The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1868-05-10

you with my toilette let us now enjoy the,
fruit your bounty has provided"
But where are the fish z"
"Fish-what fish ~
melon p3 n h.. ~
" Fish in watermelon! Allah akbar I,
what does my life mean I"
Why, did we not dnd twelve little fishes
in the melon brought from the bazaarf
thss Rdst saSq ints mot they had eaten
"Allah have mercy upon me! Aman
Aman! (grace.) Now 1 think my lord Is
wandering in his mind. Who ever heard
of fish living in q watermelon ~
son, }" replied the irate Abdaliah, 6 cease thy
foolish talk, and bring me the fish, OF by
thee for thy impertinence |"
Fish in a watermelon! Ha! ha! ha!
Pr Pray to the Prophet, Pro old Sn beard, thsa
lah) fear me thou art pOssessed 7"
This was too much for Abdallah to bear,
and, seizing his wife by the shoulder, he
gave her sound box on the ear.
"Thou madnan!" shrieked Gulnare.
thou art possessed Of devil Help! helpf
murder!n
Gulnare shrieked; Abdallah stormed
| and raved; till, at last, breaking FROM her
enraged husbands grasp, Gulnare ruahed
into the street, and wended her steps to her
uOCDOTo 3 mousse. k1oC0 Sn0 explained now
her husband had suddenly gone mad, and
described to them the whole scene that had
just passed AbdAliah himself soon ap-
peared, in towering fury, to fetch -Ea
wife back but on being asked whether be
really had believed and said there were fab
III the melon, and answering IN the afflrma-
tive, his wife's relatives Thought it high
time she should be separated, aud all the,
disputants adjourned to the "shum's,n - 10.
hear his decision.
Here Abdallah stated his case, having
first, in the full consciousness of his rood
faith, accepted the wager of fine steed..
which the pertidi0ns Gulnare had offered
him, and related all thut had passed between
him and his wife.
"And dost thou really affirm that thy
melon contained these twelve fishes thou
spcakest about I"
v'Allall, V'Allah! am speaking the
truth!"
Thereupon followed long discussion;
some arguing for the possibility of tae MIR
acle, others denying it in toto, asserting
that it was an optical delusion-a kind Of
mirage, in fact-till at length one wise man
expressed his opinion that this Was q minor
question because, if the man, in the first
instance, had suffered from u deiusion, he 3
was still laboring under one. and was,
therefore, of unsound mind; if, on the otheT-
hand, he really believed in what was an
evident impOssibility, he was q lnnatic all
the more. Lastly, supposing, for the sake
of argument, there had been these twelve
hsh-these transformed afrites-what could
have become Of themf 1t was clear there
never had been any fish in the melon.
Abtlallah hereupOn began to vociferate-
still more loudly than before, and swore, in
his senile rage, that he would be avenged
Oh the woman who thus dared to trifle with
him.
Nay, then, Abdallah, son of Joseph, we
cannot allow thee to vent thy mad ire ON
an innocent woman. 1t is clear thou art
possessed. Thy suit is granted, o woman,
surnamed Gulnare, and thou art divorced
from the husband of a tainted mind. Go in
peace, for the law hath spoken J"
And thus it was decreed. Abdallah was
circumvented and Gulnare set free by her
own cleverness.
Another time man appeared before the
shum, to complain of some injury done to
him, betting a horse upon the issue. Un-
fortunately, the shum, who was Il good
Judge of horse flesh, if of nothing else, soon
perceived that the horse was lame. Judg-
ment was, therefore, naturally in favor of
the defendant, and the plaintiffs up
braiding the Judge for the injustice of his
decision, the learned man said, " How can
you expect lame horse to win the race -