THE STORY OF THE PORTER WITH THE YOUNG LADIES
The third saâlouk finds the boy underground and is the involuntary cause of his death, as has been predicted by the masters of divination.
He finally leaves this accursed island and finds a big palace on the mainland.
ON THE EIGHTEENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade continued the story of the third saâlouk:
When I saw the old man and the ten slaves completely disappear, I got up and climbed down from the tree and ran to the place they had covered with earth. I began to remove the earth again and work until I had uncovered the lid; I saw that this cover was of wood the size of a millstone; I removed it all the same, with the help of Allah, and I saw, below, an arched staircase; I descended these stone stairs, although I was greatly astonished, and I ended by arriving at the bottom. Downstairs I found a spacious room, hung with valuable rugs and silk and velvet, and on a low divan between lighted candles and vases full of flowers and pots full of fruit and others filled with sweets, the young boy sat and fanned himself with a fan. At the sight of me, he was seized with great fright, but, with my most harmonious voice, I said to him: “Peace be with you!" And he answered me then, reassured: “And be upon you peace, and the mercy of Allah and his blessings!" And I said to him: “O my lord, peace be your portion! As I am, I am nevertheless a son of a king, and a king myself! Allah has led me to you to deliver you from this underground place where I saw people bring you down to kill you. And I come to deliver you. And you will be my friend, for already only your sight has robbed me of reason!"
Then the young boy smiled at my words, with a smile on his lips, and invited me to go and sit beside him on the divan, and said to me: "O Lord, I am not in this place to die but to avoid death. Know that I am the son of a very great jeweler known throughout the world for his wealth and the number of his treasures; and his reputation spread in all countries, by the caravans which he sent far and wide to sell the jewels to the kings and emirs of the earth. When I was born late in his life, my father was advised by the masters of divination that this son was to die before his father and mother; and my father, that day, despite the joy of my birth and the happiness of my mother, who had brought me into the world after the nine months of the term by the will of Allah, was in considerable sorrow, especially when the scholars, who had read my fate in the stars, said to him: "This son will be killed by a king, son of a king named Kassib, and this forty days after this king has thrown the copper horseman into the sea. from the magnetic mountain!" And my father, the jeweler, was grieved. But he took care of me and brought me up with great care until I was fifteen years old. And it was then that my father heard that the horseman had been thrown into the sea, and he began to weep and grieve so much, and my mother with him, that he changed his complexion, lost weight, and became like a very old man broken by years and misfortunes. It was then that he brought me to this underground dwelling, to this island where, since my birth, he had made men work, to save me from the search for the king who was to kill me at the age of fifteen, after knocking down the Copper Horseman. And my father and I were certain that Kassib's son could not come to find me on this unknown island. And such is the cause of my stay in this place."
So, I thought in my soul: “How can men who read the stars be so mistaken! Because by Allah! this young boy is the flame of my heart, and to kill him, I must kill myself!" Then I said to him: “O my child, Allah Almighty will never want a flower like you to be cut! And I am here to defend you and I will stay with you all my life!" Then he answered me: “My father will come again to fetch me at the end of the fortieth day, for after that time there will be no more danger. And I said to him: “By Allah! O my child, I will stay with you these forty days, and after that, I will tell your father to let you come with me to my kingdom where you will be my friend and the heir to my throne!"
Then the young boy, son of the jeweler, thanked me with kind words, and I noticed how full of politeness he was, and how much inclination he had for me, and I for him. And we began to talk amicably and to eat all the delicious things from his provisions, which could suffice for a year for a hundred guests. And, after eating, I saw how my heart was delighted by the charms of this young boy. And so we lay down for the whole night. As morning approached, I awoke, and I washed, and I carried to the young boy the copper basin filled with perfumed water, and he washed, and I prepared the food, and we ate together; and then we began to talk, then to play games together and laugh until evening; so we spread the tablecloth and we ate mutton stuffed with almonds, raisins, nutmegs, cloves, and pepper, and we drank fresh sweet water, and we ate watermelons, melons, honey, and butter cakes, with a pastry as soft and light as a hair and where the butter was not spared, nor the honey, nor the almonds, nor the cinnamon. And then, like the night before, we went to bed, and I saw how friends we had become! And so we remained in pleasure and tranquility until the fortieth day.
So, as it was the last day, and the jeweler was to come, the young boy wanted to take a big bath, and I heated the water in the big cauldron, I lit the wood, then I poured the hot water into the big copper tub I added cold water to make it soft and pleasant, and the young boy got into it, and I washed him myself, and I rubbed him, and I massaged him, and I perfumed him, then I carried him to the bed, and I covered him with the blanket, and I wrapped his head in a piece of silk embroidered with silver, and I gave him a delicious sherbet to drink, and he slept.
When he woke up, he wanted to eat, and I chose the prettiest and biggest watermelon, I put it on a tray, placed the tray on the carpet, and I climbed on the bed to take the big knife that was hanging on the wall above the young boy's head, and the young boy, for fun, suddenly tickled my leg, and I was so sensitive that I fell on him in spite of myself, and the knife I had taken sank into his heart, and he expired instantly.
At this sight, O my mistress, I slapped my face and cried and moaned, and tore my clothes, and threw myself on the ground in despair and tears. But my young friend was dead, and his destiny had been fulfilled, so as not to belie the words of the astrologers. But I raised my gaze and my hands to the Most High and I said: “O Master of the Universe, if I have committed a crime, I am ready to be punished by justice!" And, at that moment, I was full of courage in the face of death. But, O my mistress, our wish is never granted, neither for evil nor for good!
So I could bear the sight of this place no longer, and knowing that the father, the jeweler, was to come at the end of the fortieth day, I went up the stairs, went out, closed the lid, and covered with soil, as before.
When I was outside, I said to myself: “I absolutely must see what is going to happen, but I must hide, otherwise I will be massacred by the ten slaves who will kill me with the worst death! And so I went up on a big tree, which was near the place of the lid, and I sat down and watched. An hour later, I saw the boat appear on the sea with the old man and the slaves; they all went down to the ground and came in haste under the tree, but they saw the earth still very fresh, and they were in great fear, and the old man felt his soul go away, but the slaves dug the earth, opened the earth and all came down. Then the old man began to call his son by his name, in a loud voice, and the young boy did not answer, and they began to search everywhere, and they found him with a pierced heart, lying on the bed.
At this sight, the old man felt his soul depart, and fainted, and the slaves began to mourn and grieve, then they carried the old man on their shoulders out of the stairs, then the dead young boy, and they dug up the earth and buried the boy in the shroud. Then they carried the old man in the boat, and all the wealth that was left and all the provisions, and they disappeared far away on the sea.
So I, in an unhappy state, I came down from the tree, and I thought of this misfortune, and I wept a lot, and began to walk on the little island all day and all night, in desolation. And I did not cease to remain thus, when at last I noticed that the sea was decreasing from moment to moment, and was moving away, and leaving the whole place between the island and the land opposite dry. So I thanked Allah, who wanted to finally deliver me from the sight of this accursed island, and I arrived on the other side, on the sand; then I got up on dry land and began to walk, calling on the name of Allah. And so on until sunset. And suddenly I saw a big red light appear in the distance, and I walked towards this red light where I thought I would find human beings cooking a sheep; but, when I got nearer, I saw that this red light was a great palace in yellow copper which the sun burned in this way, at its setting.
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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