Wretched
man that I am! said he; what have I done? I have killed a man!
alas, I have carried my revenge too far! good God, unless thou
pityest me, my life is gone! Cursed, ten thousand times accursed,
be the fat and the oil that gave occasion to the commission of so
criminal an action. In fine, he stood pale and thunder-struck; he
thought he saw the officers already come to drag him to condign
punishment, and could not think what resolution to take.
The sultan of Casgar's purveyor did not observe the little
gentleman's hunch when he was beating him, but as soon as he did,
he threw out a thousand imprecations against him. Ah, you crooked
hunch-back! cried he; would to God you had robbed me of all my
fat, and I had not found you here! had it been so, I would not
have been now so much perplexed for the sake of you and your
nasty hunch. Oh! the stars that twinkle in the heavens give light
to none but me in this dangerous Juncture! As soon as he had
uttered these words, he took the little crooked corpse upon his
shoulders, and carried it out of doors to the end of the street,
where he set it upright against a shop, and then trudged home
again without looking behind him.
A few minutes before the break of day, a Christian merchant, who
was very rich, and furnished the sultan's palace with most things
it wanted; this merchant, having sat up all night debauching,
stepped out of his house to go to bathe.
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