Murad the Unlucky, and Other TalesEdgeworth, Maria
General
Murad the Unlucky, and Other Tales
Edgeworth, Maria
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Short stories
"I yielded, entered his house, and was astonished at all I saw. My
brother did not triumph in his prosperity; but, on the contrary, seemed
intent only upon making me forget my misfortunes: he listened to the
account of them with kindness, and obliged me by the recital of his
history: which was, I must acknowledge, far less wonderful than my own.
He seemed, by his own account, to have grown rich in the common course of
things; or rather, by his own prudence. I allowed for his prejudices,
and, unwilling to dispute farther with him, said, 'You must remain of
your opinion, brother, and I of mine; you are Saladin the Lucky, and I
Murad the Unlucky; and so we shall remain to the end of our lives.'
"I had not been in his house four days when an accident happened, which
showed how much I was in the right. The favourite of the sultan, to whom
he had formerly sold his china vase, though her charms were now somewhat
faded by time, still retained her power and her taste for magnificence.
She commissioned my brother to bespeak for her, at Venice, the most
splendid looking-glass that money could purchase. The mirror, after many
delays and disappointments, at length arrived at my brother's house. He
unpacked it, and sent to let the lady know it was in perfect safety. It
was late in the evening, and she ordered it should remain where it was
that night, and that it should be brought to the seraglio the next
morning. It stood in a sort of ante-chamber to the room in which I
slept; and with it were left some packages, containing glass chandeliers
for an unfinished saloon in my brother's house. Saladin charged all his
domestics to be vigilant this night, because he had money to a great
amount by him, and there had been frequent robberies in our
neighbourhood. Hearing these orders, I resolved to be in readiness at a
moment's warning. I laid my scimitar beside me upon a cushion, and left
my door half open, that I might hear the slightest noise in the
ante-chamber or the great staircase. About midnight I was suddenly
awakened by a noise in the ante-chamber. I started up, seized my
scimitar, and the instant I got to the door, saw, by the light of the
lamp which was burning in the room, a man standing opposite to me, with a
drawn sword in his hand. I rushed forward, demanding what he wanted, and
received no answer; but seeing him aim at me with his scimitar, I gave
him, as I thought, a deadly blow. At this instant I heard a great crash;
and the fragments of the looking-glass, which I had shivered, fell at my
feet. At the same moment something black brushed by my shoulder: I
pursued it, stumbled over the packages of glass, and rolled over them
down the stairs.
"My brother came out of his room to inquire the cause of all this
disturbance; and when he saw the fine mirror broken, and me lying amongst
the glass chandeliers at the bottom of the stairs, he could not forbear
exclaiming, 'Well, brother! you are indeed Murad the Unlucky.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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