The fatal chest was burnt, and the house in
which I had lodged razed to the ground. 'And if it had not been for me,'
continued the old woman, 'you would have been dead probably at this
instant; but I have made a vow to our great Prophet that I would never
neglect an opportunity of doing a good action; therefore, when you were
deserted by all the world, I took care of you. Here, too, is your purse,
which I saved from the rabble--and, what is more difficult, from the
officers of justice. I will account to you for every part that I have
expended; and will, moreover, tell you the reason of my making such an
extraordinary vow.'
"As I believed that this benevolent old woman took great pleasure in
talking, I made an inclination of my head to thank her for her promised
history, and she proceeded; but I must confess I did not listen with all
the attention her narrative doubtless deserved. Even curiosity, the
strongest passion of us Turks, was dead within me. I have no
recollection of the old woman's story. It is as much as I can do to
finish my own.
"The weather became excessively hot; it was affirmed by some of the
physicians that this heat would prove fatal to their patients; but,
contrary to the prognostics of the physicians, it stopped the progress of
the plague. I recovered, and found my purse much lightened by my
illness. I divided the remainder of my money with my humane nurse, and
sent her out into the city to inquire how matters were going on.
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