Story narrated by Christian – Alif Laila
Christian said, I am a resident of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. My father was a broker. He got a lot of money. After he died, I also started the same business. One day when I went to the grain market for my daily business, I found a man dressed well. He showed me a few moles and asked what price such sesame seeds are sold for. I said that their value is one hundred rupees per mind. He said that you sell them at this price and if you find a buyer, then bring him to me, I am staying in such an inn.
When I negotiated with the traders, they said that we will buy all the sesame seeds for one hundred rupees per mind. I went to the inn where the address was given to me and the merchant got his goods weighed by opening a godown. He turned out to be one hundred and fifty minds. Having loaded the goods on donkeys, I gave it to the merchants of the market, and taking the price from them, went to the inn and placed sixteen and a half thousand coins in front of it. He said that according to ten currency per mind, one and a half thousand mudras are yours only, you take them and keep the remaining fifteen thousand coins with you, I will take it from you if needed.
Saying this he went to his city. After a month, he came to me and said that you have my money with you. I said, ‘The money is ready, if you say then give it now. But you get off the horse and get fresh after eating and drinking something. He said, ‘I have an urgent need to leave. You keep the money. I will come back in a while and take it from you.’
I got the money withdrawn but it did not come back. After waiting for it for a month, I kept the money safely in the cellar. Three months later he appeared again to me. I told him that you take your money. He laughed and said, ‘What’s the hurry, I’ll take it. I know my wealth is with an honest man.’ Saying this he left again.
After a year he reappeared, so I said, ‘Now you take your money, if you put it in business in the meantime, you would have made a good profit. Well, now go to my house to have food and take money.’ He said, ‘I am doing well, but do not do any special event in the meal.’
I placed food in front of him. He started eating with his left hand. I also noticed that he used to do everything with his left hand. Seeing this, I was curious to know the reason for this. I thought that this person is very civilized and cultured, if I ask him the reason for this, he will not mind. So when we had finished our meal and the servants took away our food utensils, we went to the other hall. I greeted him with paan etc and he also took these things with his left hand.
I said to him, ‘If you’re not angry, let me ask you one thing. What is the reason that whatever work you do, you do it with your left hand. Don’t do anything with the right hand. You even ate the food with your left hand. He took a cold breath on hearing this and turned the sleeves upside down and showed me the right hand, which was always covered with a long sleeve. I noticed that his right hand was missing from the wrist. I asked how your hand was cut off, so he started crying sadly, then he narrated his story.
He said I am from Baghdad. My father was one of the prominent nobles there. I had heard great admiration for the country of Egypt and wanted to see it, especially I had a great desire to see Cairo, the capital of Egypt. As long as my father was alive, he did not allow me to go to Egypt. When he died, I became free and I wanted to fulfill the wish of a long time. I bought a lot of merchandise from Baghdad and Mosil and headed for Egypt. On reaching Cairo, I landed at an inn. The name of this inn was Masroor. After a couple of days I took a house on rent and a godown. I also hired some servants and told them to bring me something to eat from the market. He brought various types of dishes in front of me. After having dinner, I visited the city’s scenic mosques, forts, etc. and spent the whole day taking a walk.
The next day, dressed in good clothes, I took out a couple of bags from my bundles and took them to the market so that I could estimate their value. My arrival was already known to the people so many brokers came to me. They showed my Than Bajajs and sold them. Every day I would bring some goods to the market and it would be sold. But my house was far away from the market and the wages for bringing the goods would have been enough for me. That’s why the brokers advised me that ‘if you trust us, let us tell you a good trick’. You put all your merchandise in the shops of these merchants. Come to the market every week only one day on Monday or Thursday and take the price of your sold goods from the traders. In this your daily wages will also be saved and time will also be saved. In this free time, you should be entertained by visiting the Nile River or other beautiful places.’
I accepted this. I took the brokers to my house and gave them all the goods sold at once. They took the goods with me to the market and got all the goods kept at the shops of the merchants. He wrote me a receipt for my goods and I also gave it in writing that I would come month after month to recover the cost of the goods sold. By doing all this I got great satisfaction and I befriended some of my peers and started traveling with them. Often I would also go to the market with them and get knowledge and entertainment by looking at the bargains there.
One day I was sitting in the shop of Badruddin merchant. A very noble lady, dressed in expensive dress and variety of ornaments and accompanied by many neat maidservants, came and sat beside me. I started wishing that if he removes the mask from his face, then I will take pleasure in the eyes. He understood this desire of mine and on the pretext, for two moments, he lifted the niqab with a jerk. I was stunned to see his unique form. After asking Badruddin for his simple well-being, he asked for the place of a Zari. He showed a place which the beauty liked. He asked how much is this place, I will take it and send it tomorrow.
Badruddin said that the place is worth six thousand six hundred currencies but it is their goods and I have promised them that I will give them the price of all their sold goods today, if I had my goods, I was not worried, whenever you want Would pay for it. The woman said you can’t stay even for a day? Badruddin said that there is a compulsion, I will have to pay the price of their goods today. The beauty got angry at this. He threw it in front of Than Badruddin and said, ‘You business people have no culture and modesty at all, you do not trust anyone except yourself.’ Saying this she stood up stunned and left the shop.
She had gone some distance that I called out and said that you come, I will do the deal without hurting you. The woman returned because she knew that I was the owner of the goods. I gave that place to him and said that you should take it with passion, it is yours – whether to pay or not. She was pleased to hear this and said that God keep you rich and happy. I secretly told him, ‘But before taking you to the station, you have to let me taste your unique form.’ He removed the mesh mask lying on his face. I gazed at him with even more amazement than before. After a few moments, she put on the mask again and took the police station and left.
I sat speechless and confused for a while. Then I asked the merchant Badruddin who was this woman. She said that she is the daughter of a certain merchant, her father had innumerable wealth, she has died and she is the owner of all the property. After a while I got up and reached my place of residence but remained immersed in the meditation of the same beauty. I didn’t even eat, and the whole night the adoring image of him engulfed my eyes.
The next day I went to the market again and sat at the shop of my friend Badruddin. It was only a few moments that she reached there with her group of maidservants and said, ‘See you guys how much I keep my promise?’ I said that I had full faith in you and you unnecessarily bothered to deliver the price so quickly. She said that it is fine but honesty in the transaction remains good. Saying this he gave me a bag of six thousand six hundred coins and sat down beside me.
In a few moments, when Badruddin and others were not paying attention, I pleaded with him for my love. She didn’t answer anything and got up and left. I understood that she got annoyed with my love request and hence became more sad. After sometime I also got up from there and walked towards one side aimlessly. When I reached a street after a long distance, someone put a hand on my back. When I looked back, she was a maid of the same beauty. I was glad to see him. He said softly in the ear that my mistress wants to talk to you and is calling you.
I immediately got along with that hostess. After going a short distance, she saw that the beauty was sitting at a Saraf’s shop. She was waiting for me impatiently and she immediately took me by the hand and made me sit near her and said, ‘You are not disturbed in my love, I am also in the same condition. But it was not proper to say this in front of Badruddin. He said that either you come to my house or I will come to your house. I said that my rented house is not suitable for your arrival, I will come. He said, ‘Well, tomorrow is Wednesday. At the third o’clock you come to such a street and ask for the house of such a trader. I will meet you there.’
I arrived home. She spent day and night restlessly. The next morning I put on nice clothes. At the appointed time, a bag of fifty Ashrafis tied around his waist reached the street indicated by that beauty. I asked a man about his house and he told me. I paid the fare to my hired camel driver and said that tomorrow morning pick me up from here and deliver me to my house. When he went to the door of the house and clapped, two slave boys opened the door and said that come inside, the mistress is waiting for you.
When I went inside, I saw that there is a huge barahdari of seven steps high floor, around which there is a circle of lattice. In front of it was a flower garden. Apart from this, many dense trees were also in that building. There were also many fruit-laden trees on which birds were chirping. Apart from the melodious sound of birds, water was falling in that garden in a waterless form from the cisterns made at the height. The pools were huge and beautiful and had gullies in the shape of a dragon’s face, from which water used to fall into the garden. The water was also clean and very pure like a crystal stone.
Both the slaves took me to a house which was very beautiful and had various decoration items in it. There one slave stayed with me and the other ran to inform his mistress. In no time, the beautiful swan came walking slowly and gracefully. She was dressed in highly valuable clothes and was covered with jewels from head to toe. Seeing him I went mad with joy. She too was very happy to see me. We both sat in a hallway and started talking. After a while the food was ready. We both had dinner together and then started talking. After a while the slaves brought us fruits, nuts and wine. Some of the maidservants started singing in a sweet voice and some started doing other types of care. My girlfriend also added to my happiness with her gestures and her melodious singing.
Similarly, the whole night was spent happily. In the morning, I secretly put a bag of fifty ashrafis inside the cover of his village pillow and got up from him and said that now I will go.
He asked when will you come now. I said that I will come again tonight. She happily escorted me to the door. The camel was waiting for me at the door for a ride. Sitting on the camel, I came to my house and asked the camel to take me back to the same house in the evening. From my house, I sent different types of food items to that beauty’s house.
The camel came at the appointed time in the evening. I tied another fifty ashrafis around my waist, and after spending the whole night with my beloved, again in the morning, secretly leaving the bag with her and left. In the same way, I went to his place for a long time and would leave a bag of fifty Ashrafis with him every day. In no time all my money was exhausted and I stopped going to his place. Due to lack of money, I was in bad condition and I could not understand what to do.
One day in the early morning I went for a walk near the royal fort. There was a lot of crowd there. Suddenly I saw a man coming on a horse and a bag of coins hanging from his jean with the help of a long string. By chance a woodcutter came out near him. He suddenly turned the horse to avoid scratching the wood. With this the bag came very close to me. I got greedy and grabbed the bag with a jerk. When the rider saw that the bag was missing, he hit me on the head while keeping his sword inside the sheath. I fell The people around started saying abusively to the rider that why did you kill this poor person. He said you do not know anything, this is a thief and he stole my bag.
Unfortunately, the patrol of the soldiers arrived at the same time. The head of the patrol, ie the inspector, asked why the crowd had gathered. The rider spoke of the loss of his bag. The inspector asked whether you have any doubts or not, then he pointed to me and said that this man stole the bag. When the inspector asked, I refused. Still, the rider insisted that this is the thief. Now the inspector ordered the soldiers to search me. When I was searched, the bag came out from me. The inspector told the rider that if this bag is yours, then tell me some identity so that it can be proved that the bag is yours. He took the name of a particular type of coins and said that there are twenty such coins in this bag. When the bag was opened and seen, there were actually twenty coins of that type.
The inspector gave the bag to the rider and caught me and presented me in front of the Qazi. The Qazi ordered that his right hand be cut off because this is the punishment for theft. So my hand was cut off. Then the Qazi said that this was the punishment of theft. Even if he lied, then one leg should be cut off as punishment for the lie. Now I grabbed the feet of the rider who was there as a witness, and pleaded that I have been punished enough, now save me from this new punishment. He took pity on me and told the Qazi that I withdraw my charge, don’t punish him for lying. Therefore the Qazi withdrew the order to amputate his feet.
The rider was a really nice guy. He gave the bag to me and said, ‘It is not known from your behavior and appearance that you are a professional thief, there must have been some calamity on you that you did such a thing.’ Saying this he went on his way. The people who were there took pity on me and took me to a house. There they gave me something to eat and drink, made me drink a glass of wine, and after stopping the bleeding by applying medicine on my hand, bandaged it. I slowly came to my house. Now there was no servant there, because I had removed everyone because of poverty. For a while I was scared how to be alone. Thought I’d go to my girlfriend. Once I thought that seeing my condition like this, she too would start hating me. But there was no other person to whom I would take recourse. So falling down another path, I reached his house and lay quietly on a bed.
After sometime that beauty came to me after getting the news of my arrival. I hid my severed hand in my sleeve. Seeing me weak and trembling with pain, she said, ‘Dearest, what is your condition?’ I decided to hide the whole incident and said that my head is hurting so I am in agony. She said, ‘You are making excuses. You have some other problem. You are not going to suffer just because of headache. Till a few days ago you were chubby. What has happened to you?’
I did not give any answer to his talk but I started crying over my condition. He said, ‘Look, you have to tell the whole situation the truth. If you tell a lie or hide your condition, then I will understand that you do not love me at all and the love you used to show till now was only a pretense.’ I cried further and said, ‘Dear, don’t ask me about my condition. My condition is not such that it can be told. At least I am not able to muster the courage to describe my condition with my own mouth.’
At this she fell silent, and started stroking my head. Like this a lot of time passed. When evening came, he said, ‘Let us have our food.’ I thought that there is no right hand, how will I eat food? That’s why I said that I am not hungry. He said, ‘It is a matter of great regret that you are so suffering and hurt that you do not even eat food and still you are hiding your condition from me. Well, drink this wine.’ I grabbed the cup of wine with my left hand and started drinking in tears. My girlfriend asked, ‘Why are you breathing cold and why are there tears in your eyes?’ I said that my hand is swollen, He is in a lot of pain. He said that let me see what has happened in your hands. I did not say anything on this and drank all the wine of the cup in one go. There was a lot of wine in the cup. Apart from the pain and fatigue, the effect of the strong alcohol intoxication made me almost unconscious and fell asleep. Knowing that I was asleep, that beauty wanted to know the secret of my pain and turned my sleeves upside down and found my right hand chopped off. He was very surprised and sad.
When I woke up I saw him very sad and sad. He didn’t tell me that I had seen your hand. Maybe she was thinking that I would take offense to this. But he told his servants that immediately prepare a thick yakhni of chicken. He made a yakhni in no time. After drinking it, my body got strength and I got up to walk from there. My girlfriend grabbed my arm. She started saying, ‘I will not let you go in this condition. You do not tell me the reason for your misfortune and misery. Still I know that this condition of yours has happened because of me. You cannot understand the remorse that I am feeling. I will not be able to bear this shock and consider my end time near. Now do what I tell you to do.’
Saying this he asked his servants to call the police officer of the locality and some honorable residents. On his arrival, the woman wrote down all her property in my name and took his testimony on paper. After this, he sent them off by giving them some gifts etc. After he left, he opened a box in which all the bags of asharfis that I had given were kept. He said that you had left these bags for me but I have not even touched them. Saying this he put the lock in the box and gave it to me.
From that day onwards the woman fell ill. Her disease progressed rapidly and she died three weeks later. I performed all his funeral rites and then came to Baghdad, taking all the property that he had bequeathed to me. Those sesame seeds that you sold were bought with his own money.
The merchant from Baghdad told me the whole situation, ‘Now you know the secret of eating with my left hand. I am grateful to you that you listened to my story by taking so much time and suffering and lightened my soul. I am very much pleased with your courteous behavior and kindness. You keep the price of my sesame seeds that you have. But I want one thing from you. I have been in Baghdad for a long time and have left the country for a long time. I want you to help me so that I can go to town and do business. Whatever profit will be made in the year, we will divide half of it. I said, ‘With your grace, no limit would have been known. You gave me all the value of sesame seeds and now you are making me a partner in your huge business. I will be very happy to assist you in business.’
After this we started our journey in an auspicious time. We traveled from Baghdad and went for business in the major cities of many countries and then reached Iran. From there he came to Kashgar, your capital. We have been doing this kind of business for many years. And we had got a lot of money. Then the man said that now I want to live in Iran permanently. So we divided all our wealth in half and happily bid farewell to each other. He moved to Iran and lived and I settled in Kashgar.
Saying this the Christian merchant said, ‘Is this story of mine different from the story of the hunchback?’ The king rolled his eyes and said, ‘Absolutely rubbish. There is no point in your story. I will get all four of you killed for that hunchback.’ Now the Muslim businessman went ahead and said, ‘Government, give me a chance too. I hope my story will be more interesting.’ The emperor allowed him to narrate the story.
