Chapter #24The Story of the Rich Man in Rags, Concluded by: Seuzz   Then the rag-picker said, Thy tale fills me with amazement and pity, yet what hath it to do with me?—Here in my house I have my father's chief servant, the merchant said; he is a man who like my father believes I am my brother, but is not stirred up against me. Yet I have brought him here and plied him with drink, for I know he would not approve of what I would do, thinking that I am my brother still. I would have thee use thy art to change me and him, for a week only, so that I might visit my dying father, and minister unto him as a pious son should; and if I come not to him in some other visage, then shall he turn his face away from me, and that I cannot bear.
The rag-picker groaned at this, and begged release, but the merchant pressed him. How shall I know the hearts of men when I cannot see even their faces, said the rag-picker. I fear thou art false.—Only a pious son would wish this of thee, said the merchant.—Swear by the Most Great Name of God, said the rag-picker, that thy tale is true.—And the merchant so swore. But still the rag-picker was loath, and the merchant gave him words which his servant had composed, saying, By this conjuration know that thou wilt not do ill.
For love unchanging bends the world, and all therein doth alter form and shape;
To love now bend and for love's sake forsake this form, bending as thou would to whom one lov'st.
And the rag-picker, believing these words in one sense when the merchant meant them in another, consented to his importuning, and gave directions for the bringing of meats and fruits and spices and medicines. And he was taken by the merchant to another room, where the carpenter, the husband of the woman coveted by the merchant, lay plied with wines and poisons. And there the rag-picker prepared the dish as had been shown him by the lady jinn, and by the merchant's conjuration changed the merchant with the carpenter. And then the merchant left, for he was eager to be with the carpenter's wife, and to lay with her until morning.
But once the merchant was gone his chief servant took the bequest composed by his master, which was to leave all his possessions to the carpenter—who would secretly be himself—and he cut it into small pieces and burned it in the fire, and then with great agitation he went to the rag-picker, who was sleeping in another room. And to him he said, Rise my father and weep, for thou hast been deceived.
And the rag-picker rose, saying, Thy voice I heard this morning.—Verily, said the chief servant, for that was my master and myself.—I will go, said the rag-picker, for I will have no dealings with thee—Thou art too late, said the chief servant, for thou hast already done a terrible service for my master.—What dost thou mean? said the rag-picker, trembling—After thou departed my master, he waxed wroth and swore by a terrible oath that he should cause you to change more than just the outer casement of his being, and so deliver the woman he covets unto him. And so he hath brought you here and by cunning lies deceived you, changing him into the form of the husband of the woman he covets.
And the rag-picker cried aloud at this, and struck himself across the face many times, saying, May I be struck down should I ever to another dissembler give service.—Thou may yet redeem thyself by acting quickly, said the chief servant.—What sayest thou? said the rag-picker, and clutched at the servant—I am lately come, said the servant, too late to prevent what thou hast done, but not so late that I did not see my master in his changed form as he left this place, and I struck him down for the evil he intended to do; and though he still breathes he knows not where he is; so come thou with me and change him back.
Then the rag-picker took up the meat and fruit and spices that remained, and the chief servant took him and them to the room wherein he had laid the changed carpenter. And he told the rag-picker that his master lay elsewhere, and that he would fetch him. Then the rag-picker began to prepare the dish with his hand, and when all was in readiness he called to the chief servant saying, Hast thou brought the wretch?—Verily, said the servant, but in this he lied, for he did lay himself upon that couch. Then the rag-picker threw the mixed meat and fruit onto a bronze plate and set it over the charcoal brazier, saying—
Treason contests truth forever; plainly lies a face that painted visage wears;
No art I invoke; now change those I here grasp; this comedy now do I end.
And seizing the hands of the chief servant and the changed carpenter he changed one into the other. And then the chief servant, being changed now in form unto being like his master, as he had long intended and by slow degrees plotted, rose and struck down the rag-picker with a sword, thus fulfilling the rag-picker's own oath, and the changed carpenter he also slew. For now a perfect imposture of his master he possessed, for besides his form he had studied his manner for many years.
And when his master, being changed with the carpenter, returned the next morning, thinking to find his chief servant waiting with his possessions, he was turned out and denounced by his own servants. And having no recourse to law he fell back upon his supposed trade, but had no craft at it, and soon even the woman he had coveted, who had never deserted her husband in former times, left him, and sought out the man she thought was the merchant who had once declared his love for her; and the chief servant, who now in all eyes was thought to be the merchant himself, took her for his own.
But even this story, said the old fisherman when he had done relating this tale to the three Sheikhs, is not more wonderful than—
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The section ends there; the next page is in a different type face.
To put aside the book and keep investigating the room: "Disposing of Lucy"   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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