Turkish Literature; Comprising Fables, Belles-lettres, and Sacred Traditions
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Turkish Literature; Comprising Fables, Belles-lettres, and Sacred Traditions
Turkey -- Literary collections; Turkish literature -- Translations into English
“Then he repented and would have got back his wife, and his wife also
was willing. They sought a legal decision, but the muftī said, ‘It may
not be without an intermediary.’[34] The khoja bethought him whom he
could get for intermediary when the prince came into his mind, and he
said in himself, ‘That stranger youth is he; I shall make him
intermediary.’ So he married the woman to the prince. When it was
evening he took him and put him into a dark house with the lady; but the
lady made shift to light a candle, and as soon as she saw the prince she
fell in love with him with all her heart. And the prince as soon as he
saw her fell in love with her with all his heart. Then these two moons
came together, and, after making merry, the lady showed the prince
sumptuous stuffs, and countless gold, and precious stones, such as the
tale and number of them cannot be written, and she said, ‘O my life, all
this wealth is mine, it is my inheritance from my mother and my father,
and all the wealth too that that khoja has is mine; if thou will not
dismiss me to-morrow, but accept me as thy legal wife, all this wealth
is thine.’
“The prince consented to this proposal, and the woman said, ‘O youth,
when the khoja comes to-morrow he will say, “Come, let us go to the
cadi;” say thou, “Why should we go to the cadi?” If he say, “Divorce the
woman,” do thou reply, “By God, it were shame in us to take a wife and
then divorce her.” And he will be unable to find any answer thereto.’
The prince was glad and accepted the lady’s advice. When it was morning
the khoja came and knocked at the door, and the prince went forth and
kissed the khoja’s hand. The khoja said, ‘Come, let us go to the cadi;’
the prince answered, ‘Why should we go to the cadi?’ Quoth the khoja,
‘Divorce the woman.’ The prince replied, ‘By God, it were mighty shame
in us to divorce the woman; I will not divorce her.’ The khoja
exclaimed, ‘Ah youth, what word is that? I trusted thee, thinking thee
an upright youth, why speakest thou thus?’
“The prince answered, ‘Is not this which I have said the commandment of
God and the word of the Apostle?’ The khoja looked and saw that there
was no help; he wished to go to the cadi, but the folk said to him,
‘Khoja, now that woman is his, she is pleased with him and he is pleased
with her, they cannot be divorced by force.’ The khoja was filled with
grief and said, ‘He shall not be questioned concerning what he
doth;’[35] and he ceased from trying.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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