THE STORY OF ZOBEIDE.
Commander of the faithful, says she, the relation I am about to
give to your majesty is one of the strangest that ever was heard.
The two black bitches and myself are sisters by the same father
and mother; and I shall acquaint you by what strange accident
they came to be metamorphosed. The two ladies that live with me,
and are now here, are also my sisters by the father's side, but
by another mother; she that has the scars on her breast is Amine,
the other is Safie, and mine is Zobeide.
After our father's death, the estate that he left us was equally
divided among us; and so soon as those two sisters received their
portions, they went from me to live with their mother. My other
two sisters and myself staid with our mother, who was then alive,
and, when she died, left each of us a thousand sequins. As soon
as we received our portions, the two elder (for I am the
youngest) being married, followed their husbands, and left me
alone. Some time after, my eldest sister's husband sold all that
he had; and with that money, and my sister's portion, they both
went into Africa, where her husband, by riotous living and
debauchery, spent all; when, finding himself reduced to poverty,
he found a pretext for divorcing my sister, and put her away. She
returned to this city, and having suffered incredible hardships
by the way, came to me in so lamentable a condition, as would
have moved the hardest heart to compassion.
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