THE HAUNTED GARDEN

A man who possessed much money had two daughters. The son of the caliph of

the King asked for one of them, and the son of the cadi asked for the

other, but their father would not let them marry, although they desired it.

He had a garden near his house. When it was night, the young girls went

there, the young men came to meet them, and they passed the night in

conversation. One night their father saw them. The next morning he killed

his daughters, buried them in his garden, and went on a pilgrimage.

That lasted so until one night the son of the cadi and the son of the

caliph went to a young man who knew how to play on the flute and the rebab.

"Come with us," they said to him, "into the garden of the man who will not

give us his daughters in marriage. You shall play for us on your

instruments." They agreed to meet there that night. The musician went to

the garden, but the two young men did not go. The musician remained and

played his music alone. In the middle of the night two lamps appeared, and

the two young girls came out of the ground under the lamps. They said to

the musician: "We are two sisters, daughters of the owner of the garden.

Our father killed us and buried us here. You, you are our brother for this

night. We will give you the money which our father has hidden in three

pots. Dig here," they added. He obeyed, found the three pots, took them

away, and became rich, while the two girls returned to their graves.

* * * * *

Moorish Literature Comprising Romantic Ballads, Tales of the Berbers, Stories of the Kabyles, Folk-Lore, and National Traditions · 第 156 / 228 题