Once upon a time, there was a merchant who was wedded to his cousin, a girl of splendid beauty and above all of great manners. They loved each other like soulmates. This merchant always wore white and was known as the White Merchant.
One year, business was a little stagnant. So, the merchant decided to take his caravan and travel to a certain country looking for work. His wife agreed and wished him good fortune. He left her one year’s provisions in case he were delayed, and so he rode away and left his wife with her servant.
In that country, there was a merchant who always wore black robes and was known as the black merchant. His trade was robbing foreign merchants, who came from other countries, of their merchandise. He would invite them to his house to play chess, of which he was a master. They would play for their merchandise and he would win it from them.
As soon as our merchant arrived at the town, he found the black merchant waiting for him. He told him that he should stay the night at his house. The black merchant treated him like a king and then they started a game of chess. At the end, the black merchant had been defeated.
Afterwards, they started talking about families, until the black merchant said that women are not to be trusted. The white merchant told him that not all women are alike, that he had a cousin who was both beautiful and well-mannered. The merchants made a bet that if the black merchant could bring proof to the contrary concerning the white merchant’s wife, he would take all the white merchant’s livelihood.
The black merchant arrived at the other’s house and made sure that his wife was inside. He waited and waited at the door, expecting indiscretions to appear, until he finally began to give up.
Meanwhile, an old lady passed by and asked him why he was there. He told her that he needed proof of indiscretion from the lady of the house. So, the old lady went to the house and told the merchant’s wife that she was a poor woman. She said that her daughter was going to get married, and she asked her if she could give her something.
After a few days, the merchant’s wife offered her a dress. The black merchant took the dress to the white merchant, took his merchandise and made him his servant.
After some time, the white merchant’s wife sent her servant to look for her husband in that faraway city. After a long search, the servant came to a pastry shop and found her master working there in a miserable state. The servant immediately left the shop and started asking people how he had come to this point. They told her everything that had befallen him with the black merchant.
The servant then returned to her mistress and told her what had happened to her husband. Then, the wife sent the servant to buy a hundred camels and 99 servants from the slave market as well as a man’s suit.
Shortly afterward, the wife travelled to the city and the first person she met was the black merchant. As usual, he invited her for a game of chess and in the midst of the game, she tricked him, won and took his earnings.
Finally, she complained to the judges of the city, who took him to prison. In this cunning way, she took back her and her husband’s fortune.
ilès Translation
consultancy – translation – documentation
