A Short Story

There was a jewel merchant who had earned for himself a fortune by the age of forty and five years. The people around him knew him for his extravagant wealth and his handsome looks, and he was to be desired by the people who knew him, for they knew their fortune and good spirits would increase when they drew closer to him.

            One day at his palace, a feast was held, and the merchant saw in attendance a young woman who was very beautiful, and inquired upon her, and kept her at the palace long after the feast had ended. The young woman had told him that she studied eastern medicine.

            The merchant then drank many drinks before the young woman and became vulgar. The drunk merchant then took the young woman by the arm, and said,

“Come, lie with me.”

But the young woman resisted, and she responded,

“Unhand me, for I revile a man of such disgrace.”

And the merchant in drunk anger bloodied the face of the young woman and forced himself upon her.

After the merchant had fallen asleep, the young woman sought her escape during the middle of the night when nobody could witness, and nobody had known of this thing that had happened.

            Some time after the feast, the merchant began to take longer and longer to fall asleep each night until eventually he would toss and turn in his bed until the sun rose, and he became very weary for he couldn’t rest.

            In desperation, he would consume drink after drink, but still, no rest would come to him. And it came to pass that for ten days and for ten nights, he did not rest.

            As he tossed and turned in his bed one night, he heard a knock at his door. He opened the door, and the man said to him,

“Hear me, for I am the father of the young woman you had defiled. It is true that you have not rested in ten days, and ten nights, is it not?”

“It is true.” the merchant responded.

“I ask of you this, and in return you I will grant you the rest you seek. You must confess what you had done, and let justice have her way with you. Only then will your curse be lifted.”

“I hear your request, but this thing that I have done cannot be known, for the shame would be so great the people who once found favor in knowing me should depart all at once.”

And the father of the young woman had seen that the merchant’s heart was hard, for he had no shame in what he had done, and so he left the merchant.

            For ten more days and ten more nights, the merchant saw the sun rise and set, and every moment in between because he could not sleep, and there was much agony in his weariness.  

            On the tenth night after the first man had visited him, another man had knocked on his door, and the merchant answered, and before him was in individual cloaked in black with a black mask covering his face.

“It is true that you have not slept now in twenty days and twenty nights, is it not?”

“It is true,” the merchant answered.

“Delight then, for I bring to you a potion that shall grant you the rest that you seek.”

“Hand it to me now, for I cannot bear another moment awake,” the merchant said.

The man in the mask presented the potion to him, and said,

“Behold, this potion will grant you the rest that you seek, but know that when you drink of it, your skin will erupt with boils, and people will think you are sick and revile you.”

“Hand it to me at once,” said the merchant.

And so, the merchant took the potion and drank of it, and the man in the mask departed. The merchant’s rest came quickly, and he was afflicted with painful and unsightly boils, but nobody knew of the thing he had done to the young woman.

            The merchant then covered himself from head to toe with garments, and for 5 years traded and dealt in this fashion. And then one day he held a feast for his friends in his palace.

            His friends, seeing how he was covered, inquired, and insisted to him,

“Reveal thyself! Uncover thy face, for we wish to know with whom we feast!”

            And so, the merchant uncovered his face, and the guests of his feast reviled when they saw the boils upon his face, and they fled, for they feared they would be made ill by eating in the merchant’s palace.

            The merchant wept when his friends departed him, and for ten days and ten nights, he did not sleep, and found much misery when he could not rest.

            On the tenth night, as he lay, tossing and turning, he heard the knock of a familiar hand at his door. And when he opened the door, he recognized the face as the father of the young woman he defiled.

“It is true that you have not rested in ten days, and ten nights, is it not?” said the father.

“It is true,” said the merchant.

“I offer you again, that you should confess what you have done to my daughter, and let justice have her way with you, and I will lift this curse. Have your friends not left you? What reason then, do you conceal your deed?”

“Depart then, for you ask me to forfeit my fortune, and I will never again deal my jewels with strangers, even.”

And the father of the young woman had seen that the merchant’s heart was hard, for he had no shame in what he had done, and so he left the merchant.

For ten more days and ten more nights, the merchant saw the sun rise and set, and every moment in between, because he could not sleep, and there was much agony in his weariness

And on the tenth night, being unable to rest once more, the merchant heard a knock on his door, which he answered in haste.

And at the door was the masked man who offered the first potion to the merchant.

“It is true that you have not slept now in twenty days and twenty nights, is it not?”

“It is true,” the merchant answered.

“Delight then, for I have a new potion that will grant you rest as the last one did.”

“Hand it to me now, for I cannot bear another moment awake,” the merchant said.

“Behold then, a new potion. But know that this one has a price. For if you accept it, you will lose your palace and escape with only your jewels and your life. And for every ten jewels you sell, the cost of nine shall I need to give you the potion.”

“Hand it to me at once,” said the merchant.

And so it was, that the merchant took the potion, and fell to sleep that night. And in the morning, the sound of a trumpet had awakened him, and bandits came and plundered his palace, and he escaped with only his chest of jewels and his life, but nobody knew of the thing he had done to the young woman.

            And so it was that the merchant sold his jewels, and he gave the earnings of nine jewels for every ten jewels that he sold to the man in the mask so that he may rest.

            And for five years he continued like this, until a thief at night has stolen his jewels, and the merchant was left with nothing to sell the man in the mask for his potion.

            And it came to pass that for ten days and for ten nights, he did not rest. He would lay on the street day after night after day, and no rest would come to him.  He would ask the people of his town for help, but seeing his boils, and his weary speech, they thought him to be mad, and fled from him.

            Then one day, the father of the young woman happened upon the merchant laying on the road.

“It is true that you have not rested in ten days, and ten nights, is it not?” said the father.

“It is true,” said the merchant.

“I offer you again, that you should confess what you have done to my daughter, and let justice have her way with you, and I will lift this curse. Have you not lost your friends? Your fortune? Do not strangers flee from the very sight of you? What shall you lose?”

“Leave me at once, for though I posses nothing, I would sooner surrender my life than answer to this charge.” said the merchant.

“Know then, that if you cast me away, I shall not return,” said the young woman’s father.

“Depart then,” said the merchant.

And the father of the young woman had seen that the merchant’s heart was to be forever hard, for he had no shame in what he had done, and so he left the merchant.

For ten more days and ten more nights, the merchant saw the sun rise and set, and every moment in between, because he could not sleep, and he found much agony in his weariness. 

            And on the tenth night, being unable to rest once more, the man in the mask approached that merchant as he lay on the side of the road.

“It is true that you have not slept now in twenty days and twenty nights, is it not?”

“It is true,” the merchant answered.

“Delight then, for I have a new potion that will grant you rest as the last one did.”

“Hand it to me now, for I cannot bear another moment awake,” the merchant said.

“Let it be then, that this potion should grant you rest every night, once and for all, but may you know this: upon taking the potion, your age will advance twenty years, for tonight you will be fifty and five years, and in the morning you shall be seventy and five years. And you will age twenty hard-worked and dreadful years, so that you will be too weak to work, and you will live the rest of your life a beggar. You will never again know the rewards of being sufficient in thyself. People will mock you as you beg, and those who show you mercy will quietly resent you.”

“Hand it to me at once, for this weariness is worse than death,” said the merchant.

            And so it was, that the merchant took of the potion that night, and fell to sleep. And when he woke up in the morning, he was seventy and five years in age. He could only walk twenty steps before he needed rest, and could not lift but a loaf of bread, but nobody knew of the thing he had done to the young woman.

            And for five years he had begged and been mocked, and rested every night, for the potion had done what he was told.

            And it happened one day as he woke up, that a fever had struck him, and he lay and appeared dead. A passerby had seen the merchant, and saw that he was breathing, and took him to the nearest hospice lodge so that he may be cared for and spend his final moments in a bed.

            When the merchant woke up, he found himself in a bed, and his fever had ceased, and he felt himself to be in good health. He heard the doctor at work behind a curtain in his lodge, and said,

“Blessings be upon you, dear doctor, for though I am eighty years of age, I could run as if I were twenty!”

And the doctor unveiled themselves from behind the curtain, and the merchant had seen a sight that made him tremble, for before him stood the young woman, who was a student of medicine as he remembered, the woman that he had defiled those many years ago.

“And blessed be you, for you delivering yourself into my care,” the doctor had said to the merchant.

“For there is no greater delight for me than to treat you with my potion,” and the doctor, whom the merchant defiled so many years ago had delivered to him a potion, a potion which made the merchant act very drunk, and the potion made it so that the merchant could no longer sleep. And for ten days and ten nights, he did not sleep, and it came to pass that the merchant became uproarious in the care of the doctor that he had defiled.

            And so, the doctor said,

“Help! Servants! Take this man away, for he has gone mad in his old age!”

And so it came to pass that the merchant had been tied up the rest of his days, covered in boils, without his jewels, and the secret he kept had caused him to age and made him weak, and for the rest of his life he never slept. He would ask the servants to strike him dead, but the servants only arrived to bring him food to keep him alive, and he did not rest until he perished one month after he was taken captive by the doctor whom he defiled so many years ago.