داستان تاجر

Chapter four

The Merchant’s Tale

The Merchant told the next story. “I travel a lot,” he said. ‘And everywhere I go, I see that people are sad. I have a wife. But do you think I’m happy? Well, I’m not happy. My wife isn’t a nice person. And I hate my life. I want to tell you a story about a husband and wife. It’s a story about a rich, old man. His name is January. January wanted to find a wife. And he asked his friends to help him.”

‘Don’t find me an old wife,’ said January. ‘I want a young wife.’

January’s friends found a wife for him. Her name was May. She was young, but she didn’t have any money.

January was very happy with his wife. ‘I’m old,’ he thought, but now I’ve got a young wife. I won’t have any more problems. And May is very beautiful.’

But there was another person that thought May was beautiful. It was January’s servant. His name was Damien. Damien thought of May all the time. He didn’t sleep very much. He didn’t want to eat. He loved May. And now, he had to see her every day, with January! Soon Damien wasn’t well. He didn’t want to go to work anymore. And he stayed in bed. In bed, he wrote a letter to May. Then he put the letter in a small bag.

That evening, January went to dinner. ‘Where’s my servant Damien’ he asked.

‘Damien isn’t well,’ said another servant. ‘He’s in bed now.’

‘I’m sorry about that,’ said January. ‘He’s a good servant. He works hard. I want to speak to him.’ After dinner, May and January visited Damien. May went to see Damien first. She sat next to him.

‘How are you’ asked May

Damien didn’t say anything. He took the letter out of his bag. And then he gave the letter to May. ‘Don’t speak to anybody about this letter,’ he said.

When May was at home, she read Damien’s letter. It was a love letter. May didn’t know what to do. ‘Damien doesn’t know my secret,’ she thought. ‘I love Damien. But he is poor. And my husband is rich. How can I help Damien? I want him to be well again,’ thought May.

May wrote a letter to Damien. And then she visited him again. She gave Damien the letter. ‘Get well soon Damien,’ she said. And then she left.

Damien read the letter. The letter changed him. Soon he was well again. The next morning, Damien got up. Now he was happy. Now he wanted to go to work.

January had a big house and he had a beautiful garden. He often went there. It was his favourite place. Only January and May could go to the garden. January had a key. And he used the key to go into the garden.

One day, January was in his garden. He looked at the trees and the flowers. It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect. But January didn’t feel very well. ‘Help, Help’ said January. ‘I can’t see. I can’t see anything! I’m blind!’ It was very sad. January couldn’t see any more. May went to the garden and she took January back to the house. January stayed in his room for two months. He didn’t want to go out and he often thought about May. ‘What about May’ he thought. ‘Now I can’t see my beautiful wife. What is she doing? I can’t see what she’s doing. Does she love me? I know what I’ll do. I’ll tell her that she must always stay in the house. We’ll stay here together.’

The next day, January said to May, ‘You must always sit next to me. Then I’ll know what you’re doing. Sometimes we can go to the garden but we must go there together.’

Now it was May who was sad. Her house was her prison. And she thought more and more about Damien.

Damien was also sad. ‘I can’t speak to May,’ he thought. ‘January is always there. I must do something. I need to speak to May.’ May and Damien often wrote letters to each other. They wrote about their love. But Damien wanted more, he wanted to speak to May. He wrote a letter to her.

In the letter he wrote: May, take a key to the garden. And then give the key to me. January has a lot of keys. Then tell January that you want to go the garden. Do it now!

Damien gave the letter to May, and May did what Damien asked. She gave him the key.

Then Damien went to the garden. And he waited there for January and May.

Soon January and May were in the garden. January was happy again. ‘I’m old, and I can’t see,’ he said to May. ‘But I have you, my love. I love you so much. And I want to show you how much I love you. Tomorrow, I’m going to give you all my money. And this house. And this garden.’

‘January, what are you saying’ said May. You’re the only man in my life.’ But of course, there was another man in May’s life. And that man was Damien. And now she saw Damien in the garden.

‘I’m hungry’ said May. ‘I want to go to the apple tree. Then I can eat an apple. Wait here!’ But May didn’t want any apples. She didn’t go to the tree. She ran to meet Damien.

January waited for May. He didn’t know where she was. Now, she was with Damien. But then everything changed.

‘I can see again, I can see’ said January to himself. ‘How is this possible’ he thought. January didn’t understand. ‘I must tell May; she’ll be so happy.’ And so, January looked at the apple tree, but May wasn’t there. ‘Where’s May’ thought January. And then he saw her, but he didn’t only see May. He also saw a man. ‘Who are you, What are you doing? Leave this garden now’ said January. Damien and May looked at January.

‘I think he can see us,’ said Damien. And then Damien ran. He was very fast and soon he was outside the garden. Then May ran to speak to January.

‘What is it my love’ she asked.

‘I can see now. I was so happy. I wanted to tell you. And then I saw you with a man. I think I saw you with somebody.’

‘You can see again’ said May. ‘I’m so happy. But, what are you talking about? A man! You can look everywhere in this garden. But you won’t see a man, because there is no man.’

‘I was excited, that I could see again,’ said January. ‘I think I saw something that wasn’t there. But I thought there was somebody with you.’

‘There was no man,’ said May. ‘Nobody can come into the garden. I want to go back home, my love. Then you can sleep. You’re tired.’

‘Yes, you’re right,’ said January. ‘Of course, there wasn’t a man. Nobody can come into the garden. I want to go home now. We have to tell everybody. We’ll have a party. Isn’t it great? I’m not blind. I can see again!’

“And here my story ends,” said the Merchant. “January was happy. He could see again. But there was something that January couldn’t see: he couldn’t see that May didn’t love him. And that May loved Damien. January wasn’t blind any more. But love, is always blind.”