and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas a marvelous matter and a wondrous
mischance which caused my eye to be torn out, and mine is a tale

which, if it were written upon the eye corners with needle gravers,
were a warner to whoso would be warned." She questioned the second and

third Kalandar, but all replied like the first, "By Allah, O our
mistress, each one of us cometh from a different country, and we are

all three the sons of kings, sovereign princes ruling over suzerains
and capital cities."

Thereupon she turned toward them and said: "Let each and every of
you tell me his tale in due order and explain the cause of his

coming to our place, and if his story please us, let him stroke his
head and wend his way." The first to come forward was the hammal,

the porter, who said: "O my lady, I am a man and a porter. This
dame, the cateress, hired me to carry a load and took me first to

the shop of a vintner, then to the booth of a butcher, thence to the
stall of a fruiterer, thence to a grocer who also sold dry fruits,

thence to a confectioner and a perfumer-cum-druggist, and from him
to this place, where there happened to me with you what happened. Such

is my story, and peace be on us all!" At this the lady laughed and
said, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways!" But he cried, "By Allah, I

will not stump it till I hear the stories of my companions!" Then came
forward one of the monoculars and began to tell her

• marvelous [´mɑ:viləs] (=marvellous) a.奇异的 (初中英语单词)
• needle [´ni:dl] n.针；指针 v.用针缝 (初中英语单词)
• sovereign [´sɔvrin] a.至高无上的 n.君主 (初中英语单词)
• butcher [´butʃə] n.屠夫，刽子手 (初中英语单词)
• thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)
• porter [´pɔ:tə] n.守门人；勤杂工人 (高中英语单词)
• grocer [´grəusə] n.食品商，杂货商 (高中英语单词)