# Swahili Tales/Sultan Darai

Swahili text: Sultani Darai
Layout 2
SULTAN DARAI.
A carpenter arose, and went and married a wife. He dwelt with his wife many years, and they had a child, a girl. His wife was seized with sickness, so that she departed from this world, and he dwelt with his young child.
And he said, "For myself here, I am a man, and one who goes to work; and my daughter whom I have is young. I had better seek for a wife and marry, for the purpose that she may bring up my child. If I have no wife my child will suffer by it."
A kinsman of his told him, "You ought to marry, for you are a full-grown man and the child is young, so you can do nothing; you had better marry a wife who may stay with your child, and you yourself may be able to go to your work." And he said, "Well, your advice is good; now you who have given me this advice, take good advice for me. Is there a wife whom you like, and think her good, that I may receive her?" And he told him, "There is a woman a neighbour of mine, she was the wife of Salih who has found mercy. Now I have thought her disposition a good one, for she lived long with her husband, and I heard no disputing. Now I don't know as to you and your luck, ​but for myself I think her a good woman, and she has one daughter, who was left by her deceased husband."
And he said, "Well, go and ask her, that you may hear what answer she will make you, and do you come to-morrow and tell me the answer when I come home from work." And he went and told the woman, "There is a man who is come wanting you; give me an answer, that I may go tell him again what you say." And she said, "I cannot refuse him, for here as I am, I am a widow, I and my child, and if I get a husband I shall be more comfortable." He said, "Very well, I will go and give him the answer."
He went to his kinsman's house. He said, "I am come to give you the answer you sent me about yesterday. I told the woman, and she did not answer me ill; she gave me a good message, and one to be acted upon." He said, "Well, I will give you clothes and the dowry; take them to her, and when you go, tell her, 'This dowry is yours, and these clothes are yours; if you have anything else to say, tell me, that I may report it to him.'" The woman said, "I have nothing to say now that the dowry and clothes have reached me; I have nothing more on my part, and I say to my husband, let him come on Wednesday."
He went and gave him the answer: "I took the woman the clothes and the dowry, and gave them to her, and asked her, 'Have you anything more to say?' And she told me, 'I have nothing more to say on my part.' She told me one thing only, 'Let my husband come on Wednesday, that is all.'" He said, "Wednesday is not far off, if God prosper us; to-day is Tuesday, and so Wednesday is to-morrow." He said, "Get your business ready." He said, "I have no further business, my business is finished, I and my daughter are ready; but you, my brother, go and tell the woman to be ready there. If she tells you, we are ​ready; come and call me, that we may go when the time I was told to go is come."
He went to the woman's, and told her, "Your husband greets you, are you ready here? the bridegroom wants to come." And she said, "Is it not we who are ready and waiting for him to come, and the time is passing; go and tell him to come quickly."
He ran and found his kinsman standing at his door, ready and wanting to start. He said, "Your wife sends her compliments." He said, "Now then! what news?" He said, "No news except for you to be quick; you are called, and they there are ready waiting for you to go; come along, quick, the time is passing." And they set out and left the house, and went till they got to his wife's house, and he stood outside. His kinsman went in and said, "Now then woman, the bridegroom is come, and wants to come into the house." And she said, "He may, let him pass," and he went.
And they stayed in her house, he and his wife and his child and his wife's child, till the space of seven days was ended. And he said, "My wife." She said, "Yes, master." He said, "To-morrow, Thursday, I shall go to work; take care and stay with your daughter and the young child." So in the morning when it was light, he went away to his work.
The woman there behind cooked food and gave the children their shares, each one separately; and she gave her daughter good rice, and her husband's daughter she gave the hard dry scorched rice.
At noon when her father came, "Dish up the food, mistress." The woman went into the kitchen and dished up the food, and went to lay for her husband, and gave him water to wash with. And he said, "Call the children and let us eat our food." The woman said, "Ah! master, are the ​children to eat twice over? I have given them their shares already. I have not taught them bad habits. When young children have had their food given them, and they have eaten once, that is enough; let us wait till the evening meal." And he said, "Very well, my wife, I thought they had not eaten yet, and that is why I said call them; if they have eaten, that will do."
And he went out and went away to his work. And the woman cooked the evening meal, and when the food was ready, before her husband came home, she gave the children to eat, and she gave her daughter good rice, and she gave the other what was dry and scorched. The girl ate it and drank water, and went out to play outside.
Then in the evening her husband returned, and came to the house, and called, "My wife;" and she said, "Yes, master." And he said, "Is the food done?" She said, "It is done, master." "Dish up." "Directly, master." And she went and dished up and came and laid out the things, and gave her husband water for washing. And he said, "Wife!" She said, "Yes, master." "Call the children, that they may come and eat their food." "Ah! master, is not what I told you in the morning enough for you?" He said, "What did you tell me, mistress?" "Did not I tell you that girls don't eat twice; you will teach them bad habits." He said, "I had not heard, my wife, that the girls had eaten already; then, shall I eat by myself, my wife? You wash, and let us eat together." And she said, "I am coming." And the woman took the cocoa-nut scrapings (chicha) and rubbed her hands. Her husband said, "What are you so long about, wife? I am waiting for you that we may eat." "My hands are grimy, and I am rubbing them with chicha to get them clean; do you go on eating, I will come. Don't put any mchuzi (gravy) on my side, I will eat it with the kitoweo (meat, &c.)." The woman came and they sat down ​to eat, and when they had done they washed their hands and got up.
And he said, "Wife, bring me the tambuu (betel leaf, &c.). Why is there no tobacco in it? Uncover the end of the bedstead, I remember putting away some tobacco yesterday, so look and bring it me." The woman went and uncovered the end of the bedstead, without finding the tobacco. She said, "Master." He said, "Yes, mistress." "What is the good of uncovering the bedstead? I have not found any tobacco." And he said, "Look carefully and gently; if you look in a hurry you will find nothing." "Eh! master, I do look gently, and I see no tobacco." He said, "Look about the feet." The woman uncovered the bedstead without seeing the tobacco. He said, "Eh, you mistress, I daresay you went to the bedstead there in a hurry. I think you have thrown the tobacco down." She said, "It has not fallen down, master. If you don't believe it, I will take a lamp and show a light here under the bedstead, and if your tobacco is there I shall see it." "Well, show a light quickly. I have folded up the tambuu already, I am only waiting for this tobacco; you are all day looking for it as if it had been a needle, so you don't see it; you would much sooner see this tobacco; it was a whole twist, not a little bit." "Ah, master, I can't; come and look yourself along with me here." "I am not coming, I am tired; take off all the mats and look. Where can this tobacco be gone to? Eh! eh! my wife, I forgot; it is inside the side piece of the little bedstead." "Ah! now you, you wanted to give me trouble, and you know where you put the tobacco. You wanted to give me trouble, me, the child of your equal." And taking the tobacco from under the side piece, she brought it to him. "Take hold of your tobacco; you are not in your senses, before one's food has got down into one's stomach, to begin to worry one." "Ah, wife, I am tired, and I had ​forgotten. Well, it is getting night-time; call the childreu to go to bed; get up and fasten the door." The children went into their own room to sleep, and their father went and slept.
Then in the morning when it was light, he called, "My wife." She said, "Here, master." "I am going away to work; see the child does not go outside; let her play here inside within the enclosure along with her sister." She said, "Very well, master." And he went away to his work.
The woman cooked the food, and called, "Children." "Here, mother." And they both came running. Her husband's child said, "Me, mother." "Ah! am I called your mother? when did I bear you? Your mother is dead yonder, I call her my child whom I bore myself." The girl turned back and thought in herself, and cried very much, till her companion asked her, "Sister, what are you crying for?"
She said, "I am not your sister; your mother told me, 'Your mother yonder is dead.' I am not your sister. If I were your sister should I be given hard dry rice, and rice, too, that is burnt? and you get good rice; and you are given the kitoweo, and I eat scorched rice by itself, unless it be with mchuzi, because I have no mother. There! I am not your sister." The girl went and called, "Mother!" "My child!" "Why has sister gone round there behind, crying; what have you done to her, mother?" "What, I, she is not my child; I bore you, and you only." "What, is she not father's child?" "If she were your father's child, how would I treat her? I would put her in the apple of my eye, and you would know the truth then that she was your sister. Sh! hold your tongue and say nothing, and call her, that you may eat your food." And she said, "Sister, you are called." "Who is calling me?" "Mother is calling you." "You are mocking me, you are, I have ​no mother; my mother there is dead; it is only you who have a mother; you are given good rice to eat; go along then to your mother." "Oh, sister, don't be angry; let us go and eat." "I shall not go there, bring me mine here where I am."
She arose and went and called her mother. She answered her, "My child, where is your sister?" She said, "I have called her and she won't come; she told me to take her her rice there where she is." She said, "Where is she?" She said, "There, behind in the yard." "Take it and carry it to her." The girl took it and went, and carried it to her. "Sister, sister, I have been given this rice to bring to you." She said, "Leave it here and I will eat." She put down the rice and took her way and went.
"Well! you have given your sister her rice?" "I have given it to her, but she has not begun to eat; she told me to put it down in the yard, and I put it down." "Very well; sit down and eat your own rice." So she ate and finished it.
"See if your sister has done eating." She went and found her bending down, and shedding tears, thinking over how she was treated by her father's wife. And she called, "My sister, don't cry so much, your head will ache; you had better eat your rice." She said, "My soul is angry, and I am thinking over my circumstances in my soul. The rice will not go down, and I am hungry." "Why so, my sister?" She said, "It is so." And she took the rice and gave it to the goat.
Just then her father came and knocked, "Hodi!" The wife answered, "Hodi, come in, master!" And she said, "What is the news by the shore?" "Good, the sun is fierce; give me a little water to drink." He was given water, and drank. He called, "Mistress." "Here, master." "Is the food done?" "Oh, it was done long ago, master, and ​the rice has got cold." "Dish up quickly, I want to go to sleep."
The woman went into the kitchen and dished up the rice quickly, and laid for her husband, and brought water for washing. Her husband washed his hands and said, "Call the children, that we may eat our food."
"Ah! my husband, have you no ears? Always the same words over and over. Are the children to sit still when the food is cooked, and wait for you when you come back from work, till one o'clock? The girls would die of hunger, but I, I cook quickly, on purpose that these girls may eat in good time and not get hungry. And then you, every day when you come back from work, call the children to eat with them. Do you want to give them food twice or three times; what does all this mean?"
"Oh, mistress, I had not heard that the children had eaten already; well, mistress, if I had heard it, should I have called them a second time? But I said they have not yet eaten, that was why I called for them; now that they have eaten, that will do. Wash your hands, and let us eat."
The woman went and washed and came back, and they ate. And she said, "It is your custom, my husband, when you come you must call the children, and say to the children, come and eat; and the usual thing in a house is first to ask the wife, it is she who [stays] in the house, and it is she who knows everything that is cooked and not cooked, and who has had enough and who is hungry, for it is the wife who knows, for she is the cook, and she it is who dishes up the food; well then, my husband, when you come it is according to the custom for you to ask me, for this is why you leave your house to me, because I understand it, and it is I who am your wife."
"Well, my wife, forgive me for what I said, and for what I was wrong in; what you say is according to the rule, ​that a man who goes out should ask his wife, 'Now then, mistress, have you cooked?' 'Now then, mistress, have the children eaten?' 'Now then, mistress, did what you gave them suffice them?'"
"Well, and I the wife am the one to answer you, 'Ah, master, the children have had food enough.' This is how people live with their wives in great houses, and this is exactly what people marry for; that when they go out they should not ask a slave, or ask a child; it is the wife who is in the house who is to be asked, she it is who manages the house; this is what people marry wives for, because they want when they come (home) to find everything ready. And if anything shall be wanting in the house, that they may not ask a slave, or a child. You should ask me, your wife, who am in the house. If you want to beat me, if you want to tie me up, if you want to abuse me, you are my husband, and you can do what you like if I have done wrong."
"Well, my wife, forgive me what I have done, and I will not do so again; so wash yourself, and let us go to sleep."
Then in the morning, when it dawned, her husband, getting up, said to her, "Mistress, to-day I am not going to work, I feel my back aching all over, but I will just get up and go to a neighbour's, and play at Bao. So when the food is done, send a child to go and call me." She said, "Very well, my husband."
The woman went to the cooking-place, and broke a cocoa-nut. And when she had finished cooking the rice, the sun had reached nine o'clock. Her husband had not stayed long enough to be called, he had come home of himself. "Eh! wife, why have you been so long cooking?" "Me, master, I have done cooking, but I am washing the plates, and I wanted to send a child to call you. Well then, master, shall I dish up?" "If you are ready, dish ​up." The woman went, and went into the kitchen, and served up three plates: one plate for her husband, one plate for her husband's child, and one plate for her own child. And two of the plates were of good rice, her husband's plate and her own child's plate; and into her husband's child's plate she had put the dried skin of the rice and what was scorched, and the head of the fish—this was what she gave her. Her husband had rice brought him, and her child took her rice, and her husband's child took the dried part that was scorched; and the man's soul was grieved because he could not eat out of one dish along with his child, but he did not dare to speak to the woman.
And he said, "Mistress, have the children eaten?" And she said, "I have given them their shares; they have eaten, she and her sister." And he said, "Well then, give me some water that I may wash;" and the husband washed his hands, and went out.
And his child there, where she was behind, had not eaten that rice, crying and sorrowing to see her companion having good rice and she eating dry stuff. And she left the dry stuff, and went as far as to her mother's grave; and she went grieving very much and crying very much.
And going round behind the grave she saw a tango plant, and she looked down and saw tangos, and plucked two, eating one and taking the other to make a doll of it. Till when she reached home,—"Where did you get that tango?" And she said, "I plucked it in people's shambas [gardens]." And she said, "Bring me the tango." And she took it away from her, and gave it to her own daughter. And she sat down and cried.
When her father came out and found the girl crying—"Halloo! mother, what are you crying about?" And she said, "There is nothing the matter with me." "Are you crying for nothing? you have something on your mind; ​tell me what it is, this that makes you cry, that I too may know it." And she said, "There is nothing the matter with me, father." And he said, "Shall it be possible to be crying for nothing, eh?" She said, "I am only crying."
His wife came. "What are you doing with the child?" "I look at this girl, I see her crying, I ask her what makes her cry, and she doesn't tell me." And she said, "What do you want with the girl; this girl is a fool, she is mad; she had gone stealing somebody's tangos, and came here; and I saw the tango, and took it from her, and gave it to the owners. So this girl wants to get us into a squabble, she wants to get us abused by people, to get us beaten by people. Look at my child here, she does not go taking anything of other people's; when she has done eating, she sits and plats her strips for mats, and when she is tired of platting she lies down. This child of yours won't do it; when she has done eating she goes into people's gardens and takes people's things. She wants to bring us poor people into trouble. If people come after their things, I shall not be at home, I shall be out, and I will tell them, 'Go to her father;' that if it is a matter of paying, you may pay, if it is a matter binding, you may be bound, if it is a matter of beating, you may be beaten; and all this will come upon you because of your daughter; for your daughter does not listen, she is not to be corrected, and she is not to be spoken to. So then, what is any one to do with this child? Well, for me, my husband, I am not inside, I have turned myself out of the house, because of the doings of this girl."
Her father took the child's hand, and went inside with her, and tied her hands and feet, and dug a place for a pole to tie her to, and said, "I shall not unfasten you; you must stay here till you die."
And she said, "Father, what do you tie me up for? Do ​you tie me, to punish me for being your child? Have I used bad words to anybody, and you have tied me to correct me that I may not use bad words any more; or have I stolen people's property and they have come to accuse me, and have you tied me up to correct me that I may not take people's property again?"
And he said, "You went into people's gardens, your mother has told me, you went and plucked other people's tangos, and they came to the house to accuse you, and your mother took the tango away from you, and gave it to the owner."
"My father, I have not what to say; my mouth is full of water, and if I speak, I fear you, my father, will be very angry, and quarrel with your wife about the way she treats me."
"Ah! my child, explain it to me, I am not angry, and I am not going to tell my wife; I want to know it, me and my own soul." And she said, "You see me, father, how I am growing thin." He said, "I see, my child." She said, "I am given no rice except the dry part and what is burnt, and I dare not speak, and her child, she gives her good rice to eat of, and she gives her other, too, and hides it away for her, and in the morning, when you go out to work, she calls her child into the room, and gives her that rice which was put away for her from the day before, and she eats by herself. And I, I know, get nothing, and I fear to tell my father, because you old people say, 'These women, the trouble of their child is on their hips,' and you men say, 'A child that is a female belongs to its mother that is a female.' And you, my father, have married this woman that she may take care of me, and I, your daughter, can I, a full-grown girl, come and tell you, 'Father, I am hungry;' am I to come and tell you, 'Father, I want corn?' I, who am a woman, must go to my ​mother there; she does not like my coming to you, if mother hears of it she will not love me. She will say of me, 'That girl is good-for-nothing, she omits to ask of me, her mother, and must needs ask of her father; what am I, his wife, in the house for, then?'"
And he said, "Truth, my child, and then tell me about that tango, my child."
And she said, "That tango that I came with the other day, that day when you were ill, when you went to a neighbour's to play at Bao, and came back quickly before any one had come to call you, and asked mother why it was so long, the sun had reached nine o'clock, did she not say 'The food is done, and I am washing the plates, that I may send some one to call you?' And you said, 'If the food is done, serve up.' And she said, 'It is done.' And the woman went, and served up three plates, one yours, father, one her daughter's, and one mine. Your plate of rice, and her daughter's of rice, and my own had put in it the dry part which was scorched and the head of the fish. And I went round behind with mine, and I looked at that rice and could not eat it, and I was very grieved, and cried very much, and I said, 'If my mother were alive, I should eat good rice as my companion does, who is given it by her mother.' Well, then, when you had finished eating, father, and washed your hands and went out, I too went out in the bitterness of my soul, and went to the grave of my mother, and was much grieved, and cried very much; then I got up and went round behind the grave, and looked down, and saw a tango plant, and I gathered two tangos, one I munched, and one I took myself to make a doll. When I came here into the house, mother here asked me, 'Where do you come from with the tango?' I did not tell her, 'I come with it from the grave of my mother;' I told her, 'I come with it from people's gardens ​yonder.' And she took away the tango and gave it to her daughter. And so I was angry in my soul, and felt my soul oppressed, and bowed myself down, and thought of my mother and said, 'If I had my mother, this one would not be able to rob me of my tango, and give it to her daughter.' And I feared to tell her that I went and gathered this tango there by the grave of my mother; she would go at once and gather them all and give to her daughter, and I should lose them. So I myself left them on purpose there by the grave, that when hunger hurts me, I may munch one and deceive my soul, and one I may make a doll of. So I did not steal those tangos, father: if you do not believe me, father, go yourself, and under the grave are seven large tangos, and there are little ones and flowers without number. So you have tied me up oppressively. There is nothing I have done wrong, either towards you or towards your wife."
And he untied his daughter and said, "Mother, forgive me for what I have done to you, for I did not know, I had not heard, and did not understand." "Ah! my father, I am contented with everything you do to me." "Well then, to-morrow, my child, I will buy you a female slave, and you shall change houses, and I will put you in the house of your deceased mother, you and your slave, and I will give you food."
When the night dawned, he went into the market, and the sun marked nine o'clock, and he chose a fine woman slave, who pleased him, and sent her to the house. And he said, "My child, this is your slave, she is your nurse, and she is your mother, and do you live with her." "You, woman!" "Here, master." "I have bought you because of my child, that you may cook for her good food, that you ​may put on her good clothes, that you may spread for her a good bed, that you may amuse her with good amusements, she is your mother, she is your father, she is your husband, she is your friend, she is your daughter. Well then, I beg of you, take great care of the child."
And the man went away, and reached his wife's house. His wife had got news—your husband has bought a concubine, and has put her in the house of his deceased wife. So the woman said, "If he comes to this house he does not come in, he shall go back to his concubine there where he has put her, or we will go to the Sheikh at once, and he shall divorce me; I don't want him for a husband any longer. Ah! when a husband buys a concubine, what does he want more with me?"
Just then the man came, and the woman took one leg here and one there, and stretched herself across the door, waiting for her husband, that when he came he might find no way to get inside. And she stretched both her hands across the doorway.
When her husband appeared she said, "Go back, go back; stop coming to my house; don't come here. Go back where you have bought (your) concubine, the house where you have put her, and stay there; see there the roof of the house, don't come to my door."
"Oh! Woman, are you mad, not to wait for me first and ask about it? Pa! and you fly at me. Call me privately into the house and ask me; you stay here in the doorway, a leg here, a leg there, a hand here, a hand there, you have filled up the doorway; all the people as they pass see you standing in this way in the door; are you not ashamed your own self?"
"I don't want your talk to-day; go back yonder there, go back yonder there, don't come into my house."
"O, my mistress, I beg of you let me say three words with you."
​"Oh, lies! I don't want your words to-day I only want you to leave me, and live with your concubine."
All at once there came a man and called him, "Fundi!" [Master workman.] And he replied, "Here." He said, "I have five words I want to say to you." He said, "All right." He said, "Come, then, and let us whisper." He said, "All right." He said, "There is a man wants to marry your daughter." He said, "That is good, I am very glad;" and he said, "You see the dispute at this house here, between me and my wife, because of this girl, I have bought her a slave, and now my wife says it is my own concubine, so my child had better be married and I get some peace." And he said, "I, too, have agreed to it." So he went to carry back to the man who had asked her in marriage the words he had for answer from his sweetheart's father.
So when he went to call the man who asked her in marriage, he found him in his house asleep, and he told a child who was there in the house, "Wake him at once; he sent me with a message, and I want to give him the answer I got where I come from." And she said, "All right;" and the child went inside and woke him, "Father!" And he answered, "Yes; why are you waking me? What do you wake me for before my sleep is finished." And she said, "It is your messenger; he has come from where you sent him, to give you the answer." And he said, "May it be a good omen," and went outside. And he invited him in. "Come in; well, what is your news from where you went?" And he said, "It is good there; I do not know how it is with yourself." And he said, "Myself has been the first to like, and has not been the first to refuse."
"I am sent by your father-in-law with many compliments, and after compliments, there are no good things you could do him like these. And so he is ready and you ​make your plans." And he said, "I have no plan, my plan is finished, it is to give you the clothes, and the dowry, and the mkaja, and the turban, and the ubeleko."
"Well, then, give me quickly, that I may take them before the sun sets." And he said, "They are all ready, I have finished laying them out; I waited for you to take them, and you ask for them, all is ready." "Go inside and give me quickly, I am busy and I will go way."
The man went inside and took the dowry, and he took the turban, and he took the mkaja, and he took the ubeleko. And then he said, "And the feet-washing, take it, and the door-opening, take it." And he said, "The gift in the hand, I will take myself. So go and take them with compliments, I here am ready, and am waiting for them to come and call me."
And he went out and took all that had been given him, and went to the bride's father; he was not there, and he said to his wife, "Where is your husband gone?" "He told us he was going round behind to a neighbour's to play at Tiabu, and he directed us if the messenger should come, a child should call him."
And he said, "Call him to me then quickly, and I wait for him here." And a child got up and ran there behind to the neighbour's and saw her father playing Tiabu, and waved her hand to him to call him. And her father understood, and he said, "I am leaving the party, a child has come to call me, perhaps there is something going on at home." And they said, "Look sharp and go."
And he went home and saw his messenger waiting for him on the baraza. "Hollo! you are come." He says, "I am come, master." "The news of where you come from?" And he said, "The news of where I come from is very good, and more, it is gladdening, and more, it is pleasing, your pledge is come; first, this dowry; secondly, these clothes; ​thirdly, this turban; fourthly, this mkaja; fifthly, this ubeleko; sixthly, this feet-washing; seventhly, this door-opening, and these are what were given to me to put into your hands, and the gift in the hand he says he will come with it himself, and he says he is ready there, he waits for you to come and call him." Says he, "I have no engagement, my time is to-day, so to-morrow he will have his wife."
And he took her clothes and went with them inside to his wife. And he said to her, "My wife, call the child to show her her clothes, and to show her her dowry, that she may do what she will do."
And she called the child, "Come, mother, these are your clothes that are come from your sweetheart, and this is your dowry, and these that are left are the customary gifts for me and your father."
And she said, "Well, mother, what is finished with you, can I reverse it? It is what you like that I like, I cannot smear my father's face with filth, that where he passes he may not be able to open his eyes; I love to gladden my father, that where he passes he may open his eyes, and he may laugh as is the custom, as the people of the world laugh, that he may speak as the custom, as the people of the world speak, that he may walk about as is the custom of the people of the world, as they walk about, and I do not like to bring grief to my father; I wish as other people live with their fathers so to live with mine."
And he said, "Good, my child, you have said pleasing words; I thought, my child, you would bow down my face before people, and you have lifted up my face before people; God grant you to increase, my child, and keep a good heart like the answer you have given me, for they are words that go forward, and I your father am delighted."
Well, they stayed in the house while they put their ​affairs in order, till the morning. And the next day they sent the husband word, "It is time, come and be married that you may enter the house." The messenger went, and when he arrived there at the house, he found the master sitting on the baraza waiting for those who should call him. And he said to him, "Master, you are called, the time is fully come." And he said, "I am ready, all right."
And he arose, he and his party, and they went till they reached the house of his father-in-law. And he cried, "Hodi!" And he said to him, "Hodi! Come near, Sheikh, come near, gentlemen." And they said, "We are seated." And they passed on to the baraza, and they went and called the mualim. And he came and married them. When they were going, those people had rice given them, and ate, and were treated very handsomely. And they were told, "Gentlemen, come near." And they said, "And you, bridegroom, good-bye." And they went out, and went away.
And he entered within his house, and they remained in the house of his father-in-law till the space of seven days was completed.
And he called his father-in-law, and he answered, "Here." And he said, "I have three words I want to say to you." And he said, "Master, my Sheikh, whether it is three or thirteen, think it no loss to you to tell me." And he said, "I have only these three." And he said, "All right, tell me." And he said, "The first is, I want you to give me leave, me and my wife, to go on to my house; the second is, do not be vexed at what I say to you; and the third is, give me leave to-day before to-morrow, for I find to-day is a good day for going forth for me and my wife. And do not you say we have run away, you shall see us, morning and evening, till perhaps you yourself will have had enough, you whom we shall come to."
​And he said, "I have no grief with you, I should like every day for you to come at all times, come and let me see her, and I, this is my only child, I don't like to miss her often." And he said, "Please God, master."
So when the sun had set, they moved, he and his wife, and went away to his home. And he lived long with that woman, and they were very fond of one another. And that woman loved her husband with a love that had no like. And that man loved his father-in-law so much that there was nothing like it.
And they lived many years without quarrelling, he and his wife, nor did he and his father-in-law quarrel. And these people lived all of one mind till his father-in-law was met with by necessity, and died. And they arose, he and his wife, and buried him.
And they lived while many years passed, and his wife was met with by necessity and died, and he arose and buried her.
Well, he dwelt by himself, and he lived while many days passed, and he did dissipated things, and lost all that he had through much dissipation.
And he lived a beggar man, every house he used to go to, begging and getting. And those days passed, and the houses where he went begging, he was given nothing more. And he went back to the dustheap and scratched like a hen, if he got some grains of mtama he took them and ate them, for the space of many days.
On a certain day going to the dustheap, he went and scratched and got an eighth of a pillar dollar, and he bent down again and scratched in the dustheap without getting one grain of mtama. "Ah! I have got this eighth of a pillar dollar, well I shall go my way and have a sleep." And he went to the house and took water and drank, and took also tobacco and chewed it. This was what he got ​that day, the eighth of a pillar dollar, and water to drink and tobacco to chew. And he got upon his bed to sleep.
In the morning when it dawned he went away to the dustheap. And casting his eyes upon the great road, he sees a Muhadim with a cage of baazi twigs. And he called him, "Hi! Muhadim, what are you carrying inside that cage?" And he said, "Gazelles! gazelles!" And he said, "Bring them! bring them!"
There were three men standing and they said to him, "You have got a job, you Muhadim." "How so, my masters?" "That poor fellow has nothing at all, not a thing." And he said to them, "Perhaps, master, he has." "He has not, you see him yourself on the dustheap, he does not get up, he scratches like a hen, every day he gets two grains of mtama and chews them. If he had anything, wouldn't he have bought mtama and eaten it? Would he want to buy a gazelle? He can't feed himself, will he be able to feed a gazelle?"
And the Muhadim said to them, "He, masters, I don't know him, I have brought merchandize, whoever calls me, I answer, and if he says come, I go. Shall I know this one is a buyer or this one is not a buyer? Shall I dispute with people? I have brought merchandize, if I am called am I not to go? It's the custom of a carrier of merchandize whoever calls him, he goes, be he little, be he great, be it a woman, be he poor, be he destitute. I don't know these things, I am a carrier of merchandize, whoever calls me, I go."
"Oh, oh! so you don't heed our words which we have told you; we have seen his home, and we know him that he is no buyer." And the second arose and said, "Ho! what words are these? perhaps God has made him a gift, or when God is going to make him a gift will he tell you, 'To-day I have made such a one a gift, come and look at him.'"
​And the third arose and said, "Ho! aren't clouds the sign of rain? And we have had no signs of his getting anything."
And the Muhadim arose and said, "I, gentlemen, shall go and attend to him who is calling me, for I started from my home in the country till I got here, and I have been called by many people, not less than fifty, if not more, and there was not one who bought. And all these have property, not as though they were poor, and they did not buy, well and I showed them all, and they looked, and then went and told me, 'Take them away.' Wherever I go this is my business. 'Bring the gazelles!' I take them; they look. 'Ah, that will do, they are dear, take them away.' And I do so. I get up and go forward. 'O you, Muhadim, oh you bring the gazelles, bring them;' and I take them and put them down, and they look. 'Ah, beautiful gazelles, but dear; take the gazelles away.' And I take them away, and I am not vexed. It is the custom of a carrier of merchandize to be called hither and thither, to put it down and take it up; and I am not vexed, because it's the custom of trade: you don't know who will buy; you say perhaps this one will buy, this one will buy, till you find a buyer, till some one buys."
"That will do, you pay no attention to our words; you bring out plenty of words and plenty of questions; go your way, poor man."
Well, those three said, "'M! now let us follow him, and see whether that poor man will really buy."
"Eh! master, where is he to get it? what words are these? 'M! one can't see the signs of a man's getting anything. 'M! ever since his wife died he has spent his property and gone into dissipation, at least for three years; he has no experience of hot food in his belly. Now a man who can't get hot food in his belly, not one day in ten, will ​he get anything to buy a gazelle with? However, let us go and see him, Muhadim; let us go and look at this dissipated fellow, who is troubling himself to call out, and troubling you who have a burden on your head; but let us go and look at him whether he will really buy, and if he will not buy every one shall give him one cut with his stick, that he may repent, and another day if he sees a man with his load he may not call him."
They went till they reached him. "Ah! these are gazelles. Buy them. 'I want a gazelle, I want a gazelle.' Here they are, you words and not deeds. 'M! you will long with your eyes and won't lay hold with your hands."
And he said to the Muhadim, "How much is one of your gazelles?" Those three men started. "Eh, you cheat you, you know every day gazelles are sold two for a quarter of a dollar." So he said, "I want one for an eighth." "Eh, you cheat, have you got an eighth? where did you get it?" And he gave him a push in the cheek.
"What do you give me a push in the cheek for nothing for, master? What have I done to you? Did I abuse you? Did I chirrup at you? Did I take anything of yours? I called this man with gazelles to buy his gazelles, and you have come interfering: you want to spoil the bargain that I may not get it." And he took hold of the corner of his cloth and unfastened the eighth and said, "Take it, Muhadim: give me my one gazelle that I may look at it." And the Muhadim took out a gazelle. "Take this one, master." The Muhadim laughed. "How is this? you with kanzus and turbans, and swords and daggers, and sandals on your feet, you gentlemen of property and no mistake, you told me this man was destitute utterly, with nothing before and nothing behind him, and he has been able to buy a gazelle for an eighth, and you, being great gentlemen, and property at home in plenty, could not buy to the value of ​half an eighth, and this man, who you told me was poor and destitute utterly, with nothing before and nothing behind him, he has been able to lighten my load, and you great gentlemen couldn't even to so much as half an eighth."
The poor man received his gazelle and went away there to the dustheap, he and his gazelle in his hand; and he stooped down, scratching there in the dustheap, and got grains of mtama to put in his mouth, and got a little more of grains of mtama and gave to his gazelle. And he took his way and went off, and went to his house, there where the kitanda was on which he lay; and he spread his sleeping-mat and laid down, he and his gazelle together. When the night turned to dawn, he got up and took his gazelle and went to the dustheap there, and scratched and got grains of mtama: what he got, as much as one could grasp in one's hand, he put in his mouth, and what were left he gave to his gazelle. And he arose and went to his house: and so about five days passed.
And the gazelle spoke in the night, and called him, "Master!" Its master answered, "Here!" and he said, "How is it that I see a wonder?"
The gazelle asked, "What is this wonder which you have seen to make you startled, and to make you faint, and to put yourself all into confusion?"
And he said, "This that I see is not small, that you, a gazelle, should speak."
And it said, "You do not accept the mercy of God."
And he said, "From the beginning of my fathers and mothers, and all the people that are in the world, I never heard any one man tell me of a gazelle that knew how to speak."
"Well, do not you be astonished; Almighty God is able to do all things—to make me to speak, and others more ​than I. You have no cause now, listen to what I called you for."
And he said, "Good; I shall hear now, and tell me in order that I may understand things."
And it said, "Firstly, I have accepted you for you to be my master; further, you have been at expense for me of what you have, and I see that your state is low; I cannot run away from you, but I will give you a promise, and what I tell you, observe."
And he said, "Please God! Your promise that you shall give me, if it be bad, will be good to me, and if it be good, to me it will be more than good."
And it said, "First, master, I will tell you that you, master, are poor, and your diet, I, master, know it, you yourself can bear it, and your ability is of necessity; now though I am your slave, of those victuals which you eat there is to me distress, and I have no pleasure."
And he said, "Well, what is it you wish?"
And it said, "My master, what I wish is this,—I want you to forgive me, for I shall say words that will not be pleasing to you; they are irritating words."
He says to it, "You are a gazelle no longer, you are become my child, and the weight of a child is on the hip of its mother." And he said, "Well, then, tell me what it all is."
And it said, "I want you to give me leave, and further, forgive me, I want you to give me leave to go and feed until the evening, and to return and come and sleep, if your soul is at rest about this that I am telling you. For that diet of yours is sparing, and for me is little, and this is why I cannot follow you that we may eat together: well, then, I want you to forgive me, and that your soul ​may be trustful that I shall return. And, master, good-bye, I take leave of you; I start and go away."
And he said, "Well then, go." The gazelle ran out, and the poor man ran from inside and stood in the yard. And the gazelle ran faster and faster. And the poor man was struck with astonishment, and tears started from him. And that poor man made one cry—"Oh, my mother!" with his hands to his head. And he made a second cry—"Oh, my father!" And he made a third cry—"Oh! my gazelle, it has run away!"
The neighbours who were there came and groaned at him, and said, "You fool, you idiot, you dissipated fellow! you have staid on the dustheap many many days, you scratched like a hen till God gave you that eighth, and you could not buy muhogo and eat it, you bought a gazelle; then you have let it go; what are you crying about, as if you were crying for one lost for ever?"
And he held his peace, comforting himself. And the poor man arose and went away, and went there by his dustheap, and got some grains of mtama, and returned to his house; and it seemed desolate to him.
And when sunset was over his gazelle came. And the poor man was very glad. "God sets you up. Ah! you are come, father."
And it said, "Is not this the promise I gave you?" And it said, "I feel that for you the eighth you bought me with is a hundred thousand out of your goods. And I feel it a loss that you should take your hundred thousand, and go and give them to other people, if I run away from you. I went away into the forest, and if any one goes and snares me, or in like manner any one comes and shoots me with a gun, another man has got me. Well, then, whatever trouble takes me, why should I grieve you? I cannot. If I go and get myself something, in the evening let me come and sleep."
​"Ah! good, my father, God give you mercy!" And they went in to where the bed was, and slept, it and its master. The gazelle's belly was very full that day with fodder.
In the morning, when it dawned, it said to him, "Master, I am going away to feed." He said, "Go in health and strength." So the gazelle went away; and when its master went out and went his way to the dustheap, his neighbours said of him, "Ah! poor mad fellow, perhaps he is a wizard. Was not that gazelle yesterday the one we said would never come back? How then, did it not come back yesterday evening, and sleep there inside at his place? Just now this morning this gazelle ran out and went away on the road; he is mad to cry after his gazelle. Why did he let it go again to-day? This is not for nothing; methinks he is mad, but it is hidden; it has not got to be fully evident yet." And so the neighbours went off, and the poor man went back home.
And the gazelle, when the sun had set, returned to their house, and found its master lying down chewing tobacco. When the gazelle came, it took its foot and lifted it up and laid it on his beard, and called him.
"Ah! is it nice there where you come from?" And it said, "Ah! very nice. To-day, master, I went to a place where there is fine grass, and there is shade, and there is coolness; and so when I had eaten that grass till I had had enough, there was privacy, there was a stream too, so I ate and laid down and was fanned by the wind; and I ran down to the stream and drank water, and I returned and came and laid down and was fanned by the wind. This was my employment till the time I came back. I was employed in eating, and lying down, and being fanned by the wind, and going down to the stream and drinking water, and I returned and I was fanned by the wind. So my soul speaks good things to-day because I ​was much refreshed by that grass and that shade and the wind there; it was so good, and a stream near; and there was privacy, no pathway, no house near, even the stream itself is among undergrowth; and to-morrow, when I wake, I shall go just to that place."
He says to it, "When you wake, go, master." And they slept.
And in the morning, when it was getting light, the gazelle ran out, and went away. And some people met with the gazelle. "That's him, that's him! the poor man's gazelle—catch him!—that's him, that's him! catch the poor man's gazelle!—catch him!—catch him!" but they did not get it. The gazelle ran hard, and went away. Those who pursued it turned back.
After five days, when the gazelle went to feed, it went where there was a great tree; it was among thorn-bushes, and in a thick wood. The gazelle was tired with the sun, and said, "There where the great tree is I will hide myself; there is shade there, and I may rest from this sun." And it went and lay down where the great tree was. A long time passed while the gazelle was sleeping where that great tree was.
When it awoke it wandered about under the tree, and found a place where the grass was bitter; it lifted its foot and scratched, and saw a diamond exceedingly large and very bright. "O—o—o!" The gazelle stood astonished. "This is property, this is a kingdom; but if I take it to my master he will be killed, for they would say to a poor man, 'Where did you get it?' If he says, 'I picked it up,' he will not be believed; if he says, 'I was given it,' he will not be believed; well then, why should I be the one to go and get my master into difficulties? I will look for people of power—they are the people to use it."
And the gazelle ran off and entered into the forest, and ​held the diamond in its mouth; and it ran far through the forest, and found no town that day. And it slept in the forest; and the second morning it arose before the morning was quite light, and ran till about ten o'clock, and rested till the sun had ceased to be overhead, and ran very fast, with its diamond in its mouth, till when the sun went down it slept on the way. In the morning, when it was light, it ran off and exerted itself in running till when eight o'clock was past it rested, it saw signs of a town near, and ran off and ran hard till as the sun inclined from overhead, seeing signs of great houses and of a town, it could not stop again, and ran very hard and went until it arrived in the main road of that town, and that road lead up to the Sultan's house. And it went until the Sultan's house lay open before it. And it went the harder; and as it was passing in the road, people stood staring, seeing a gazelle running and something wrapped in leaves between its teeth in its mouth, and it going towards the Sultan's house.
The people who were in the town stood staring till the gazelle arrived at the Sultan's door; and the Sultan was sitting before his door. The gazelle cried, "Hodi! Hodi!" It had thrown down the diamond, and sat there in the road panting. And the second time it cried, "Hodi! Hodi!" And the Sultan said, "Listen to this cry of 'Hodi!'" And they said, "Master, it is a gazelle that is crying 'Hodi!'" And he said, "Invite it to come near! invite it to come near!" Three people went running and said to it, "Come, get up! you are called; come near." The gazelle got up and took up its diamond till where the Sultan was, and laid it at the Sultan's feet.
And it said, "Master, Masalkheri." The Sultan replied, "Allah masik bilkheri, come near." "I am seated, master." The Sultan ordered the soldiers, "Bring also a carpet, and ​bring a large cushion." Immediately they came, and were spread there. And he told the gazelle, "Lie down there." "Ah! master, here is enough where I am lying. I am your slave. I feel it good for me to lie on the ground, much more here where there is a mat spread." And he said, "You must get up and lie just there." And it arose and went and lay down. And the Sultan ordered that milk should be brought for the gazelle, and he ordered that rice should be brought; and the milk and the rice came, and it ate, and when it had finished with the rice it drank the milk, and was left to rest a little while.
And he asked it, "Give me the news you have come with." And it said, "Master, let me give you the news I came with. I am sent to come and insult you. I am sent to come and ask ill of you. I am come to seek a quarrel with you. I am sent to come and ask kinship and family alliance with you."
The Sultan said, "Hulloo! you gazelle, you know how to speak;" and he said, "I am looking for some one to insult me. I am looking for some one to make mocking signs about me. I am looking for some one to ask kinship and family alliance between us, and I have met with good luck." And he said, "Now then, tell me your message."
And it said, "You have forgiven me. Sultan?" And he said, "A thousand times." And it said, "Well then, if you have forgiven me, open this your pledge." The Sultan stooped and took it, and put it upon his lap, and opened it himself by himself. When he saw the diamond, the Sultan was greatly astonished, it was so good and it was so brilliant. And the Sultan's soul felt, "He has done me a great benefit, so that there is none like it." And he said, "I have seen my pledge."
And it said, "Well then, I am come with this pledge, given me by my master, Sultan Darai. Now he has heard ​that you have a daughter, so he has sent you this; and do you forgive him, do you bear with him, that he has sent you something not worthy of you, because it is but a small thing."
The Sultan said, "Allahu, I am quite content; I am quite content; even my grave when I die is content with what Sultan Darai has done toward me." And he said, "Many thanks, thanks; I am quite content; the wife is his wife, the family is his family, the slave, is his slave. Let him come at any time whatsoever. I will marry Sultan Darai to my daughter. I don't want a pishi of him; I don't want a kisaga of him; I don't want a kibaba of him; I don't want half a kibaba of him; I don't want a quarter of a kibaba of him; but let him come empty-handed. Whatever there is more, let him leave it there where it is. This then is my message, and do you make it clear to Sultan Darai."
So the gazelle got up and said, "Master, good-bye, and be content with me your slave." And he said, "I have already received contentment from you. I wish you to be content with me, you gazelle, in what I have answered you." And it said, "Content, master, even with another answer; and, master, I am content; and I, master, am going away to our town. We shall not stay many days; perhaps in eight days, or in eleven days, we shall arrive as your guests." And he said, "Ah! good-bye."
And as for the gazelle's master in the town there, people groaned at him, and people laughed at him, and some people grunted at him, and some other people said of him, "This poor man is madder now; he had his eighth of a dollar, and he went and bought a gazelle, and he let his gazelle go, and now he wanders about the town crying, "Oh! my poor gazelle! my poor gazelle." And people laughed at him, and he had lost his wits because of the gazelle.
​And on that day he arose and went home according to his time for staying, and the gazelle came in to him. And the poor man, getting off the bed in haste, came and embraced it with weeping. And the gazelle said, "Be still, master; don't cry, that I may give you the news I have with me." "Ah! my gazelle, you have been lost many days, and I here behind cried and was grieved, and thought you were dead." And it said, "Ah! master, I am well enough; now sit down, master, that I may explain to you what I have with me."
His master sat down and said, "Go on, explain it." And it said, "Master, I shall explain matters to you, and you must be equal to them." And he said, "Anything whatever that you tell me, because my soul loves you so, I shall be equal to it; if you tell me, 'Master, lie on your back that I may roll you over the hill,' I should lie down." And it said, "Master, I have seen many kinds of food—food to satisfy, and other food to leave of—but this food is sweet food indeed, master."
And he said, "Are there things in the world that are nothing but good? They must be good and bad together; this is what the world is; and food is sweet and bitter, that is good food; if food was nothing but sweet, would not that be poisonous food?"
And it said, "Well then, let us sleep now; and in the morning when I go, you follow me." And they slept till the morning; and when it was light, they went out, he and his gazelle, and went into the forest. And they went the first day, and they went the second day through the forest, till, on the fifth day in the forest, the gazelle said to its master, "Stay here, here near the stream." And it took its master, and beat him soundly, till he cried out, "I repent, my master!"
And leaving him there it said, "Do not go away from ​here. I am going away; let me come and find you just here." And the gazelle ran off; and when the sun had reached about ten o'clock it came out upon the house of the Sultan, Immediately of the soldiers who were placed on the path to attend on Sultan Darai when he should come, one ran and told the Sultan, "Sultan Darai is coming. I have seen the gazelle; it is coming running."
The Sultan set out with his people to go and meet him in the road. And when he had gone till half the way was finished they were met by the gazelle. The gazelle said to him, "Sabalkheiri, master." And he said, "Thanks, gazelle, how are you?" And it said "Do not ask me anything now, master. I cannot draw a step hither or thither."
The Sultan said, "How is that, gazelle?" And it said, "I have come with Sultan Darai, and while in the way we set out, he and I by ourselves—he was not accompanied by any one whatever besides myself—we came till in the forest we were met by robbers, and they seized my master and bound him, and he was much beaten by the robbers, and they robbed him of all his goods that he had with him—even to the loin-cloth to put on underneath, they took it off. So there my master is as on the day when his mother bare him."
The Sultan hastened away with the soldiers, and they ran on to his house. And he called a groom and told him, "Saddle a horse in the stable, the best of my horses, and the best harness which I ride with myself." And he called a woman slave, "Henzerani!" And she answered "Here, master." And he said, "Open the great inlaid chest and take out a bag of clothes." And she went and opened it and brought the bag of clothes. The Sultan opened it and took out a joho, black and very good; and he took out a ​kanzu of daria, and very good; and a loin-cloth of albunseyidi, and very good; and he took out a turban cloth of kariyati, and very good; and he took out a shawl for the waist, a very good one. And he went and fetched a curved sword with a gold hilt, and very good. And he went and fetched a curved dagger with gold filigree, very good. And he fetched a pair of sandals, and they gave him a walking stick of mtobwi wood, very good.
And he told the gazelle, "Take these things with these soldiers to the Sultan, and give them to him, that he may be able to come." And it said, "Ah! master, can I take these soldiers, to go and put my master to shame, and he is there just as his mother bare him? I am enough by myself, master."
And he said, "How will you be enough, and here is a horse and these clothes?" Says it, "As for the horse, tie it to my neck here, and fasten these clothes on the back of the horse—fasten them well, because I shall go fast with the horse." The Sultan said, "If you can manage I will do it for you." It said, "If I could not I would not say so to you, so far as I have said I can manage."
And he fastened the horse to its neck, and the clothes were fastened on the horse's back. And it said, "Ah! master, farewell; I am going." The Sultan said, "Well then, gazelle! when shall we expect you?" It said, "About five o'clock." He said, "Please God."
The gazelle ran off with his horse, the gazelle in front, the horse behind. The people of that city who were there, and the Sultan, and the Emirs, and the Vizirs, and the officers, and the judges, and all the gentry and rich men of ​the town wondered at that gazelle's knowing how to speak, and knowing how to arrange its words elegantly. Then it took away the horse. And the soul of the gazelle was confident. A horse is bigger than a gazelle. As to that horse and that gazelle, if the horse stooped and looked at the gazelle, it would see it as we see an ant on the ground, just so the horse looked down on the gazelle. But we do not recognize all the prudence of that gazelle.
And the Sultan said, "Eh! that gazelle comes from gentle hands, from the doors of a Sultan, he comes from the eyes of people of power; that is why this gazelle is what he is." And it became a person of great consequence with that Sultan.
And so the gazelle went till it arrived where its master was, there where it had told him, "Don't go away from here;" and it found him just there; he had not gone away.
Its master, when he heard the noise, when he cast back his eyes, he saw the gazelle and the horse, and was very glad, till the gazelle arrived and said, "Master, hodi! hodi!" And he said "Hodi, my master!" and he said, "Come near, my benefactor! come near, my orator! come near, my largess-giver!" And it said, "I am seated, my master; I am seated, my lord;" and it said, "I have brought you this sweet food." And he said, "This is the food I like, for food that is only sweet is poisonous food."
And it said, "Get up, master, and bathe." And its master went into the stream. And it said, "Here in the stream there is little water; go there into the pool." And he said, "There in the pool, why I fear is, that there is water exceedingly plenty; and where there is great plenty of water, where there is a pool, there are sure to be noxious animals."
And it said, "What animals, master?" And he said, "First, in lakes there are surely crocodiles, and secondly, ​there are surely kenges, and thirdly, there are surely snakes, and fourthly, whatever there be, there are frogs, and they bite people, and I fear all these things." "Well, master, bathe just here in the stream."
Its master went into the stream and bathed. And it said to him, "Rub yourself well with earth." And it said, "Take some sand and rub your teeth well with sand, for your teeth are dirty." And he rubbed himself well with earth, and rubbed his teeth well with sand. And it said, "Come along then, come out, the sun has gone down, let us be off."
And it brought the clothes and said, "Open it, master;" and he opened the clothes and put them on. And he put on the lordly loin-cloth, and he put on the kanzu of doria, and fastened on the dagger with the gold filigree, and he put on the black joho, which was a very good one, and twisted on the turban of karyati cloth, and that very good, and he put on the shoes, and put the sword under his armpit, and took in his hand the mtobwi walking-stick.
And it said, "Master!" And he said, "Here, my son, here, my benefactor, here, my burier, here, my orator, here, my light." And it said, "There, where we are going, don't you let any one word whatsoever come out of your mouth, beyond saluting and asking the news. Don't add a word more, leave all the talking to me, you have no word to put in." And he said, "Very good." And it said, "Yonder I have asked a wife for you; and the dowry, and the clothes, and the mkajas, and the turbans, and the ubeleko, and all the customary gifts for the wife and her mother and her father, I have given them all." And he said, "I will not say anything." And it said, "Mount the horse, and let us go."
The gazelle went running, and stopped at a distance and said, "Master, master!" And he said, "Here!" And ​it said, "A wife, and clothes, a banana tree, and cultivation, these are a fat gift." And it said, "My master, there where you are at a distance, when you have mounted the horse, as you have put on this suit, no one would know you had been scratching yesterday; though from there in a foreign land where we are going when we return to our country whence we came out, they will not say of you, This is the poor man that scratched in the dust-heap, people will not believe it, you have become so fine, and your face is so clean." And it said, "Whatever the matter, and whatever the thing, even your teeth to-day are so white, no one will mention anything except the moon of the fourteenth, that is the moon which is bright." And he said, "All this is your largess, which you have lavished on me."
So they went their way; and they went and went, till when the gazelle cast its eyes it saw the house of that Sultan. And it said, "Master, you see that house?" He said, "I see it." And it said, "That is the house we are going to, and you there are not a poor man any longer; and do you know your name?" He said, "I know it." "What is your name?" He said, "I am called Hamdani." And it said, "That is not your name, that one." "Eh! father, what is my name?" And it said, "Your name is Sultan Darai." And he said, "Very good."
Immediately they saw soldiers coming running, and other soldiers went running to go and tell the Sultan. And fourteen soldiers came to them; and going on a little they saw the Sultan, and the Vizirs, and the Emirs, and the Judges, and the rich men of the city coming.
And the gazelle said to him, "Get off your horse, master, your father-in-law is coming to meet you, and your father-in-law is that one in the middle, wearing a sky-blue joho). And he said, "Very good." And he got off his horse; and the soldiers were called and took the horse.
​And they went on till they met, Sultan Darai and his father-in-law, and they gave their hands to one another and each kissed his fellow warmly, and they went together to the house.
And when they went to the house, the young lady said to her people, "Put him apart in a room where no one will see him," because her lover was come.
The Sultan ordered food, and they came and ate, and conversed much till the time of the night was come; and Sultan Darai was put in an inner room, he and his gazelle, and three soldiers at the door to attend upon him, till the night was over.
When it dawned, the gazelle went and said to the Sultan, and it said, "Master, the work a man comes for is what he attends to; so then, Master, we want you to marry us our wife, for the soul of Sultan Darai is eager." And he said, "The wife is ready, call the mualim, and let him come." And they went and called the mualim, and he came. "Come now, we want you to marry this gentleman." "By all means, I am ready;" and he took and married him. The Sultan ordered the cannon to be fired, and they fired the cannon many times. And the Sultan ordered the music to play, that every nation should play its own music. And so Sultan Darai went into the house.
Then the next day the gazelle said to its master, "I am setting out on a journey, in seven days I shall be back; and if I am not back in seven days, don't you go out of the house till I come." And he said, "Very good; please God I will not." And it said, "Farewell, fare very well, master."
And it went and took leave of the Sultan of the country, and said to him, "Master." And he said, "Here, gazelle." And it said, "Sultan Darai has sent me to go to his town, to get the house in order; he has told me to be back in ​seven days; if I am not back in seven days he will not leave the house till I come." And he said, "Very good, farewell."
And the Sultan said, "Do you not want people to attend you?" It said, "I was sent from our place with rich property, and entered the wilderness, and in the wilderness there is nothing good, every evil thing comes by origin from the wilderness, and I came here by myself without fearing. Much rather now, when I have nothing to carry, shall I be afraid? Farewell, master, I am going."
And it went and it went through the forest and the wilderness, till it arrived at a town, and that town was large with fine houses. And it saw that the town was bowed down, and it was struck with astonishment. It could neither go forward nor back, and it bent down, and considered, and thought, and looked, and could not resolve on anything, except to go into the town. And it went, and followed the main road. And at the end of the main road there was a great house, exceedingly beautiful, so that there was none like it in the town; and it saw the house was built of sapphire, and of turquoise, and beautiful marbles.
The gazelle was struck with astonishment, and thought and pondered. When it had collected its thoughts it said, "This is the house for my master, and I will call up my courage and go and look at the people who are in this house, whether there are any people or no. For I entered at the end of the town, and till I got here in the midst of the town I have not seen any one at all; in this town I have seen neither man nor woman, old nor young, till my arrival here. So then I will call up my courage and go into this house." And it said, "If I die I die, if I live I live; for here now where I am I have now no stratagem, for the place I came from is far off; and so if anything has been empowered to kill me, let it kill me."
​And it knocked at the door with its fist, and cried, "Hodi!" And it cried again, "Hodi!" without finding any one inside to answer it. "Ah! is there no one in this house? Why then is not the door fastened outside? Perhaps the people are asleep, or perhaps they are far off and don't hear me. However, I will cry hodi now very loud, that if they are far off they may hear me, and if they are asleep they may wake."
And it cried, "Ho—o—di! Ho—o—o—di!" And an old person from inside answered, "Hodi;" and asked, "Who are you who are crying hodi?" And it said, "I, great mistress, your grandchild." And she said, "If you are my grandchild, father, go back again to where you came from; don't come and die here, and bring me to my death as well."
And it said, "Mistress, open, I have three words I want to say to you." And she said, "My grandson, I don't refuse to open; I fear to put your life in danger, and to put my own in danger too." And it said, "Mistress, my life will not pass away, nor yours either; but, great mistress, please to open that I may tell you my three words."
And the old body opened the door. And it said, "I embrace your feet, mistress." And she said, "Thanks, my grandson;" and she said, "Well; what is the news where you come from, my grandson?" And it said, "Great lady, where I come from it is well, and here where I am come to it is well?" And she said, "Ah, my son, here it is not well by any means; if you are looking for a way to die, or if you have not yet seen death, then to-day is the day for you to see death, and the day for you to know what dying is."
And it said, "Great mistress, for a fly to die in cocoanut juice is no loss to it." And she said, "If so it shall be my son; I foresee loss for you, for many people have ​died who had swords and shields." And it said, "Those affairs are over, look to mine." And she said, "If they were not who had two feet, shall you be who have four?" And it said, "Mother, I have not thought much of what was praised, praise I foresee for myself."
And she said, "I wish, child, you would go back where you came from." And it said, "That is not a matter to be had, mother, that I should return back again to the place I told you of." "What did you tell me at first?" And it said, "Did I not tell you, for a fly to die in cocoanut juice is no loss to it?" And she said, "True, my son, you did tell me so; and did I not answer you?" And it said, "How did you answer me, mother?" And she said, "Did I not tell you I foresee loss for you?" And she said, "Your loss is the cause of my not favouring you much." And it said, "I cannot but ask you, though you tell me not, but I will ask you. Who is the owner of this house?"
And she said, "Ah, father! in this house is abundance of wealth, and abundance of people, and abundance of food, and abundance of horses; and the owner of this whole town is an exceedingly and wonderfully great snake."
"Ahaa! old lady, give me a clever plan that I may get at this snake, so that I may get to kill him." And she said, "Oh, my son, don't say words like these; you will put me in danger, and there, where he is, the owner has heard. I have been put here by myself—I, an old woman—and it is my work to cook food. You see the pots there? Well, when the great snake is coming, there blows a wind, and the dust flies as if a storm were coming. Well, when he comes, and arrives here in the courtyard, he eats till he has had enough, and goes inside there to drink water. When he has drunk water, he goes away; ​he only comes every other day, just when the sun is over head. Where, then, will you be a match for him, father? And this snake has seven heads. They were not a match for him who were as great as queen bees; and will you be a match for him, father?"
And it said, "Mother, you mind your own business, and don't mind other people's; has this snake a sword?" And she said, "He has a sword, and it is a fine one, and a good one, and this sword is like a flash of lightning." And it said, "Give it me, mother." And she went to the peg and took it down, and came and gave it to it. And it said, "Is this it, mother?" And she said, "This is it, my son." And she said, "And be quick, too, for he is coming about this time; you have come to kill yourself, and to kill me also." And it said, "How so, mother?" And she said, "Don't I tell you you will not be a match for him." And it said, "As for dying, we are dead already, we have only to decay; but do you, mother, call up your courage, and I will try to-day, if those who were as great as queen bees could not match with this snake, I, to-day, will be a match for him." And she said, "Ah! my son."
Immediately it hears a storm blowing. The old woman told him, "Do you hear the manly one coming?" And it said, "I, who am inside, am a manly one; two bulls cannot live in one cattle-pen; he will live in this house, or I shall live in it." The old body laughed much at the words the gazelle uttered. The old woman thought she must die, for that old body had seen people a thousand times stronger than the gazelle, and they were no match for the snake, and he overcame them. And it said, "Mother, drop that; all fruit are not mazu, mazu are red, so wait, mother."
Immediately the strong youth came to the house ​whither he came, and went to his pots to eat; and when he had finished eating, he came to the door. And he perceived a smell of something inside. And he called, "You old body, how is it I smell a different smell there inside?" And she said, "Master, I am here by myself; I have stayed many days without scenting myself, to-day I have scented myself, and this is the smell you perceive, and you say there is something difterent inside. Where could anything come from, master?"
And the gazelle had drawn the sword, and stood ready. The snake put his head inside, the gazelle had the sword drawn, and cut off his head without the snake's knowing his head was cut off. And he put through the second, the gazelle had the sword drawn, and cut off that head. The snake lifted up his head, and said, "Who has come to my house to scratch me?" and putting in his third head to try to get inside, the gazelle had the sword drawn, and cut his third head off.
Till when it had finished six heads, in the fury of the snake he unfolded his rings, and the gazelle and the old woman could not see one another for dust. And when he put in his seventh head, the gazelle said, "To-day is your death;" and it said, "You have climbed all sorts of trees, but this you can't climb." And the snake lifted his head to go in, the gazelle had the sword drawn, and cut off his seventh head. And the gazelle fell down fainting.
The old lady set up screams and cries of delight, and she felt her body, and her eyes, and her spirit, and her strength like a girl of nine, and she was a person of seventy-five. And the old woman ran and took up the gazelle, and the gazelle had fainted, and put water upon it, and fanned it, and put it in a place opposite to the wind, till the gazelle drew a breath, and the gazelle sneezed, "che!" ​And the old woman was very glad when she saw the gazelle sneeze, and she fanned it, and put water on it, and turned it this way and that, till the gazelle got up.
The mistress said, "Ah, my grandson; gently, my son; and I did not think you could be a match for him." And it said, "Mother, I told you before, 'I have not seen things that were praised as wonders, I foresee it for myself.'" And she said, "True, my son;" and she said, "for I have seen it."
And it said, "Good, tell me the news." And she said, "Of what, my son?" And it said, "There is no one to interfere before us." And she said, "It is clear before and clear behind; I don't know as to God." "Well, then, I want you to show me this house from the beginning to the end, from bottom to top, from inside to out." And she said, "All right, father." And it said, "First, let us pass on into the court." And she said, "I will lead you, father, and go and show you the secret and the open, all that is stored up." And it said, "Good, my mother; good things don't spoil." And she said, "True, my son."
So then she showed it storerooms full of goods, and showed it chambers where was put food of price, and she showed it rooms where were put handsome people, who had been long imprisoned, and she took it up to the upper rooms, and showed it all that was in them, slaves and goods. "These are your goods, master." And it said, "Do you keep these goods till I call my master—he is the owner of these goods."
And the gazelle was very glad. The house pleased it much, and when he shall come, with his father-in-law, and his wife, and the people in their company, every one that shall come, when he sees this house will say this is a house, for there in their town there is no house half as ​good as this. "Ah, then," the gazelle said, "my master will be very glad about what I have done for him. For if my master has this house, and he a man that was so different, he will be as though he were born again, he will feel himself so fine."
And it stayed in the house, and conversed with the old woman, until after the third day it went away.
And it went, until it reached the town where its master was. And when the sultan heard that the gazelle was come, he rejoiced much, and seemed like a man who has his petition sent down to him. And when his master got the news where he was within, he felt himself like a man who has found the time when all prayers are granted. So he arose and kissed it much. "My father, you have been a long time, you have left sorrow with me, I have sat thinking, I cannot eat, I cannot drink, I cannot laugh; my heart felt no smile at anything, because of thinking of you."
And it said, "I am in health, and where I come from it is well, and I wish that after four days you should take your wife and let us go home." And he said, "It is as you choose; what you tell me, that I will follow." "Well then," it said, "I am going to your father-in-law to tell him this news." And he said, "Go."
And it went to the baraza, and said to him, "Master, I have come to you." He said, "May it be a good omen; tell me what you have come for." And it said, "I am come, sent by the master to come and tell you, that after four days he will go away with his wife, and I have brought you the news first." And he said, "I don't like his going away quickly, for we have not yet sat much together, I and Sultan Darai; nor have we yet talked much together; since he came till to-day it is fourteen days, and we have not yet got to sit together and converse, ​nor have we yet ridden out together, nor have we eaten together, and going away I look upon as a loss." And it said, "Master, you cannot help it, for he wishes to go quickly home, and he has told me that he has now stayed a long while." And he said, "Very good." And it went and gave its master the answer. And it said, "I have told your father-in-law your plans, and he is satisfied." And he said, "Give orders, then, to tell all the people that in the space of four days the sultan's daughter is going to her husband's house, and do you all know it."
And the sultan told the people who were in the town, women and men, "The day my daughter goes, let the ladies follow her." And he chose out people and told them, "Do you stay and look after my daughter on the road."
So when the space of four days was ended, all the great ladies went forth with their slaves and their horses, and formed a company to convey the sultan's daughter to the house of her husband, Sultan Darai. And they went out, and entered on the road, and went on until the sun had ceased to be overhead, and they rested; and the gazelle ordered good food to be got ready, and they ate, from the gentry to the slaves, and they were well filled, and their souls rejoiced because the food was so good.
And they went on till after five o'clock. And it said to them, "Gentlefolks, here let us stay, it is our sleeping-place." And good food was prepared, and beautiful rice, and they ate, gentry and slaves; and they rejoiced, gentry and slaves, and slept in that place. So at night it began from corner to corner, from beginning to end, as to gentry and slaves, even as to the beasts that were ridden, there was not one that had not its honour. From the slaves to the gentry, even to the beasts they rode, all were glad, because it wished much to please its master. And he called it, "Father!" And he said, "I think you ​are very tired; from the beginning of sunrising till its setting you have not once rested, till this night;" and he said, "I beg of you lie down." "Do not you grieve, father, a great man is like a dustheap; he makes it greater who carries something; he who bears nothing makes it no greater;" And he said, "True." And they slept.
In the morning, when it was scarcely light, it awoke the gentry. "Gentlefolks, gentlefolks, awake! Fellow-servants, fellow-servants, fellow-servants, awake! Gentlefolks, wash your faces! Fellow-servants of mine, wash your faces."
And it said, "Come, gentlefolks, open your mouths; and fellow-servants, fellow-servants, open your mouths, that we may escape from the sun." And the gentry arose and ate good food, and their souls rejoiced, and so did the slaves. And all the slaves that were there, and even the gentry, loved that gazelle more than they did Sultan Darai.
When they had finished they arose. "Well, gentlefolk, have you had enough?" And they said, "We have had enough;" and they said, "we are gentlefolks, and if we had not eaten this food we should have been satisfied with only the honour you do us and the arrangements you have made." And it said, "Thank you." And it asked, "Well, all my company, have you had enough?" And they said, "Here as we are, even an eyelash would seem to us a heavy thing to put in our bellies, we are so full."
And it said, "Come then, let us start." And they went till the sun had ceased to be overhead, and they stopped. "Let us rest here, and drink water and eat food." So the food came and they ate, gentry and slaves, and they were filled, gentry and slaves, and they were glad, both gentry and slaves.
​And those gentlefolks loved the gazelle with a very great love, such as had no like. And those their slaves looked upon the gazelle as the apple of their eye, they loved it so, and they thought it so sweet.
And it asked the gentry, "Have you had enough?" And they said, "Here as we are, even breath we see to be little to us." And it asked, "You my fellow-servants, men and women, if anybody is hungry, don't hide it from me." And they said, "We are not hungry." And it said, "Come then, gentlefolk, let us go our way." And they arose and went until five o'clock was past, and it told the gentry, "There is no travelling in the night." And it said, "Let us stay here," and they sat down. And food was brought, and they ate, gentry and slaves, and were filled, gentry and slaves, and were glad, gentry and slaves, for the honour they received from the gazelle. And they looked upon it as very great, although it was a gazelle, and they thought more of it than of its master, Sultan Darai. And it began from the beginning to the end, the gentry in their place, the great in his place, and the small in his place, and the slaves in their place. And then it returned, and came and slept till the first cock crowed. And it arose, and spoke to its master, and it said, "Master." And he said, "Here, father;" and he answered, "here, my loved one, here, putter on of my clothes, tell me what you have to say, father." And it said, "Here where we are, and the house where we are going, as I think, I for myself should like that we leave this early." And he said, "Very good." "Then I will wake up the gentry, that they may open their mouths early, so that we may go on our way." And it said, "Noon will not come before we shall see the town." And he said, "Very good."
And it awoke them, "Gentry! gentry!" And they answered, "Here." And it said, "Get up and wash your ​faces." And it said, "Fellow-servants! fellow-servants!" And they answered, "Here, father." "Get up and wash your faces." And they said, "We are up, father." And they had food laid for them, gentry and slaves, great and small. "Come then, gentry, open your mouths." And it went and said, "Come then, fellow-servants, open your mouths." And the people ate till they had had enough. When they had finished eating, it was still not very light. "Come then, gentry, let us be going."
And they arose and went on their way. And they went until, when the sun ceased to be overhead, the gazelle saw, and those gentry who accompanied them saw, signs of a house before them. And they called, "Gazelle!" And it answered, "Here my mistresses." And they said, "Before us we see like the signs of houses." And it said, "Ah, mistresses, is not this our town? That is the house of Sultan Darai."
And the women rejoiced much, and the slaves rejoiced much. And they went till, when the space of about two hours had ended, they came to the gate of the town.
And the gazelle said, "Gentry, stay here, gentry and slaves; leave me and Sultan Darai to go on to the house." And they said, "Very good." And the gazelle went off with its master till they arrived at the house.
The old woman who was in the house, when she saw the gazelle, came and jumped with screams and cries of joy, and dancing about and running, till she came to the gazelle's feet, and she took it up and kissed it. The gazelle said, "Old woman, leave me alone; the one to be carried is our master here, and the one to be kissed is our master; for when I go with my master on one road, the first honour should be given to the master, and then it may be given to me too." And she said, "Forgive me, father, I did not know this was our master." And she ​said, "And you, master, forgive me, your slave; I had not heard that you were our master." And he said, "I am satisfied."
And he went thence, and the doors were opened from the bottom to the top, and all the chambers and all the storerooms on the right and left. And the master went in, and he said, "Unfasten these horses that are tied up, and let loose these people who are bound. And let some sweep, and some spread the couches, and some cook, and some draw water, and some come out to go and receive the mistress."
And Sultan Darai saw that house very beautiful, and saw exceedingly beautiful couches, and saw the furniture of the house; and he had never seen, or heard of furniture like that. His soul was very glad, and his heart felt like a man to whom is brought news from God, that he is going to enter Paradise, his soul was so glad.
And the people went and brought the mistress and the ladies who were come, with their slaves who came with them, and himself in front, and they came with them till they arrived at the house. And it said, "Come near, ladies, pass in, ladies." And it said, "Come near, companions, pass inside, my companions, womenfolk, go upstairs." And when the ladies were gone and passed, it said, "And the horses which came with the ladies, let them be taken into the yard," and they remained so.
So they went and got ready very much food, and they prepared very fine rice, and the ladies and slaves ate till every one had satisfied himself. The women who had come, said, "Ah, you gazelle, you, eh, father, you! we have seen great houses, we have seen people, we have heard of things. But this house and you, such as you are, we have never seen or heard of; and he who wishes to see, let him see such a house as this, he cannot excel such a ​house as this, and he who says there is a house better than this, that man is a liar; and he who shall tell you that there is anybody with understanding, and prudence, and knowing the positions of gentry and slaves, and knowing that this is great and this is little, who surpasses you, you may know that that man is a liar. And if it should happen that there should be any one first, you are the second. And any one who tells you anything else, tell him he is a liar."
And they stayed many days in that house, till the women begged leave to go, "We want to go home." And it said to them, "Eh, my ladies! eh, my mistresses! eh, my dames! you came yesterday in the morning, and will you go to-day in the evening?" And they said, "We have come many days, father, we have brought the bride to her husband, and we have arrived safely, and we wish to return, that we may look after our places at home." And it said, "All right, mistresses! all right, my mistresses! all right, my companions!"
And it made them many gifts and presented to those ladies, and it gave many gifts and presented to the slaves of those ladies. And the ladies were very glad, and the slaves were very glad, because of the gifts they were presented with. And they thought the gazelle greater a thousand times than his master, Sultan Darai. And they set out, and went away home. And it gave them people, and they saw them on their way.
And the gazelle and its master remained in the house for a term of many days.
And the gazelle said to that old woman, "I came with my master to this house, and to this town, and I have done many things for my master, good things, and things to lift up his countenance before people, till we arrived here; and till to-day he has never asked me, 'Well, father, ​well, my gazelle; well, my slave; well, my shoe! How did you get this house? How did you get this town? Who is the owner of this town? Who is the owner of this house? Or have you rented this house? Or have you had this town given you? Or this town, were there no people in it, ten or even one? Well then, mother, what state of things is this? All the good things I have done for the master, he has not one day done me any good thing; he knew who came here with him; this house is not his, and this land is not his; ever since he was born he never saw a house like this, nor ever saw a town like this. Well, he never called me even in sport, and asked me. But people say, it is not well to do people good like a mother; and the elders said, 'If you want to do any one good, don't do him good only, do him evil also, then there will be peace between you.'" And it said, "So, mother, I have done; I want to see the favours I have done to my master, that he may do me the like." And she said, "Very good, father." And they slept.
And in the morning when it dawned, the gazelle was sick in its stomach and feverish, and its legs all ached. And it said, "Mother." And she answered, "Here, father." And it said, "Go and tell my master upstairs, the gazelle is very ill." And she said, "Very good, father; and if he should ask me, what does it ail, how am I to answer him?" "Tell him, all my body aches badly; I have no single part that does not pain me."
The old woman went upstairs, and she found the mistress and master sitting on a couch of marble, with a mattress of mdarahani, and a large cushion on this side and that, while they were chewing betel leaf, both wife and husband.
And they asked her, "Well, old woman, what have you come wanting?" And she said, "To tell the master that ​the gazelle is ill." The woman started, and asked, "What ails him?" She said, "All his body, master, pains him, he has no part without pain."
"Oh! very well, what am I to do? Look out the mtama, that felefele sort, and make it some gruel and give it." His wife stared, she says, "Master, are you going to tell her to make the gazelle gruel of the felefele mtama, which if a horse had it given him he would not eat, but would refuse it? Eh! master, you are not doing well."
And he said, "Oh! get out there, you are mad; rice they give to us people; is it little for it to get mtama?"
And she said, "This, master, is not like a gazelle; it is the apple of your eye; if sand got into that, it would trouble you."
"Ah! you have plenty to say, you woman there."
The old woman went down-stairs. When the old woman saw the gazelle, she stood astounded, and tears started out abundantly, and she wept much. "Ah! gazelle."
And it asked her, "How is it, mother? I sent you, and to come back and do nothing but cry, do you not give me an answer as to what I sent you about? If it be good, give me the answer, and if it be bad give me the answer; for this is the state of the world, if you do a man good, he will do you evil. So I am not served this way myself only, people have gone before in old times who were treated in this way." And it said, "Tell me now."
And she said, "My mouth is full of spittle, and my tongue fills my mouth. I cannot tell you the things I was told, nor can I treat you as I was directed."
And it said, "Mother, what you were directed, and what you were told to do for me, do for me, and what you were told to tell me, tell me. And do not fear to tell, and do not be ashamed to tell me, for it is not you who tell me. I know him who said it; explain it to me, mother."
​And she said, "I went up-stairs and found the mistress and master sitting on a marble couch, with a mattress of mdarahani cloth, and a large cushion on this side and that, chewing betel leaf, both wife and husband. And the master got up, and asked me, 'What have you come wanting, old woman?' And I told him, 'I am sent by your slave, the gazelle, to come and tell you that it is ill.' His wife started, then stared, and said, 'What ails the gazelle?' And I told her, 'Its whole body aches, it has not a single place without pain.' And the master told me, 'Take that felefele mtama, and make it some gruel and give it.' The mistress said, 'Eh! master, the gazelle is the apple of your eye; you have no child, you make this gazelle like your child; you have no clerk, you make this gazelle like your clerk; you cannot overlook things, you make this gazelle your overlooker. So master, neither ten nor even one, he does not get what is good from you; this gazelle is not one to be done evil to, this is a gazelle in form, but not a gazelle in heart, his heart and his belongings are better than a gentleman's, be he who he may.'
"And he said to her, 'You are a silly chatterer, your words are many. I know its price, I bought it for the price of an eighth, so what loss will it be to me?'
"And she said, 'Master, do not look at what is past, look at what is before your face. This is not a gazelle at the price of an eighth, nor of a hundred thousand. His words and his good manners when his tongue rests from speaking, and his understanding passes twice a hundred thousand.'
'Eh! you have much to say, you woman; can't you shorten it?'"
The old woman answered the gazelle, "And I was told by the master, that you were to have felefele mtama taken for you, and gruel made for you to drink."
​The gazelle said, "Is it for me that this gruel is to be made, and did the master himself tell you?"
"Now could I tell you a lie, father? And the master told me himself, and his wife was there, and even his wife disputed with the master because he treated the gazelle so, and the mistress got abused because she strove for you."
The gazelle said, "The elders said, 'One that does good like a mother,' and I have done him good, and I have got this that the elders said."
And he said, "Mother, go again up to the master; do not weary of what I send you to do, and tell the master the gazelle is very ill, and the mtama which you told me to make gruel of for him, he has not drunk it."
And the old woman went up-stairs, and found the master and mistress sitting in the window, drinking coffee. And when the master cast his eyes behind him, he sees the old woman. And he said, "What is the matter with you, old woman?" And she said, "I am sent, master, by the gazelle; the mtama that you told me to make him gruel of, he has not drunk, and the gazelle is very ill indeed."
And he said, "Eh! Ssht! hold your tongue, and stay your feet, and close your eyes, and stop up your ears with wax; and if the gazelle tells you to come up-stairs, tell it, I cannot mount the stairs, my legs are bent; and if it tells you to listen, tell it, my ears do not hear your words, they are stopped up with wax; and if it tells you, look at me, tell it my eyes have blinders put upon them, such as they tie on camels; and if it says to you, come, let us talk; tell it my tongue has a hook put in it, I cannot talk with you."
The old woman stared at being told such words, and because, when she saw the gazelle come to that town, it came to sell its life to buy wealth; but it got both its life and wealth: and now to-day she sees that it has no honour ​with its master. She felt pity for it, for the trouble the gazelle had suffered; such are the ways of the world.
The Sultan's wife, when she heard those words her husband was saying to the old woman, her countenance lost its light, and she was still, and tears started from her eyes, so that her husband, when he saw her tears coming from her eyes, and the light of her countenance gone, he asked her, "What is the matter with you, Sultan's daughter?" And she said, "In the world he that has not much has little, and a man's madness that is his understanding."
"Why is it mistress you say these words?"
And she said, "I am sorry for you, my husband, because of what you are doing to the gazelle. Whenever I say a good word for the gazelle, my husband, you dislike it with your understanding. I feel pity for you, my husband, that your understanding is gone."
And he said, "Why do you talk in this way to me?"
And she said, "Advice is nothing but a blessing; there are two people in a house, wife and husband; if the wife comes by a matter, let her tell her husband; if the husband comes by a matter, let him tell his wife. Advice is a blessing."
And he said, "You woman, you are mad, and your madness is manifest, and you ought to be put in fetters."
And she said, "Master, I am not mad; if I am mad, this madness is what is my understanding."
And he said, "Oh, old woman, don't listen to the mistress's talk; tell it to perish out of the way, and tell the gazelle not to make a bother; and more, not to stay down there and make itself the Sultan. I cannot get sleep here, night nor day; I cannot eat, and I cannot get water to drink, for the bother of that gazelle coming worrying me. One time some one comes, The gazelle is ​sick. Another time some one comes, The gazelle does not like to eat. Perish out of the way! If it likes to eat let it eat, and if it does not, let it perish ont of the way. My mother is dead, and my father is dead, and I am eating and drinking; much less that one gazelle, that I bought for an eighth, shall it be setting me up and putting me down. Go and tell the gazelle to learn how to behave itself."
The old woman went downstairs, blood was coming from it in one place, and matter in another. She went on till seeing the gazelle, she put her arms round it and took it on her lap, and said to it, "My son, the good you did is lost, there remains patience."
And it said, "Mother, my stomach is full, and my tongue is heavy, and my eyes are dazzled at what I hear." And they wept much, both the gazelle and the old woman.
And it said, "Mother, I shall die, for my soul is very full of indignation, and is very full of bitterness; and my face is ashamed, doing good to my master and he repaying me evil."
And she said, "Ah! my son, I have nothing I can say."
And it said, "Mother, of the goods that are in this house, I, one gazelle, what do I eat? He might cook for me every day half a basin full, and would my master be any the poorer? I was at the trouble of getting it, and when I am ill, to be be told that felefele is to be taken for me, which a horse would not eat, and I am to have gruel made for me. The elders said, 'He that does good like a mother.'"
And it said, "Go up presently and tell the master the gazelle is very ill; tell him, as we think, we think him nearer death than life."
And she went upstairs and found the master chewing And she went upstairs and found the master chewing ​sugar-cane, and the master was told, "The old woman is here crying." And she said, "Master, the gazelle is very ill, we think him nearer dying than getting well."
And he said, "I have told you not to bother me,"
His wife said to him, "O master, won't you go down and see the apple of your eye? won't you go down and see your gazelle? won't you go down and see your shoe? won't you go down and see your clerk? won't you go down and see your overlooker? And if you don't like to go down, let me go and see him. Now from you ten nor even one, he gets no good thing."
And he said, "Go and tell the gazelle, as people die once, let it die eleven times."
His wife said to him, "Ah! master, what has the gazelle done to you? What has the gazelle failed you in? Such words as these a man only uses to his enemy, whom he does not like to see. You and the gazelle, what enmity have you? Master, the things you are doing to him are not good, either for you to do, or to do them to the gazelle. People when they hear it will deride you. For this gazelle is not insignificant, the gazelle is loved from the gentry to the slaves, the gazelle is loved by the small even to the great, the gazelle is loved by women and by men. Well then, you, master, why do you hate this gazelle? And this is not like a gentleman. A gentleman, if he is done good to, pays back good. A gentleman is not done good to and pays evil, this is not being a gentleman. Now with you, ten things even to one, he has no good from you. If you do not love this gazelle for his beauty, love him for his speech; if you do not love him for his speech, love him because he is your man, whom you send hither and thither; if you do not love him for this, love him because he knows the honour due to different people; if you do not love him for these ​things, love him because he is your overlooker in the house. And this gazelle, my master! my husband! my sheikh! Oh, Sultan Darai, I said you had great understanding; is it that you have not even a little? Ten or even one, master, he does not get good from you. Greatness, master, is not a horn, as if a man should grow it; greatness must be waited for, and a great man is like a dust-heap, every one brings his dirt to throw upon it. For a dust-heap does not depend upon one man, it does not depend upon a rich man, nor on a Sultan, it does not depend on a judge, nor on a poor man, neither on a great man, nor on a little one, neither on a man, nor on a woman."
And he said, "You are mad, my wife." And he said, "All your words are like my second garment, which I hang on my shoulder."
"Well, master, the old woman is crying."
The old woman went down till she reached the gazelle and she found it vomiting, and she arose and caught it, and took it on her lap, and the gazelle and the old woman cried very much.
And the mistress arose up-stairs and took secretly milk, and took secretly a little rice, and she took a woman-servant, and said to her. "Take and cook for the gazelle downstairs, and give him." And she said to her, "Take this cloth, too, and give it him to cover himself, and this pillow, and give it him to lie upon; and whatever he wants and whatever he longs for let him send some one to come to me without telling his master, for his master will give him nothing. If he likes now, let me give him people to take him to my father, and they will give him medicine, and he will be well seen to there, and I will send him."
And the woman-servant went down, and told the gazelle, "The mistress sends her compliments; these things are not her doing, they are your master's; she ​would like to put you in her own eye to keep you; but she dare not, it is not a woman's business. And I was given this milk to bring to you, and this rice, and a cloth to cover you, and this pillow; and whatever you want, tell me, and hide it not from me; and the mistress says to you, that if you wish to go to her father's, she will give you people to take you, to carry you gently, and there you will get plenty of medicine, and be well seen to; you have very much honour there. Give me an answer then, that I may tell my mistress."
Immediately the gazelle died.
When it was dead, throughout the house the people wept, slaves and free people, great and small, women and men.
And Sultan Darai arose and said, "What are you weeping for? What are you weeping for?" And he said, "You are weeping for the gazelle, as if I had died myself. It is only a gazelle that is dead, and its price was an eighth."
His wife said to him, "Master, we looked upon the gazelle as we look upon you. It was the gazelle that came to ask me of my father, it was the gazelle who brought me from my father's, it was the gazelle to whom I was given by my father."
And they said, "We here never saw you, we saw the gazelle, it was he who came and met with trouble here, it was he who came and met with rest here. So, then, when such a one departs from this world, we weep for ourselves, we do not weep for the gazelle."
And they said, "The gazelle did you many benefits, and if there are benefits, they must be like these, and no greater; and if any one says there are greater benefits than these, contradict that man, he is a liar. So then, to us who have done you no good, what will you do? That gazelle who did every good thing, you took no ​notice of him for good or for evil, till the gazelle has died for indignation and bitterness within himself, and you have ordered people to throw him into the well. Ah! leave us alone and let us weep."
And the gazelle was carried, and thrown into a well, whence water was drawn.
When the mistress up-stairs heard of it, she wrote a letter in great haste, and with the greatest speed, and said, "My father, I have sent you this letter, when you have finished reading it, get upon the road and come." And she took secretly three donkeys, and gave them to three slaves, and said, "Mount and go with the greatest haste with the donkeys till you give my father the letter, and tell him, Let us go forward as quickly as we can. And you, I have made you free, and you the second, I have made you free, and you the third, I have made you free, because of this letter, that you may take it quickly."
Those men went with speed with the donkeys night and day, till they arrived and gave the letter to the Sultan. And when the Sultan had read the letter, the Sultan bowed down his head and wept much, like a man who has lost his mother. And the Sultan was very sad. And the Sultan ordered horses to be saddled, and he went and called the governor, and he went and called the judges, and all the rich men in the town were called. And he said, "Come now, go with me quickly, we have had a loss by death; let us go and bury him."
And the Sultan set out and went night and day, till he came to the well where the gazelle was thrown.
And the Sultan himself went in in his own person into the well, and the vizir went in in his own person, and the judges went in in their own persons into the well. And the chief rich men went into the well, and followed the Sultan, When the Sultan saw the gazelle in the ​well, he wept much, and those who were there wept much because of the grief of that gazelle. And the Sultan took the gazelle out, and they carried it away.
And those three men returned, and went to tell their mistress. And they said, "Your father has come, and the great gentry of the town came with him, and they have taken the gazelle, and are gone away." And they told the mistress, "Was it not a weeping which was in the well? All the people weeping as on the day when the Sultan's mother died."
And she said, "I, too, since the day the gazelle died, I have not yet eaten food, nor drunk water. I have not spoken, and I have not laughed."
Her father went and buried the gazelle, and made a very great public mourning for it, and there was great mourning for it throughout the city.
Now after the mourning was over, the woman was sleeping with her husband, and at night in her sleep, the woman dreamed that she was at her father's, and while she was dreaming it became morning, and the woman opened her eyes, and saw that she was in her father's town, and in the very house she had there.
And the man dreamed that he was there on the dust-heap, scratching. And, as he dreamed, the sun reached the time of eight o'clock, and that was the time of his going to scratch every day. And when Sultan Darai opened his eyes, he saw his hand was on the dust heap, scratching. And he stared. "Ah! who did I come here with?" And he looked on the right and on the left, and saw nothing, and he looked before and saw darkness, and he looked behind and saw dust. Immediately there were children going by—he had returned to his former ​state—and the children groaned at him. "Hoo! Hoo! where has he been to? Where does he come from? Is it not him we said was dead? Is he alive still!"
And the woman lived for herself with her goods there, she, and her father, and her brothers, and her family, in rest and peace.
And that my father the poor man, it was his work just as at first, to scratch in the ground, and to get grains of mtama and chew them.
If this is good, it's goodness belongs to us all, and if it is bad, its badness belongs to that one alone who made this story.