietly until nightfall. Then the torches were lighted, and the singers and the players of the instruments were brought in; and we began, on several occasions, to dress the new bride and each time in a different way; and each time, at each turn, each guest put a gold coin in the tray which was passed around according to custom. And the palace was completely filled with a crowd of guests, and it continued this way until the end. So I went into the reserved room, and they brought the new bride to me, and the servants stripped her of all her clothes and went out.
When I saw her like this completely naked and we were both alone on our bed, I took her in my arms and I did not believe, in my joy, that I really possessed her. But, at that very moment, she smelled the smell of my hand with which I had eaten the kabsa, and when she smelled this smell, she uttered a loud cry! And immediately came running towards us from all sides the servants, while I was all trembling with emotion and hardly knew what the reason for all this was. And the servants said: “O our sister, what is happening to you?" She said to them: “Oh! quickly get rid of this stupid man who I had thought was a man of good manners!" And I said to her: “And what did you notice of my stupidity or my madness?" She said: “You fool! Why did you eat kabsa and then wash your hands? And I, now, by Allah, do not want you anymore, because of your lack of judgment and your evil and criminal action!" At these words, she seized a whip that was near her and fell on my back with great blows, as well as on my buttocks, and so hard and for so long that by dint of receiving blows, I lost all consciousness. Then she stopped and said to the others: "Take him and take him to the governor of the city so that he can cut off the hand he used to eat the kabsa, this hand that he didn't wash!" But I came to myself when I heard these words and I cried out: "There is no recourse and no strength but in Allah the Almighty! Is it because I ate kabsa without washing my hand that this hand should be cut off? Have we ever seen such a thing?" Then the servants began to intercede for me with her and said to her: “O our sister, do not chastise him this time for his action! Please forgive him!" So she said: "Well, I won't have his hand cut off this time; but I still have to cut something from between its extremities!" Then she went out and left me alone.
And as for me, I remained thus alone for ten days without seeing her. But at the end of these ten days, she came to find me and said: “O you with your face full of black! I am therefore so little in your eyes that you have eaten kabsa without washing your hands!" Then she cried out to her servants and said to them: "Bind his arms and legs!" Then they bound my arms and legs, and she took a sharp-edged razor and cut off both thumbs from my hands and two thumbs from my feet. And that is why, O all of you, you see me like this, without thumbs on my hands or on my feet.
As for me, I fainted. Then she sprinkled my wounds with a powder of aromatic root, and immediately my blood ceased to flow. And that's when I say in my soul, and then out loud: "Never again will I eat kabsa without washing my hands forty times with potash, forty times with soda, and forty times with soap! With these words, she made me take an oath for this promise that I had just made, namely to never eat kabsa again without doing exactly what I had just said.
So when you all assembled here urged me to eat some kabsa which is on this tablecloth, I changed color and my complexion turned yellow, and I said to myself: " Here is this kabsa cause of the loss of my thumbs!" And when you absolutely forced me to eat it, I was bound by my oath to do what I did!”
Then I, O King of Ages, continued the steward who was telling the story, said to the young merchant of Baghdad, while all those present listened: “But what happened to you afterward with your wife?" He said:
“When I had taken the oath before her, her heart calmed down towards me and she finally forgave me. And so I took her and slept with her. And we remained thus for a long time united in this state. At the end of this time, she said to me: “You must know that no one at the court of the caliph learned what happened between me and you! No one but you has ever been able to break into this palace. And, if you entered here, it is only thanks to the good care of Sett Zobéida!" Then she handed me fifty thousand gold dinars and said to me: "Take all this sum and go and buy, for the two of us, a beautiful and vast residence, that we may live there together."
So I went out and bought a beautiful, spacious house. Then I transported there all the wealth of my wife, all the gifts that had been made to her, the precious objects, the beautiful fabrics and the beautiful furniture and all the beautiful things. And I put all that in this house that I had thus bought. And we lived there together very happily.
But after a year, by the will of Allah, my wife died; and so I took no other wife, and wanted to travel. I then left Baghdad, after having sold all my possessions; I took all my money and started traveling until I got to this city."
And such is, O king of this time, continued the steward, the story which the young merchant of Baghdad told me! So all of us who were guests of this house continued to eat; then we left.
And it was when I was out that this adventure happened to me, during the night, with the hunchback.
And such is my story! And I'm sure it's even more amazing than the one that happened to us with the hunchback! Ouassalam!"
Then the King of China said: 'You are mistaken! This is not at all more wonderful than the adventure of the hunchback, on the contrary, the adventure of the hunchback is much more astonishing than all that! Also, there is no hesitation, I will have you all crucified, to the last!"
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
First Night - Second Night - Third Night - Fourth Night - Fifth Night - Sixth Night - Seventh Night
Eighth Night - Ninth Night - Tenth Night