15- The Story of Zobeide

Commander of the faithful, the relation which I am about to give
your majesty is singularly extraordinary. The two black bitches
and myself are sisters by the same father and mother; and I shall
acquaint you by what strange accident they came to be
metamorphosed. The two ladies who live with me, and are now here,
are also my sisters by the father's side, but by another mother:
she that has the scars upon her breast is named Amene; the name
of the other is Safie, and my own Zobeide.

After our father's death, the property that he left was equally
divided among us, and as soon as these two sisters received their
portions, they left me to live with their mother. My other two
sisters and myself stayed with our mother, who was then alive,
and who when she afterwards died left each of us a thousand
sequins. As soon as we had received our portions, the two eldest
(for I am the youngest) married, and left me alone. Some time
after, my eldest sister's husband sold all that he had, and with
that money and my sister's portion they went both into Africa,
where her husband, by riotous living and debauchery' spent all;
and finding himself reduced to poverty, found a pretext for
divorcing my sister, and put her away.

She returned to this city, and having suffered incredible
hardships by the way, came to me in so lamentable a condition
that it would have moved the hardest heart to compassion to
behold her. I received her with every possible tenderness, and
inquiring into the cause of her distress, she told me with tears
how inhumanly her husband had behaved towards her. Her
misfortunes affected me: and I mingled my tears with hers. I took
her to a bath, clothed her with my own apparel, and thus
addressed her: "Sister, you are the elder, and I esteem you as my
mother: during your absence, God has blest the portion that fell
to my share, and the employment I follow of breeding silk-worms.
Assure yourself there is nothing I have but is at your service,
and as much at your disposal as my own."

We lived very comfortably together for some months. As we were
one day conversing about our third sister, and wondering we
received no intelligence of her, she came in as bad a condition
as the eldest: her husband had treated her after the same manner;
and I received her likewise with the same affection as I had done
the former.

Some time after, my two sisters, on presence that they would not
be chargeable to me, told me they intended to marry again. I
observed, that if putting me to expense was the only reason, they
might lay those thoughts aside, and be welcome to remain: for
what I had would be sufficient to maintain us all three, in a
manner answerable to our condition.