When Fortunatus had told them all, the Sultan observed: ‘Well, you
have seen many wonderful things, but I have something to show you more
wonderful still;’ and he led him into a room where precious stones lay
heaped against the walls. Fortunatus’ eyes were quite dazzled, but the
Sultan went on without pausing and opened a door at the farther end. As
far as Fortunatus could see, the cupboard was quite bare, except for a
little red cap, such as soldiers wear in Turkey.
‘Look at this,’ said the Sultan.
‘But there is nothing very valuable about it,’ answered Fortunatus.
‘I’ve seen a dozen better caps than that, this very day.’
‘Ah,’ said the Sultan, ‘you do not know what you are talking about.
Whoever puts this cap on his head and wishes himself in any place, will
find himself there in a moment.’
‘But who made it?’ asked Fortunatus.
‘That I cannot tell you,’ replied the Sultan.
‘Is it very heavy to wear?’ asked Fortunatus.
‘No, quite light,’ replied the Sultan, ‘just feel it.’
Fortunatus took the cap and put it on his head, and then, without
thinking, wished himself back in the ship that was starting for
Famagosta. In a second he was standing at the prow, while the anchor
was being weighed, and while the Sultan was repenting of his folly in
allowing Fortunatus to try on the cap, the vessel was making fast for
Cyprus.
When it arrived, Fortunatus found his wife and children well, but the
two old people were dead and buried. His sons had grown tall and strong,
but unlike their father had no wish to see the world, and found their
chief pleasure in hunting and tilting. In the main, Fortunatus was
content to stay quietly at home, and if a restless fit did seize upon
him, he was able to go away for a few hours without being missed, thanks
to the cap, which he never sent back to the Sultan.
By-and-by he grew old, and feeling that he had not many days to live,
he sent for his two sons, and showing them the purse and cap, he said to
them: ‘Never part with these precious possessions. They are worth more
than all the gold and lands I leave behind me. But never tell their
secret, even to your wife or dearest friend. That purse has served me
well for forty years, and no one knows whence I got my riches.’ Then
he died and was buried by his wife Cassandra, and he was mourned in
Famagosta for many years.
The Goat-faced Girl
There was once upon a time a peasant called Masaniello who had twelve
daughters. They were exactly like the steps of a staircase, for there
was just a year between each sister. It was all the poor man could do to
bring up such a large family, and in order to provide food for them he
used to dig in the fields all day long. In spite of his hard work he
only just succeeded in keeping the wolf from the door, and the poor
little girls often went hungry to bed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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