Page:Arabian Nights Entertainments (1728)-Vol. 2.djvu/105

upon all thoſe Brutes of Porters, and cauſe them to be hang’d. Being afraid to occaſion the Death of ſo many innocent Perſons, I told him, Sir, I ſhould be ſorry that ſo great a Piece of Injuſtice ſhould be committed. Pray don’t do it; for I ſhomld judge my ſelf unpardonable if I were the Cauſe of ſo much Miſchief. Then tell me ſincerely, ſaid He, how came you this Wound? I anſwer’d, That it came through the Inadvertency of a Broomſeller upon an aſs, who coming behind me, and looking another way, his Aſs gave me ſuch a Puſh, that I fell down and hurt my Cheek upon ſome Glaſs: Is it ſo, ſaid my Husband? Then to morrow Morning before Sun-riſing the Grand Viſter Giafar ſhall have an Account of this Inſolence, and he ſhall cauſe all the Broomſellers to be put to Death. For the Love of God, Sir, ſaid I, let me beg of you to pardon them for they are not guilty. How, Madam, ſaid he, what is it I muſt believe? Speak, for I am abſolutely reſolv’d to know the Truth from your own Mouth. Sir, ſaid I, I was taken with the Giddineſs, and fell down, and that’s the whole Matter.

At theſe laſt Words my Husband loſt all Patience. Oh! cry’d he, I have given ear to your lies too long; with that, clapping his Hands, in came three Slaves: Pull her out of Bed, ſaid he, and lay her on the middle of the Floor. The Slaves obeyed his Orders; one holding me by the Head, another by the Feet; he commanded the third to fetch him a Scimiter, and then he had brought it, Strike, ſaid he, cut her in two in the middle, and then throw her into the Tigris to feed the Fiſhes, This is the Puniſhment I give to thoſe to whom I have given my Heart, if they falſify their Promiſe. When he ſaw that the Slave made no haſte to obey his Orders, Why do you not ſtrike, ſaid he? Who is it that holds you? What art thou waiting for?

Madam, then, ſaid the Slave, you are near the laſt Moment of your Life, conſider if you have any thing to diſpoſe of before you die. I begg’d leave to ſpeak one Word, which was granted me. I lifted up my Head, and looking wiſhfully to my Husband, Alas! ſaid I, to what Condition am I reduced, muſt I then die in the Prime of my Yonth? I could ſay no more, for my Tears and Sighs prevented me. My Husband was not at all moved, but on the contrary went on to reproach me; ſo that to have made an Anſwer would have been in vain, I had recourſe to Intreaties and