Achmed Abdullah

“ But Ahmed passed unharmed through the Valley of the Seven Temptations, with the help of prayer and faith: faith in Allah, the One, that was slowly growing in his inmost soul. And by the time he had left the valley and was climbing up toward the Hill of Eternal Fire, the Hill of Pride, he had sloughed his old lawless passions as snakes slough their skin in spring and had begun to admit that there was a Master greater than his own will, finer and nobler than his own desires. ”

“ Laughing gayly, he left the defile of the Hill of Eternal Fire, the Hill of Pride, and walked along steadily until at the beginning of the third moon he fell in with a wise hermit—a hermit, indeed, so wise that, alone in that part of the world, perhaps in all Asia, he knew all about the defects of a horse, the reasoning of a cat, the thundering of clouds, a woman’s deeds, and a man’s future fortunes. He told Ahmed that he was on the right road, but that he would first have to cross the Valley of the Monsters and the Garden of the Enchanted Trees. ”

“ Small wonder, therefore, that the Prince of India, riding his elephant to the East, smiled ironically as he thought how foolish the other two Princes were in endeavoring to compete with him in the quest for the greatest rarity on earth. ”

“ For he was an intensely practical man. He believed in making assurance doubly sure; even trebly sure. Thus, not satisfied with the treasure of the Island of Wak, nor yet satisfied with his plan of sending Mongol warriors disguised as peaceful traders to Bagdad in case anything should go wrong, he furthermore gave orders to his spies to follow and shadow the Princes of India and Persia and to report to him by swift messengers whatever they might find out.
He wasted never a thought on the self-styled Prince of the Isles, the Thief of Bagdad. ”

“ And violently he gestured with his tail when the Prince told him about Zobeid and his overwhelming love for her.
“Bah!” exclaimed Hakim Ali. “Your words are as wind in my ears! Personally I disapprove of women. The Lord God created them only so as to prevent life from being as charming and agreeable as it might otherwise be.” ”

“ But, in spite of the soldiers’ abuse, the merchants, knowing of old the Prince to be an extravagant spender, crowded about the litter, pushing and jostling each other, heaping their treasures of jewels and brocades and embroideries and perfume and costly rarities about the snoring potentate’s small, fat feet, vociferously clamoring that he should look, touch, buy:
“Behold, Protector of the Pitiful! Only a thousand Persian gold pieces for this priceless emerald! See! ”

“ From her, too, he had inherited the neat, furry little tail, very much like a goat’s, that he whisked from side to side to drive away the flies and mosquitoes and that he used to gesture with as mere humans use their hands. ”

“ None knew!”
“Thank you, thank you!” exclaimed the Prince, while the servants stowed away the magic carpet in the litter. “Name your reward!”
“Don’t thank me—yet!” sneered Hakim Ali. “For, doubtless, you will win Zobeid with this rug.”
“That is just why I am thanking you!”
“That is just why you should not thank me! Woman? By Allah! Has it not been said that woman is an inflicter of grief in love as well as in hate? Has it not been said: ‘Among the philosophers, the Chinese; among the beasts, the fox; among the birds, the jackdaw; among men, the barber ”