Kadur.

Auckland Star, Volume VII, Issue 1977, 10 June 1876, Page 7 (Supplement)

Kadur.

AN EASTEBN SKETCH.

In the city of Damascus there lived a man named Kadur, who stood at a briclgo daily to beg assistance from the passers. Every one who saw him pitied him itrul aided him. In addition to being small of stature, aud blind of an eye, he was hunch-backed and lame. Losing his teeth caused him to stammer so much that bis words were with difficulty understood. By begging for a considerable time, he had amassed a sum of money. Not far from the bridge where he was the habit of standing, there was an ancient burial ground. In a corner of this he- concealed his litle store, and after adding any to It, which he might receive i during the day, h,o retired., to -rest, in a house tJxiifc stood near the place. ■ One morning as it began todawn. he proceeded to the spot with the intention of; adding .hisearnings for several days back. When hscame there he-found, the ground disturbed and his money stolen., Pilled with • grief and disappointment, he tore his hair and garments -and wept bitterly. The neighbors heaving his cries, hastened to the' 1 place where they found Kadur pale, emaciated, and hardly breathing. They revived him as.soon as possible. . gave him some money and departed.; He, . unablo to express his anguish, ran to the river that he might drown .himself. After .;,; arriving there, he seated himself, on the '.shore, and. mused on, his .unforunate .situation.. Bent down w^h th.c burden , . of,sorrow,, he sprang up to leap .. in the :". water, but.being- lame, lost his balance, , , and fell to the ground. Immediately he .perceived a venerable.anan of majestic . „ mein,.who, asking 'him the .cause of his „, despair,..and learning it, gave him1 whr.it .<...he could.spare, and then reasoned with ' , him on the folly-of liis^intenMons. His ,• .arguments were- mcl Kadur ;,;; /relinquished the- thought of committing ~;.• suicide, but determined to leave tho place ■ i o.f his niisforfcuno and proceed abroad. :.•:; n ■ He walked slowly; for his .lameness did ...Inot : permit him bo do otherwise,'and ■subsisted upon the alms ho, received from ..-: Already iwas he more than half the"distance, when .he was. overtaken : by somormsrehanta who were going to Bagdad. Thoy asked .him, where ho was ,-proceecling. He endeav.ored to' answer ~them, but stammered so much-in the attempt that their laughter was excited. ,-. uAi second trial and ihis, fpngne proved .. n more fortunate, and he explained to thorn i;,- his- destination ; when, taking pity on his ■... lameness, thoy suffered him to ride on one of their camels. .After having tra- ..• veled together a few days, a thick volume of dust was perceived at a distance. The merchants were alarmed, and not without • cause, for it proceeded from the approach ,of some robbers, who, immediately on arriving, attacked them. The merchants defended themselves bravely,-but as the robbers were of superior number, they .were overcome, but not till several had been killed; the survivors were taken prisoners, and Kadur , among ■■ the rest. Tho robbera took from them their garments, and .afterwards killed ;them. , Kadur was'reserved to the last;- but the .robber who searched him, observing the • poorness of his garments and his want of money, said to his comrades: 'Let us -spare tho life of this, beggar,'-to ;which ~i they all consented. , , ' •„• ~ One of them, who was blind of an eye <i:.and- lame, approaching Kadur,, and discovering a similarity in their appearance ~, commenced laaghing. Calling the others, o • , ; he said :. ' I thank all of ye for sparing the

i-:., Jife of this- beggar-. I never saw any one i}.,,, ix\ my''life who so resembled me, and were ./[ I not convinced I have no brother, I should :; suppose we were twins, ■He approached ; /Kadur, and, slapping him on the shoulder |.;v, exclaimed! '-Brother J thou hast.underv taken a long and painful journey, with i. ,;bui; scanty means.. Take, therefore, this ■ skin and coat,.and go wherever thon listi ,-est.' He then put the coat, and skin upon r. Kadur. All the rest' looking at him .laughed heartily at his appearance, and 11 , every one gave him a piece of ironqy, the' : i, whole of which added together ampunted m>to a considerable sum: . , ; ; The robbers, after having shared the ;■ booty, equally among themselves, pro- :, „ ceeded in one direction ; but Kadur went ;. o.h his way to Bagdad. He soon arrived at a town near the capital. ■ As he was jj entering thafgates, the commander; of the v, .'guard approached him abrupfcly,and cried; 'It is G-ulmaeh! arrest him!' (When jj, Jfadur stood, before?-the--cadi,- tb,e coml; inander said : , This is that Oulmacli, by i whom, a few days since,-my- brother was '.filled. He has the same coat and skin • j, upon him as ihe wore, when performing .the' ,i, deed.' Witnesses were called, and being • deceived by. the dress. ■ and the great > resemblance,, rdespite; his .protestations ( io ~th.c contrary, .Kadur wa& ( codemned' tb ;.,, Buffer-death. ■■■ ■■ < '.• ■ ,j,'.. Kadur.called on the courts, of Aljah and ,i ~and implored the judge arid witnesses, but „,.jt was all in vain. The.executioner being ('..prepared, threw the skiafrom the Sjhoilldar ~ ;0c the kneeling man; when .the commander /arresffc.ed his arm, and, turning to,the cadi, exclaimed: ' Judge ot the believers, I retract •-■■rny aocuscition ! Appearances ' 'deceived both myself and the witnesses. Gufmach, I know, 'is of good shape, "but this man has a hunched back which the skin had concealed' trom us.' The same ; thing said the witnesses, and the executioner H "was ordered to retire. Those, who, now. gazed on Kadur pitied and bestowecVaims upon him and made him free t r

Shortly after he overtook a man carrying a burden on his shoulders. They saluted each other, and as they wore both going to Bagdad, they determined to travel in company. After a few days, when they were leaving a forest, Kadur's companion said to him : ' Let us sit here in the shade and rest till the heat of the day has abated.' They seated themselves, and the other, laying his bag near him, went to sleep. When he awoko he observed some nuts growing on the bushes, and, arising, took a few of them. Kadur did the same, but taking them in his mouth ho was not able to crack them, and threw thorn away. His companion laughed immoderately, and said : ' See the advantage of teeth. You should have taken care of your own. Had you done so, you would.have been able to crack-nuts.' And speaking thus, he took one, cracked it,, eat it up, and in a few moments, afterward fell to the ground Kadur approached him quickly,' but ho was no more.. . .

After a while he perceived a traveler upon an excellent horse, after whom came several others. When this manj perocived Kadur weeping, and, near him a dead companion, he alighted and inquired the .cause of tho castrophe. Kadur related the manner of the event, and showed tho fruit. 'Thank 4Hah that thou art not dead also,' said the stranger ; ' that fruit is tho mo3t venomous of poisons. Hp then ordered ths body to be buried, and allowKadur to mount behind one of his servants, ho took him with him, . Shortly they arrived at a splended mansion. They aligthtd from their horses, and then the stranger, who was the owner .of tho house, taking Kadur by tho hand,' ' entered. Passing through rooms embellished pn all sides with beautiful statuary aud paintings, they at last arrived,at' ,on open gallery from which a beautiful sight presented jtself. They seatc.d','themielves > on splendid sofas, and the master df the: house ( commenced to discourse, thus : • ■ 'It is the mercy of Allah !' said he, 'that gives us the means to .console' the afflicted i among our fellow men. Thou hast told'me of the accident which1 even now occurred to thee ; I pray thee relate to me the circumstances, of thy life. Kadur commenced to tell him all ihat had ever i happened to him, especially since the time his property was stolen .from tho 'ceme; tery. After, this tho table was set, and when supper Was over, the master of the house conducted Kadur to the a,partments designed for him.

\ They entered, and passed through' a chamber containing' gold; aud marble; illuminated by thousands of lights, and cheered by the enchanting strains of music which stole softly around. \

Kadur was bewildered with happiness. His host turned to him and said : '' It is in thy power to become the master of all these things,' saying which.he clapped his hands. The side doors opened, and six negresses entered, and with them a person short of stature, hump-backed and lame, and covered from head to fool; with ava.il-of cloth of gold, This little person bowed, and the negresses parted to the right and left and stood in attendance. 'This is my daughter,' said the i host, 'the heiress of all I possess. If thou wilt consent, I will bestow her on thee in marriage.' Kaiur was on the point of falling at,hi3 feeb, when the father arose, approached his daughter and took off her veil. Kadur then beheld, although in the prime of her youth,, that her feed was wrinkled) she was blind of an eye, and her mouth was furnished with tusks like, those of the wild boav. Though shocked at first he evercome his dislike and replied to the host that with all his heart he would take her to wife, and then the music, which had ceased on her entrance was resjunied. Then they entered another room ,where both.with, refreshments were s,erved! Kadur was seated by the side of his betrothed, and seemed to be in the ecstacy of joy. When the evening feast was over, his entertainer led Kadur into his cabinet ( where seating themselves on rich carpets, the former spokethus: • •

,'^Fate did not like to make me happy ; and thou seest how degraded in person is my daughter, yet she is rich in accomplishments and goodness of disposition. '■ Many have wished to wed her; but when I, tnough it is contrary to the customs of our country, showed them my daughter, though I spoke of her many accomplishments, they left my house. Having found thee deformed by nature like my daughter, I began to think that thou wert he, who by the decrees of Allah, should make her happy. But it may bo a sacrifice on thy part, yet I will not take it amiss if thou wilt.tell me thou dost dislike her.' i Kadur replied that he did not look upon external show; and as he was assured of her good < qualities, perferred them to the most charming of appearances.

This relieved the anxiety of his host. "Rising up, he went tohis daughter, while Kadur, observing the doors of the cabinet open, entered the garden, and seating himself on the banks of a ceual, commenced to muse on his extraordinary fate. His reflections had lasted for some time, when the place on which he sat quaked and trembled; a loud peal of thunder was heard, and Kadur fell with his face to the errth. After he Was1 somewhat recovered from his fright he lifted his head, when before him stood the same person lie had seen when about to drown .himself.. The. sage approached and spoke: . ,

1 Fate is used as,an empty word. That which Allah predestinates for -man is his fate. At one time thou wert about to

drown thyself for the loss of filthy luchre, but thou mayest recollect thy lameness prevented thee from accomplishing it, and detained thee until I had removed those ungodly thoughts from thy mind. Moved with what I told the, thou didst cease to grieve. Thy stammering made tho merchants laugh, yet oa account of it thou were pitied by them. Because thou wert a poor beggar thy life was spared ; having a hump preserved theo from execution; being possessed of no teeth, thou shunned the poisonous nuts; and now, being humpbacked, lame and blind, wealth and happiness attend thee. Didst thou over expect it ? Nevermore complain ; repent of that thou once uttered, and romember that which mankind call misfortune is often the best gift of Allah !' The sago touched Kadur. The bunch disappeared —the lost teGth were replaced—tho foot became.straightand the stature increased. When tho..transformation; was complete the sage disappeared. ' .'.',' Kadur f,«ll on his face and gave praise to Allah. When ho had ended his prayers ho perceived his entertaine.v hastily approaching him. When ho arrived it was with the news that the. deformity pf his daughter Had entirely disappeared. Seeing Kadur likewise changed,, ho. led him to his betrothed, who was sa altered that at first he did not recognize her. Sho had become taller, and, when her father removed tho vail from her face, it was found mantled in extraordinary beauty. , ~., I •