Khaled by F. Marion Crawford (best e book reader android TXT) ๐
Description
Khaled is a hard-working and faithful genie who, in his zeal, goes a little too far and kills a faithless man. This puts him under scrutiny from the powers above, who curse him to live as a human. Since genies have no souls, he will vanish from existence when he dies; but, if he can find true love, heโll be granted a soul and thus be allowed into heaven.
Written in the style of the โoriental romancesโ popular in those days, Khaled was F. Marion Crawfordโs favorite novel out of all of the ones he wrote in his successful career.
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- Author: F. Marion Crawford
Read book online ยซKhaled by F. Marion Crawford (best e book reader android TXT) ๐ยป. Author - F. Marion Crawford
โI mourn for him,โ Almasta said, not raising her eyes.
โIt is natural and right. Doubtless you loved him as soon as you saw him.โ
Almasta glanced quickly at Zehowah, as though suspecting a hidden meaning in the words, and for a moment each of the women looked into the otherโs eyes, but Zehowah saw nothing. For a wise man has truly said that one may see into the depths of black eyes as into a deep well, but that blue eyes are like the sea of Oman in winter, sparkling in the sun as a plain of blue sand, but underneath more unfathomable than the desert.
Almasta was too wise and deceitful to let the silence last. So when she had looked at Zehowah and understood, she smiled somewhat sorrowfully and spoke.
โI could have loved him,โ she said. โI desire no husband now.โ
โThat is not true,โ Zehowah answered quickly. โYou wish to marry Khaled, and that is the reason why you killed Abdul Kerim.โ
Almasta started as a camel struck by a flight of locusts.
โWhat is this lie?โ she cried out with indignation. โWho has told you this lie?โ But her face was as grey as a stone, and her lips trembled.
โYou probably killed him by magic arts learned in your own country,โ said Zehowah quietly. โDo not be afraid. We are alone, and no one can hear us. Tell me how you killed him. Truly it was very skilful of you, since the physician, who is the wisest man in Arabia, could not tell how it was done.โ
But Almasta began to beat her breast and to make oaths and asseverations in her own language, which Zehowah could not understand.
โIf you will tell me how you did it, I will give you a rich gift,โ Zehowah continued.
But so much the more Almasta cried out, stretching her hands upwards and speaking incomprehensible words. So Zehowah waited until she became quiet again.
โIt may be that Khaled will marry you, if you will tell me your secret,โ Zehowah said, after a time.
Then Almastaโs cheek burned and she bent down her eyes.
โWill you tell me how to kill a man and leave no trace?โ asked Zehowah, still pressing her. โLook at this pearl. Is it not beautiful? See how well it looks upon your hair. It is as the leaf of a white rose upon a river of red gold. And on your neckโ โyou cannot see it yourselfโ โit is like the full moon hanging upon a milky cloud. Khaled would give you many pearls like this, if he married you. Will you not tell me?โ
โWhom do you wish to kill?โ Almasta asked, very suddenly. But Zehowah was unmoved.
โIt may be that I have a private enemy,โ she said. โPerhaps there is one who disturbs me, against whom I plot in the night, but can find no way of ridding myself of him. A woman might give much to destroy such a one.โ
โKhaled will kill your enemies. He loves you. He will kill all whom you hate.โ
โYou make progress. You speak our language better,โ said Zehowah, laughing a little. โYou will soon be able to tell the Sultan that you love him, as well as I could myself.โ
โBut you do not love him,โ Almasta answered boldly.
Zehowah bent her brows so that they met between her eyes as the grip of a bow. Then Khaledโs heart leaped in his breast, for he saw that she was angry with the woman, and he supposed it was because she secretly loved him. But he held his breath lest even his breathing should betray him.
โThe portion of fools is fire,โ said Zehowah, not deigning to give any other answer. For she was a kingโs daughter and Almasta a bought slave, though Khaled had taken her in war.
โBe merciful!โ exclaimed Almasta, in humble tones. โI am your handmaid, and I speak Arabic badly.โ
โYou speak with exceeding clearness when it pleases you.โ
โIndeed I cannot talk in your language, for it is not long since I came into Arabia.โ
โWe will have you taught, for we will give you a husband who will teach you with sticks. There is a certain hunchback, having one eye and marked with the smallpox, whose fists are as the feet of an old camel. He will be a good husband for you and will teach you the Arabic language, and your skin shall be dissolved but your mind will be enlightened thereby.โ
โBe merciful! I desire no husband.โ
โIt is good that a woman should marry, even though the bridegroom be a hunchback. But if you will tell me your secret I will give you a better husband and forgive you.โ
โThere is no secret! I have killed no one!โ cried Almasta. โWho has told you the lie?โ
โAnd moreover,โ continued Zehowah, not regarding her protestations, โthere are other ways of learning secrets, besides by kindness; such, for instance, as sticks, and hot irons, and hunger and thirst in a prison where there are reptiles and poisonous spiders, besides many other things with which I have no doubt the slaves of the palace are acquainted. It is better that you should tell your secret and be happy.โ
โThere is no secret,โ Almasta repeated, and she would say nothing else, for she did not trust Zehowah and feared a cruel death if she told the truth.
But Zehowah wearied of the contest at last, being by no means sure that the woman had really done any evil, and having no intention of using any violent means such as she had suggested. For she was as just as she was wise and would have no one suffer wrongly. Khaled, indeed, cared little for the pain of others, having seen much blood shed in war, and would have caused Almasta to be tortured if Zehowah had desired it. But she did not, preferring to wait and see whether she could not entrap the slave into a confession.
Khaled now came out of his hiding-place into the room
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