The Wicked Girl in the Middle East - Essay Example

THE WICKED GIRL There once lived a rich merchant from the Middle East d Faheem. The merchant was blessed with a beautiful wife, who bore her a beautiful and brilliant daughter. One day, the merchant and his wife left for pilgrimage to Mecca, which meant that the two were going to be away for about seven days. To ensure that her daughter was safe, he left her with another Arab girl to keep her company. Since the merchant was a noble man dedicated to his faith, her daughter was not supposed to leave the house without the company of a trusted person to watch over her. He therefore hired servants that would bring to her daughter anything she would have needed, and instructed them to ensure that she never got out of the house, leave alone the compound. One evening when the Merchant’s daughter and the Arab girl were dancing to their favorite songs, she accidently stumbled on the lighting lamp, spilling all the oil on the floor. Faced with the fear of staying in the dark the whole night, and since the guards had locked all the doors to the main house and retired to their quarters, the Merchant’s daughter devised a plan that would see her roll down through the window and sneak through the fence to a nearby local store to purchase some oil. The Arab girl aided her in this plan, and continued singing and dancing as if they were all present in the house, so as not to raise curiosity among the servants, in case they were patrolling and noted some strange silence. By the time she got to the store, it was already dark and the storekeeper was preparing to close. There were no more customers streaming in and hence the storeowner had left his young handsome son to do some cleaning in preparation for business the following day. On seeing the beautiful l girl, the young man developed a liking towards her. He signaled her to get comfortable on one of the soft seats that were adjacent, and then came to talk to her. At first he chose to sit a little far from her, but as the conversation progressed, he kept moving closer to her. The Merchant’s daughter being witty and crafty, decided to play along, by being humble, for as long as she would get the lighting oil she needed. Being an era when batter trade was still the norm, the Merchant’s daughter had carried with her a bowl of honey for the exchange. Circumstances would have it that this young man was obsessed with the sweetness of honey, and after she revealed to him what she had in exchange for the lighting oil, he quickly ran to the store and brought a jar of lighting oil. Upon returning, the Merchant’s daughter offered to hold the bowl as he tasted the honey, and once he was leaning low enough, she doused the whole of his face with honey, picked the jar of oil and ran back to their home. Angry and embarrassed, the young man cleaned his face and cursed the wicked lady, swearing that if he ever got near her again, he would revenge by killing her and drinking her blood. Back in the house, she found the Arab girl still dancing. She was extra-ordinarily happy to see her back safe, and praised her for her bravery. Little did the Arab girl know that the Merchant’s daughter had met a young man who was not only handsome, but likeable as well, and that she was already contemplating seeing him for a second time. The following day as they were going about their chores, the Merchant’s daughter was quite pre-occupied. The image of the young man she encountered at the local store continued flashing across her eyes, tormenting her every passing second. Nevertheless, she could not inform the Arab girl of her eventful encounter with the young man, though her face, full of apprehension, betrayed her. At nightfall, she again convinced the Arab girl to have another dancing session with her. As they were dancing, her mind was busy making calculations on how to get out of the house to go and see the handsome young man. In order to make her escape possible, she intentionally kicked the lamp again, splashing all the oil on the floor. While keeping the Arab girl in the dark, she quickly offered to sneak through the window and off to the store to buy some more oil. The Arab girl lowered her using the same window curtain, and continued to sing and dance, as a cover-up, just the same way she had done the previous night. As she approached the store, the young man, who again was alone in the shop, recognized her and inquired why she could still have the courage of going back to the shop after what she had done to him during their previous encounter. Being the clever girl she was, she signaled him to keep quiet, and told him that she had gone to give him a kiss. The young man being eager to kiss the beautiful girl, ushered her in warmly. The Merchant’s daughter upon seeing that utensils were still strewn on the table, suggested that they eat some food and have some drinks before having the kiss. The young man served some delicacies and brought some wine, so that they may dine and be merry. Unknown to him, the girl was busy contemplating on how to get away without having to kiss him. As they were eating, she kept adding more and more wine to his glass, until he was drunk and he could not stand on his feet. She hurriedly picked some rope and chained him to the chair, packed some food plus the lighting oil and ran back to her place. Customers who had come to make some purchases early the following morning found the young man chained, and without much ado, they set him free amidst his endless curses, and regretted why he had welcomed the lady. In a bid to serve the lady some revenge, the young man decided to disguise himself as a flower vendor, got a collection of beautiful flowers and started walking from door to door, hawking his flowers. Fortunately enough, he saw the beautiful girl from the balcony of their house and decided to move closer without revealing his identity. Upon seeing him, the girl invited him closer, while making inquiries on the prices of the flowers he was carrying. With a hoarse voice reminiscent of that of an old man, they haggled over the prices, eventually coming to an agreement. He signaled the girl to go downstairs and complete the trade, for which the girl responded that the door to the ground was under lock, and that the only way she could receive the flowers was if he accepted to be pulled up the window using the curtains. The young man, being jovial and at the same time eager to serve the girl his revenge, accepted the offer, and the beautiful girl together with the Arab girl lowered the curtain for him to hold and climb up. The merchant’s daughter being who she is, had already hatched a plan to embarrass the young man once more. As she saw the man nearing the window, she quickly ran to the kitchen, picked a knife, and cut the curtain on which the man was suspended. The man went down in a thud, scattering all his flowers, amidst sarcastic laughter from the girls and the on looking crowd. With great anger, he cursed the beautiful girl and walked away, swearing that another encounter with the girl would mark the end of her life. A few more days passed and the Merchant and his wife came back from their pilgrimage. He was greatly impressed at finding her daughter, together with the Arab girl, safe. Endowed with great love, he offered to give her daughter any present she would want. She requested her father to get for her a beautiful doll made of rubber, and which was exactly her size, could wear clothes, and could utter the words “yes, yes” when shaken. Not wanting to disappoint her daughter, he acquired just the exact doll as the daughter had requested. Not so long after delivering the doll, the Merchant informed her daughter that he had received a letter from an anonymous individual who wanted her hand in marriage. She accepted to meet the fellow and accept the proposal. On the day the she was supposed to meet her suitor, a messenger came very early to pick her up. She was driven a couple of buildings away from their home, and ushered in to a building that was literally empty, save for the doormat. Once the driver left, she hurriedly set the doll in the middle of the house and placed her clothes next to the doll. She then filled the hollow doll with some sweet red fruit drink, and hid herself behind the door, leaving it partly open to conceal her presence. Partly aware of whom the man might be, she waited patiently, trying to maintain a quite environment, to an extent that even her heartbeat became noise to her. After waiting for what seemed an eternity, the young handsome man finally walked in, holding a sharp dagger in his hand. With a sigh full of great ego, he addressed the ‘person’ he found standing in the middle of the house. First by congratulating himself for setting a trap that the beautiful but wicked lady finally fell into, then shook the doll angrily, prompting her if she ever remembered all the bad things she had done to her on the previous occasions they met, to which the doll replied “yes, yes”. Unable to control his anger, he slammed the dagger right into ‘her’ belly, and managed to get hold of some ‘blood’ that oozed out of her. He then tasted the blood, and marveled at how sweet the blood of the girl he had just killed was. Unable to control his grief at what he had done, he knelt down and mumbled how his stupidity had made him kill a girl so sweet, his legs grew weak and he could not control the tears that rolled down his face. At this point, the beautiful girl came from her hiding place and tapped him from the back, he could not believe his eyes, and he immediately embraced her. They walked out of the empty house as husband and wife, and lived happily thereafter. Read More