"All his body pains him. He is sick all over."
"Oh, well," said the master, "what can I do? Go and get some of that
red millet, that is too common for our use, and make him some gruel."
"Gracious!" exclaimed his wife, staring at him in amazement; "do you
wish her to feed our friend with stuff that a horse would not eat if
he were ever so hungry? This is not right of you."
"Ah, get out!" said he, "you're crazy. We eat rice; isn't red millet
good enough for a gazelle that cost only a dime?"
"Oh, but he is no ordinary gazelle. He should be as dear to you as
the apple of your eye. If sand got in your eye it would trouble you."
"You talk too much," returned her husband; then, turning to the old
woman, he said, "Go and do as I told you."
So the old woman went downstairs, and when she saw the gazelle,
she began to cry, and say, "Oh, dear! oh, dear!"
It was a long while before the gazelle could persuade her to tell
him what had passed upstairs, but at last she told him all. When
he had heard it, he said: "Did he really tell you to make me red
millet gruel?"
"Ah," cried she, "do you think I would say such a thing if it were
not so?"
"Well," said Keejeepaa, "I believe what the old folks said was
right. However, we'll give him another chance. Go up to him again,
and tell him I am very sick, and that I can't eat that gruel."
So she went upstairs, and found the master and mistress sitting by
the window, drinking coffee.
The master, looking around and seeing her, said: "What's the matter
now, old woman?"
And she said: "Master, I am sent by Keejeepaa. He is very sick indeed,
and has not taken the gruel you told me to make for him."
"Oh, bother!" he exclaimed. "Hold your tongue, and keep your feet
still, and shut your eyes, and stop your ears with wax; then, if that
gazelle tells you to come up here, say that your legs are stiff; and
if he tells you to listen, say your ears are deaf; and if he tells you
to look, say your sight has failed you; and if he wants you to talk,
tell him your tongue is paralyzed."
When the old woman heard these words, she stood and stared, and was
unable to move. As for his wife, her face became sad, and the tears
began to start from her eyes; observing which, her husband said,
sharply, "What's the matter with you, sultan's daughter?"