Page:Arabian Nights Entertainments (1728)-Vol. 5.djvu/6

am very glad, ſays the Califf, ſmiling, that they gave you a Title which you ſo well deſerve, and know how to make ſuch good Uſe of. But tell me what ſort of Men were your Brothers, were they like you? By no means, ſaid I, they were all of them more given to prating than another: And as to their Perſons, there was ſtill a greater Difference betwixt them and me. The firſt was Hump-back’d; the ſecond had rotten Teeth; the third had but one Eye; the fourth was blind; the fifth had his Ears cut; and the fixth had Hair-Lips. They had ſuch Adventures as would inform you of their Characters, had I the Honour to tell them to your Majeſty: And ſince the Califf ſeem’d to deſire no better than that I ſhou’d tell him their Stories, I went on without his Order.

SIR, ſaid I, my eldeſt Brother, whoſe Name was Bacbouc the Hump-back, was a Taylor by Trade: When he came out of his Apprentiſhip, he hired a Shop over againſt a Mill, and having little Buſineſs, he could ſcarcely maintain himſelf. The Miller, on the contrary, was very wealthy, and had a very handſome Wife. One Day as my Brother was at work in his Shop, he lift up his Head and ſaw the Miller’s Wife looking out of the Window, and was charm’d with her Beauty. The Woman took no Notice of him, but ſhut her Window, and came no more to it all that Day, while the poor Taylor did nothing but lift up his Eyes towards the Mill all Day long. He prick’d his Fingers oftner than once, and his Work that Day was not very regular. At Night, When he was to ſhut his Shop, he cou’d ſcarce tell how to do it, becauſe he ſtill hoped the Miller’s Wife would come to the Window once more; but at laſt he was forced to ſhut up, and go Home to his little Houſe, where he had but a very ſorry Night. He got up betimes in the Morning, and ran to his Shop, in Hopes to ſee his Miſtreſs again, but he was no happier than the Day before, for the Miller’s Wife did not appear at the Window above one Moment all the Day, but that Moment made the Taylor the moſt amorous Man that ever liv’d The Third Day, he had ſome more Ground of Satisfaction; for the Miller’s Wife