THE STORY OF THE PORTER WITH THE YOUNG LADIES
The third saâlouk enters the copper palace and meets 10 men who have lost their left eye,
And he will now meet the legendary bird Roc.
ON THE NINETEENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade continued the story of the third saâlouk:
I saw that the red light was a great palace in yellow copper which the sun burned in this way, at its setting.
Then I was on the verge of astonishment, at the sight of this imposing palace all in yellow copper, and I was looking at the solidity of its construction when suddenly I saw ten young men of a marvelous height and a face that praised the Creator who had made her so beautiful; but I saw that these ten young men were all blind in the left eye, except a venerable and imposing old man, who was the eleventh.
Seeing this, I said to myself: “By Allah! what a strange coincidence! How could ten one-eyed people manage to each have their left eye damaged in this way, together? While I was deep in these thoughts, the ten young men approached me and said, "Peace be upon you!" And I returned their wish for peace, and told them my story, from beginning to end; and I find it useless to repeat it, before you, a second time, O my mistress.
At my words, they were overwhelmed with astonishment and said to me: “O Lord, enter this abode, and may the welcome here be wide and generous to you! I entered, and they with me, and we passed through numerous rooms, all hung with satin pieces of stuff, and finally we arrived in the last room, spacious, more beautiful than all the others; in the middle of this large hall, there were ten rugs spread over mattresses; and, amid these ten magnificent layers, there was an eleventh carpet, without a mattress, but as beautiful as the other ten. Then the old man sat down on this eleventh carpet, and the ten young men each on his own, and they said to me: "Sit down, lord, at the top of the room, and ask us nothing about anything you will see here!"
Then, after a few moments, the old man got up, went out, and came back several times bringing food and drink, and all ate and drank, and I with them.
After that, the old man picked up all that was left and came back to sit down. Then the young men said to him: “How can you sit down before bringing us something to do our homework with!" And the old man, without speaking, got up and went out ten times, and returned each time with a basin covered with a satin cloth on his head and a lantern in his hand, and he put down each basin and each lantern in front of each of the young men. But he didn't give me anything, and I was very annoyed. But when they had removed the cloth, I saw that each basin contained ashes and powdered coal and kohl. Then they took the ash and threw it on their heads, the coal on their face, and the kohl on their right eye; and they began to mourn and to weep and to say: “We have only what we have deserved by our misdeeds and our faults!" And they did not cease like this until day approached. So they washed themselves in other basins brought by the old man and put on new robes, and they became as before.
When I saw all this, O my mistress, I was in the greatest astonishment; but I dared not ask anything, because of the order imposed. And the next night they did as the first, the third night, and the fourth. So I could hold my tongue no longer, and I cried out, "O my lords, please enlighten me on the cause of your damaged left eye, and ashes, coal, and kohl which you put on your head, for, by Allah! I even prefer death to this perplexity into which you have thrown me!" So they cried out, “O wretch, what do you ask? It's your loss!" I answered: "I prefer my loss to this perplexity!" So they said to me, "Fear for your left eye!" And I say, "I don't need my left eye if I'm going to be confused!" So they said to me, "May your destiny be fulfilled!" What happened to us will happen to you, but don't complain, because it will be your fault! And, besides, after the loss of your eye, you will not be able to come back here, because there are already ten of us, and there is no room for an eleventh!"
At these words, the old man brought a live sheep, which they slaughtered, skinned, and cleaned the skin. Then they said to me, "You are going to be sewn into this sheepskin, and you will be displayed on the terrace of this copper palace. Then the great vulture named Roc, who can kidnap an elephant, will take you for a real sheep, and will swoop down on you and carry you up to the clouds, then deposit you on the top of a high mountain inaccessible to beings humans, to devour you down his throat! But then, you, with this knife that we give you, you will split the skin of the sheep and you will come out completely; then the terrible Roc, who does not eat men, will not eat you and will disappear from your sight! So you will walk until you reach a palace ten times larger than our palace, and a thousand times more magnificent. This palace is all laminated with blades of gold, and all its walls are encrusted with large jewels and especially emeralds and pearls. Then you will enter through the open door, as we entered ourselves, and you will see what you will see! As for us, we left our left eye there, and we still bear the deserved punishment, and we atone for it by doing every night what you saw us do. This is our story, in summary, because, in detail, it would fill the pages of a big square book! As for you, let your destiny now be accomplished!"
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 - Eleventh Night - Twelfth Night - Thirteenth Night
Fourteenth Night - Fifteen Night - Sixteenth Night - Seventeenth Night - Eighteenth Night