So a ship was bought big enough to hold Fortunatus, the old man and his
wife, and their ten children--five of them sons and five daughters. And
the day before they sailed the wedding was celebrated with magnificent
rejoicings, and everybody thought that Fortunatus must certainly be
a prince in disguise. But when they reached Cyprus, he learned to his
sorrow that both his father and mother were dead, and for some time
he shut himself up in his house and would see nobody, full of shame at
having forgotten them all these years. Then he begged that the old man
and his wife would remain with him, and take the place of his parents.
For twelve years Fortunatus and Cassandra and their two little boys
lived happily in Famagosta. They had a beautiful house and everything
they could possibly want, and when Cassandra’s sisters married the purse
provided them each with a fortune. But at last Fortunatus grew tired of
staying at home, and thought he should like to go out and see the
world again. Cassandra shed many tears at first when he told her of his
wishes, and he had a great deal of trouble to persuade her to give her
consent. But on his promising to return at the end of two years she
agreed to let him go. Before he went away he showed her three chests
of gold, which stood in a room with an iron door, and walls twelve feet
thick. ‘If anything should happen to me,’ he said, ‘and I should never
come back, keep one of the chests for yourself, and give the others to
our two sons.’ Then he embraced them all and took ship for Alexandria.
The wind was fair and in a few days they entered the harbour, where
Fortunatus was informed by a man whom he met on landing, that if he
wished to be well received in the town, he must begin by making a
handsome present to the Sultan. ‘That is easily done,’ said Fortunatus,
and went into a goldsmith’s shop, where he bought a large gold cup,
which cost five thousand pounds. This gift so pleased the Sultan that he
ordered a hundred casks of spices to be given to Fortunatus; Fortunatus
put them on board his ship, and commanded the captain to return to
Cyprus and deliver them to his wife, Cassandra. He next obtained an
audience of the Sultan, and begged permission to travel through the
country, which the Sultan readily gave him, adding some letters to the
rulers of other lands which Fortunatus might wish to visit.
Filled with delight at feeling himself free to roam through the world
once more, Fortunatus set out on his journey without losing a day. From
court to court he went, astonishing everyone by the magnificence of his
dress and the splendour of his presents. At length he grew as tired of
wandering as he had been of staying at home, and returned to Alexandria,
where he found the same ship that had brought him from Cyprus lying in
the harbour. Of course the first thing he did was to pay his respects to
the Sultan, who was eager to hear about his adventures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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