第76章 The Death Of Abu Nowas And Of His Wife(2)

She was only just in time, for the sheet was hardly drawn across her when the door opened and the porter came in.'Has anything happened?' asked he.

'My poor wife is dead,' replied Abu Nowas.'Look! she is laid out here.' And the porter approached the bed, which was in a corner of the room, and saw the stiff form lying underneath.

'We must all die,' said he, and went back to the Sultan.

'Well, have you found out which of them is dead?' asked the Sultan.

'Yes, noble Sultan; it is the wife,' replied the porter.

'He only says that to please you,' cried Subida in a rage; and calling to her chamberlain, she ordered him to go at once to the dwelling of Abu Nowas and see which of the two was dead.'And be sure you tell the truth about it,' added she, 'or it will be the worse for you.'

As her chamberlain drew near the house, Abu Nowas caught sight of him.'There is the Sultana's chamberlain,' he exclaimed in a fright.'Now it is my turn to die.Be quick and spread the sheet over me.' And he laid himself on the bed, and held his breath when the chamberlain came in.'What are you weeping for?' asked the man, finding the wife in tears.

'My husband is dead,' answered she, pointing to the bed; and the chamberlain drew back the sheet and beheld Abu Nowas lying stiff and motionless.Then he gently replaced the sheet and returned to the palace.

'Well, have you found out this time?' asked the Sultan.

'My lord, it is the husband who is dead.'

'But I tell you he was with me only a few hours ago,' cried the Sultan angrily.'I must get to the bottom of this before I sleep! Let my golden coach be brought round at once.'

The coach was before the door in another five minutes, and the Sultan and Sultana both got in.Abu Nowas had ceased being a dead man, and was looking into the street when he saw the coach coming.'Quick! quick!' he called to his wife.'The Sultan will be here directly, and we must both be dead to receive him.' So they laid themselves down, and spread the sheet over them, and held their breath.At that instant the Sultan entered, followed by the Sultana and the chamberlain, and he went up to the bed and found the corpses stiff and motionless.'I would give a thousand gold pieces to anyone who would tell me the truth about this,' cried he, and at the words Abu Nowas sat up.'Give them to me, then,' said he, holding out his hand.'You cannot give them to anyone who needs them more.'

'Oh, Abu Nowas, you impudent dog!' exclaimed the Sultan, bursting into a laugh, in which the Sultana joined.'I might have known it was one of your tricks!' But he sent Abu Nowas the gold he had promised, and let us hope that it did not fly so fast as the last had done.

[From Tunische Mahrchen.]

MotiratikaOnce upon a time, in a very hot country, a man lived with his wife in a little hut, which was surrounded by grass and flowers.They were perfectly happy together till, by-and-by, the woman fell ill and refused to take any food.The husband tried to persuade her to eat all sorts of delicious fruits that he had found in the forest, but she would have none of them, and grew so thin he feared she would die.'Is there nothing you would like?' he said at last in despair.

'Yes, I think I could eat some wild honey,' answered she.The husband was overjoyed, for he thought this sounded easy enough to get, and he went off at once in search of it.

He came back with a wooden pan quite full, and gave it to his wife.