THE STORY OF THE PORTER WITH THE YOUNG LADIES
Of course, the third saâlouk cannot resist the temptation and opens the copper door. And this leads to the loss of his left eye.
Then the mistress of the house sends everybody away.
ON THE TWENTY-FIRST NIGHT
Sheherazade continued the story of the third saâlouk:
The next day I hurried out and opened the fourth door with the fourth key. And then, O my mistress, I saw things that even in a dream a human being could never see. In the middle of a large courtyard, I saw a cupola of marvelous construction: this cupola had porphyry stairways that ascended to forty doors of ebony wood inlaid with gold and silver; these doors, the leaves of which were open, each revealed a spacious room; each room contained a different treasure, and each treasure was worth more than my entire kingdom. I saw that the first room was filled with great aligned heaps of large pearls and small pearls, but the larger ones outnumbered the small ones, and each one was as big as a dove's egg and as bright as the moon in all its shine. But the second room surpassed the first in wealth: it was filled to the top with diamonds, red rubies, sapphires, and carbuncles. In the third, there were only emeralds; in the fourth, pieces of natural gold; in the fifth, gold dinars from all over the world; in the sixth, virgin silver; in the seventh, silver dinars from all over the world. But the other rooms were filled with all the gems from the bosom of the earth and the seas, topazes, turquoises, hyacinths, stones from Yemen, carnelians of all colors, vases of jade, necklaces, bracelets, belts, all the jewels used in the court of emirs and kings.
And I, O my mistress, lifted up my hands and my eyes and thanked Allah Most High for His blessings. And I continued thus, each day, to open one or two or three doors, until the fortieth day, and my wonder increased each day, and I only had left the last key, which was the key of the copper door. And I thought of the forty girls, and I was blissfully thinking of them, and the sweetness of their manners, and the coolness of their flesh, and the hardness of their thighs, and the tightness of their vulvas, and the roundness and volume of their behinds, and their cries when they said to me: “Youh! O my eye! Youh! O my flame!" And I exclaimed: “By Allah! our night is going to be a blessed night, a night of whiteness!"
But the Accursed made me feel the key of this copper door, and it tempted me enormously, and the temptation was stronger than me, and I opened the copper door. But my eyes saw nothing, and my nose alone smelled a very strong odor, very hostile to my senses, and I fainted at the same instant and at the very hour, and fell short of the door, which closed. When I awoke, I persisted in this Shaitan-inspired resolve and opened the door again, and waited for the smell to lessen.
So I entered and found a spacious hall, all strewn with saffron, lighted with candles scented with ambergris and incense, and with magnificent gold and silver lamps containing aromatic oils which made burning chard strong smell. And, between the golden torches and the golden lamps, I saw a marvelous black horse which had a white star on its forehead; and his left foot and his right hand were speckled with white at their extremities; its saddle was brocaded and its bridle was a gold chain; its trough was full of sesame seeds and well-screened barley; its drinking trough contained fresh water scented with rose water. And I, my mistress, as my great passion was beautiful horses and as I was the most illustrious horseman in my kingdom, I thought that this horse would suit me very well; and I took him by the bridle and led him into the garden, and rode on him, but he did not move. So I struck him on the neck with the golden chain. And immediately, O my mistress, the horse stretched out two great black wings which I had not seen up to that moment, cried out in a terrible way, struck the ground three times with its hoof, and flew away with me in the airs.
Then, O my mistress, the earth turned before my eyes; but I tightened my thighs and held myself like a good rider, and at last, the horse descended and stopped on the terrace of the copper-red palace where I had found the ten one-eyed young men. And then he reared up so terribly and shook himself so fast that he knocked me down, and he came up to me and lowered his wing towards my face, and thrust the tip of his wing into my left eye, and irreparably damaged it. Then it flew into the air and disappeared.
And I put my hand on my lost eye, and I walked up and down the terrace, lamenting and shaking my hand in pain! And suddenly, I saw the ten young men appear who, seeing me, said to me: “You didn’t want to listen to us! And here is the fruit of your fatal resolution. And we cannot receive you among us, because we are already ten. But, by following such and such a road, you will arrive in the city of Baghdad at the home of the Emir of the Believers, Harun Al-Rachid, whose fame has reached us, and your destiny will be in his hands!"
And I left, and I traveled day and night, after having shaved my beard and put on these saâlouk clothes, so as not to have to support other misfortunes, and I did not stop walking until I had arrived in this abode of peace, Baghdad, and I found these two one-eyed men here, and I greeted them and said to them: "I am a foreigner." And they answered me: "We too are foreigners." And so it was that the three of us came to this blessed house, O my mistress!
And such is the cause of my lost eye and my shaven beard!"
At this extraordinary story, the young mistress of the house said to the third saâlouk: “Come on! caress your head a little and go away. I forgive you!"
But the third saâlouk answered: “I will not go away, by Allah! until I hear everyone else's stories."
Then the young girl turned to the caliph, to Ja'far, and to Massrour and said to them: “Tell me your story!"
Then Ja'far approached and told her the story he had already told, to the young portress, on entering the house. Also, after hearing Ja'far's words, the girl said to them all:
“I forgive you all, one and all. But go as soon as possible!"
And all of them went out and came to the street...
At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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