`Now,’ said he to the gazelle, `take these things with the soldiers to the sultan, that he may be able to come.’
And the gazelle answered: `Can I take those soldiers to go and put my master to shame as he lies there naked? I am enough by myself, my lord.’
How will you be enough,’ asked the sultan, `to manage this horse and all these clothes?’
`Oh, that is easily done,’ replied the gazelle. `Fasten the horse to my neck and tie the clothes to the back of the horse, and be sure they are fixed firmly, as I shall go faster than he does.’
Everything was carried out as the gazelle had ordered, and when all was ready it said to the sultan: `Farewell, my lord, I am going.’
`Farewell, gazelle,’ answered the sultan; `when shall we see you again?’
`To-morrow about five,’ replied the gazelle, and, giving a tug to the horse’s rein, they set off at a gallop.
The sultan watched them till they were out of sight:
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then he said to his attendants, `That gazelle comes from gentle hands, from the house of a sultan, and that is what makes it so different from other gazelles.’ And in the eyes of the sultan the gazelle became a person of consequence.
Meanwhile the gazelle ran on till it came to the place where its master was seated, and his heart laughed when he saw the gazelle.
And the gazelle said to him, `Get up, my master, and bathe in the stream!’ and when the man had bathed it said again, `Now rub yourself well with earth, and rub your teeth well with sand to make them bright and shining.’ And when this was done it said, `The sun has gone down behind the hills; it is time for us to go’: so it went and brought the clothes from the back of the horse, and the man put them on and was well pleased.
`Master!’ said the gazelle when the man was ready, `be sure that where we are going you keep silence, except for giving greetings and asking for news. Leave all the talking to me. I have provided you with a wife, and have made her presents of clothes and turbans and rare and precious things, so it is needless for you to speak.’
`Very good, I will be silent,’ replied the man as he mounted the horse. `You have given all this; it is you who are the master, and I who am the slave, and I will obey you in all things.’
`So they went their way, and they went and went till the gazelle saw in the distance the palace of the sultan. Then it said, `Master, that is the house we are going to, and you are not a poor man any longer: even your name is new.’
`What is my name, eh, my father?’ asked the man.
`Sultan Darai,’ said the gazelle.
Very soon some soldiers came to meet them, while others ran off to tell the sultan of their approach.
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And the sultan set off at once, and the viziers and the emirs, and the judges, and the rich men of the city, all followed him.
THE GAZELLE BRINGS CLOTHES TO HIS MASTER
Directly the gazelle saw them coming, it said to its master: `Your father-in-law is coming to meet you; that is he in the middle, wearing a mantle of shy-blue. Get off your horse and go to greet him.’
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And Sultan Darai leapt from his horse, and so did the other sultan, and they gave their hands to one another and kissed each other, and went together into the palace.
The next morning the gazelle went to the rooms of the sultan, and said to him: `My lord, we want you to marry us our wife, for the soul of Sultan Darai is eager.’
`The wife is ready, so call the priest,’ answered he, and when the ceremony was over a cannon was fired and music was played, and within the palace there was feasting.
`Master,’ said the gazelle the following morning, `I am setting out on a journey, and I shall not be back for seven days, and perhaps not then. But be careful not to leave the house till I come.’
And the master answered, `I will not leave the house.’
And it went to the sultan of the country and said to him: `My lord, Sultan Darai has sent me to his town to get the house in order. It will take me seven days, and if I am not back in seven days he will not leave the palace till I return.’
`Very good,’ said the sultan.
And it went and it went through the forest and wilderness, till it arrived at a town full of fine houses. At the end of the chief road was a great house, beautiful exceedingly, built of sapphire and turquoise and marbles. `That,’ thought the gazelle, `is the house for my master, and I will call up my courage and go and look at the people who are in it, if any people there are. For in this town have I as yet seen no people. If I die, I die, and if I live, I live. Here can I think of no plan, so if anything is to kill me, it will kill me.’
Then it knocked twice at the door, and cried `Open,’ but no one answered. And it cried again, and a voice replied:
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`Who are you that are crying “Open”?’
And the gazelle said, `It is I, great mistress, your grandchild.’
`If you are my grandchild,’ returned the voice, `go back whence you came. Don’t come and die here, and bring me to my death as well.’
`Open, mistress, I entreat, I have something to say to you.’
`Grandchild,’ replied she, `I fear to put your life in danger, and my own too.’
`Oh, mistress, my life will not be lost, nor yours either; open, I pray you.’ So she opened the door.
`What is the news where you come from, my grandson,’ asked she.
`Great lady, where I come from it is well, and with you it is well.’
`Ah, my son, here it is not well at all. If you seek a way to die, or if you have not yet seen death, then is to-day the day for you to know what dying is.’
`If I am to know it, I shall know it,’ replied the gazelle; `but tell me, who is the lord of this house?’
And she said: `Ah, father! in this house is much wealth, and much people, and much food, and many horses. And the lord of it all is an exceeding great and wonderful snake.’
`Oh!’ cried the gazelle when he heard this; `tell me how I can get at the snake to kill him?’
`My son,’ returned the old woman, `do not say words like these; you risk both our lives. He has put me here all by myself, and I have to cook his food. When the great snake is coming there springs up a wind, and blows the dust about, and this goes on till the great snake glides into the courtyard and calls for his dinner, which must always be ready for him in those big pots. He eats till he has had enough, and then drinks a whole tankful of water. After that he goes away. Every second day he comes, when the sun is over the house. And he has
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seven heads. How then can you be a match for him, my son?’
`Mind your own business, mother,’ answered the gazelle, `and don’t mind other people’s! Has this snake a sword?’
`He has a sword, and a sharp one too. It cuts like a dash of lightning.’
`Give it to me, mother!’ said the gazelle, and she unhooked the sword from the wall, as she was bidden. `You must be quick,’ she said, `for he may be here at any moment. Hark! is not that the wind rising? He has come!’
They were silent, but the old woman peeped from behind a curtain, and saw the snake busy at the pots which she had placed ready for him in the courtyard. And after he had done eating and drinking he came to the door:
`You old body!’ he cried; `what smell is that I smell inside that is not the smell of every day?’
`Oh, master!’ answered she, `I am alone, as I always am! But to-day, after many days, I have sprinkled fresh scent all over me, and it is that which you smell. What else could it be, master?’
All this time the gazelle had been standing close to the door, holding the sword in one of its front paws. And as the snake put one of his heads through the hole that he had made so as to get in and out comfortably, it cut it of so clean that the snake really did not feel it. The second blow was not quite so straight, for the snake said to himself, `Who is that who is trying to scratch me?’ and stretched out his third head to see; but no sooner was the neck through the hole than the head went rolling to join the rest.