I led this wearisome life for a whole month; after which I perceived
the sea to be mightily fallen, the island to be much larger, and the
main land seemed to be drawing near me. In fact, the water grew so
low, that there was but a small stream between me and the main land.
I crossed it, and the water did not come above the middle of my leg.
I walked so long upon the slime and sand, that I was very weary; at
last I got upon firm ground, and when at a good distance from the
sea, I saw a good way before me somewhat like a great fire, which
gave me some comfort; for I said to myself, I shall find somebody or
other, it not being possible that this fire should kindle of itself;
but when I came nearer hand, I found my error, and saw that what I
had taken for a fire was a castle of red copper, which the beams of
the sun made to look at a distance as if it had been in flames.
I stopped near the castle, and sat down to admire its admirable
structure, and to rest awhile: I had not taken such a full view of
this magnificent building as it deserved, when I saw ten handsome
young men coming along, as if they had been taking a walk; but what
most surprised me was, that they were all blind of the right eye:
they accompanied an old man, who was very tall, and of a venerable
aspect.
I could not but wonder at the sight of so many half-blind men all
together, and every one blind of the same eye; as I was thinking in
my mind by what adventure all these men could come together, they
came up to me, and seemed very glad to see me. After the first
compliments, they inquired what had brought me thither? I told them
my story would be somewhat tedious, but if they would take the
trouble to sit down, I would satisfy their request. They did so, and
I related to them all that had happened unto me since I left my
kingdom, which filled them with astonishment.
After I had ended my discourse, the young gentlemen prayed me to go
with them into the castle; I accepted the proffer, and we passed
through a great many halls, antechambers, bedchambers, and closets,
very well furnished, and came at last into a spacious hall, where
there were ten small blue sofas set round, separate from one
another, upon which they sat by day, and slept by night. In the
middle of this circle stood an eleventh sofa, not so high as the
rest, but of the same colour, upon which the old man before
mentioned sat down, and the young gentlemen made use of the other
ten; but as each sofa could only contain one man, one of the young
men said to me, Comrade, sit down upon that carpet in the middle of
the room, and do not inquire into any thing that concerns us, nor
the reason why we are all blind of the right eye; be content with
what you see, and let not your curiosity go any farther.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account