"I will take two!" cried Ashimullah.
"Take three," said the Sultan; and with this he dismissed
Ashimullah, giving him the space of a week in which to fulfill
the command laid upon him.
"Surely I am a most unhappy man," mused Ashimullah. "For if I do
not obey, I shall be put to death; and if I do obey, I fear
greatly that I shall be damned." And he went home looking so
sorrowful and perplexed that all men conceived that he was
out of favor with the Sultan.
Now Ashimullah, being come to his house, went immediately to his
wife, and told her of the Sultan's commands, adding that the
matter was a sore grief to him, and not less on her account than
on his own. "For you know well, Star of my Heart," said he,
"that I desire no wife but you!"
"I know it well, Ashimullah," answered Lallakalla tenderly.
"Moreover, I fear that I shall be damned," whispered Ashimullah.
"I'm sure you would," said Lallakalla.
Three days later it was reported through all the city, on the
authority of Hassan, the chief and confidential servant of the
Vizier, that Ashimullah, having procured three slaves of great
beauty at an immense cost, had wedded them all, and thus
completed the number of wives allowed to him by the Law of the
Prophet. The first was rosy-cheeked with golden hair; the
second's complexion was olive, and her locks black as night;
the third had a wonderful pallor, and tresses like burnished
gold.
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