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all she had, piece by piece, till she had nothing left but an old
rug; whereupon she wept and exclaimed, God is the Orderer of the
past and the future! Presently, her brother said to her, O my
sister, I feel recovery drawing near and I long for a little
roast meat. O my brother, replied she, I am ashamed to beg;
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but tomorrow I will enter some rich man s house and serve him and
earn somewhat for our living. Then she bethought herself awhile
and said, It is hard to me to leave thee and thou in this state,
but I must perforce go. God forbid! rejoined he. Thou wilt be
put to shame; but there is no power and no virtue but in God!
And he wept and she wept too. Then she said, O my brother, we
are strangers and this whole year have we dwelt here; yet none
hath knocked at our door. Shall we then die of hunger? I know no
resource but that I go out and earn somewhat to keep us alive,
till thou recover from thy sickness; when we will return to our
native land. She sat weeping with him awhile, after which she
rose and veiling her head with a camel-cloth, which the owner had
forgotten with them, embraced her brother and went forth, weeping
and knowing not whither she should go. Zoulmekan abode, awaiting
her return, till the evening; but she came not, and the night
passed and the morning came, but still she returned not; and so
two days went by. At this he was greatly troubled and his heart
fluttered for her, and hunger was sore upon him. At last he left
the chamber and calling the servant of the inn, bade him carry
him to the bazaar. So he carried him to the market and laid him
down there; and the people of Jerusalem came round him and were
moved to tears at his condition. He signed to them for somewhat
to eat; so they took money from some of the merchants and bought
food and fed him therewith; after which they carried him to a
shop, where they laid him on a mat of palm-leaves and set a
vessel of water at his head. At nightfall, they all went away,
sore concerned for him, and in the middle of the night, he called
to mind his sister, and his sickness redoubled on him, so that he
abstained from eating and drinking and became insensible. When
the people of the market saw him thus, they took thirty dirhems
for him from the merchants and hiring a camel, said to the
driver, Carry this sick man to Damascus and leave him at the
hospital; peradventure he may be cured and recover his health.
On my head be it! replied he; but he said to himself, How
shall I take this sick man to Damascus, and he nigh upon death?
So he carried him away and hid with him till the night, when he
threw him down on the fuel-heap in the stoke-hole of a bath and
went his way. In the morning, the stoker of the bath came to his
work and finding Zoulmekan cast on his back on the fuel-heap,
exclaimed, Could they find no other place in which to throw this
dead man? So saying, he gave him a push with his foot, and he
moved, whereupon quoth the stoker, This is some one who has
eaten hashish and thrown himself down at hazard. Then he looked
at him and saw that he had no hair on his face and was endowed
with grace and comeliness; so he took pity on him and knew that
he was sick and a stranger. There is no power and no virtue but
in God! said he I have sinned against this youth; for indeed
the Prophet (whom God bless and preserve!) enjoins hospitality to
strangers. Then he lifted him up and carrying him to his own
house, committed him to his wife and bade her tend him. So she
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spread him a bed and laid a cushion under his head, then heated
water and washed his hands and feet and face. Meanwhile, the
stoker went to the market and buying rose-water and sherbet of
sugar, sprinkled Zoulmekan s face with the one and gave him to
drink of the other. Then he fetched a clean shirt and put it on
him. With this, Zoulmekan scented the breeze of recovery and life
returned to him; and he sat up and leant against the pillow. At
this the stoker rejoiced and exclaimed, O my God, I beseech
Thee, by Thy hidden mysteries, make the salvation of this youth
to be at my hands! And he nursed him assiduously for three days,
giving him to drink of sherbet of sugar and willow-flower water
and rose-water and doing him all manner of service and kindness,
till health began to return to his body and he opened his eyes
and sat up. Presently the stoker came in and seeing him sitting
up and showing signs of amendment, said to him, How dost thou
now, O my son? Thanks be to God, replied Zoulmekan, I am well
and like to recover, if so He please. The stoker praised the
Lord of All for this and going to the market, bought ten
chickens, which he carried to his wife and said to her, Kill two
of these for him every day, one in the morning and the other at
nightfall. So she rose and killed a fowl, then boiling it,
brought it to him and fed him with the flesh and gave him the
broth to drink. When he had done eating, she brought hot water
and he washed his hands and lay back upon the pillow; whereupon
she covered him up and he slept till the time of afternoon-prayer.
Then she killed another fowl and boiled it; after which she cut
it up and bringing it to Zoulmekan, said, Eat, O my son!
Presently, her husband entered and seeing her feeding him, sat
down at his head and said to him, How is it with thee now, O my
son? Thanks be to God for recovery! replied he. May He
requite thee thy goodness to me! At this the stoker rejoiced
and going out, bought sherbet of violets and rose-water and made
him drink it. Now his day s earnings at the bath were five
dirhems, of which he spent every day two dirhems for Zoulmekan,
one for sweet waters and sherbets and another for fowls; and he
ceased not to entreat him thus kindly for a whole month, till
the trace of illness ceased from him and he was quite recovered
whereupon the stoker and his wife rejoiced and the former
said to him, O my son, wilt thou go with me to the bath?
Willingly, replied he. So the stoker went to the market and
fetched an ass, on which he mounted Zoulmekan and supported him
in the saddle, till they came to the bath Then he made him alight
and sit down, whilst he repaired to the market and bought
lote-leaves and lupin-meal,[FN23] with which he returned to the
bath and said to Zoulmekan, O my son, in the name of God, enter,
and I will wash thy body. So they both entered the inner room of
the bath, and the stoker fell to rubbing Zoulmekan s legs and was
going on to wash his body with the lote-leaves and powder, when
there came to them a bathman, whom the keeper of the bath had
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sent to Zoulmekan, and seeing the stoker rubbing and washing the
latter, said to him, This is trespassing on the keeper s
rights. By Allah, replied the stoker, the master overwhelms
us with his favours! Then the bathman proceeded to shave
Zoulmekan s head, after which he and the stoker washed and
returned to the latter s house, where he clad Zoulmekan in a
shirt of fine stuff and a tunic of his own and gave him a
handsome turban and girdle and wound a silken kerchief about his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]