Arabian Nights Page #9

You were up drinking late last night, Sire.

It has affected your memory.

I do drink...and I do have a terrible head.

Your Majesty?

Who am l?

You're Commander of the Faithful,

Monarch of the World...

No, I'm not! I'm Amin the Beggar!

Is this another one of Your Majesty's jokes?

No, I'm Amin...Amin the Drunkard...

they know me in every tavern in Cairo!

I'm you Grand Vizier, Moussel...

don't you recognize me?

Yes...I've seen you riding

through the streets.

And I'm Abu Nouz, Commander of the

Palace Guard for the last ten years...

Why would you say I'm Sultan Abraschild?

Because you are.

But I'm not!

Have you ever seen His

Majesty, Sultan Abraschild?

No.

So how do you know you're not him?

'Cause I'm me...I know me, don't l?

It's the wine, Sire...it's

clouding your brain.

Through the lingering alcoholic

fumes in his wine-stained brain,

Amin was already half-inclined to agree

with Vizier Moussel and the others.

The whole Palace went along

with the Sultan's cruel jest.

They had to...it was more than

their lives were worth to object.

Pray silence for His Majesty, Sultan Haroun

Abraschild, Commander of the Faithful,

Monarch of the World, the

Prophet's Voice on Earth...

I'm not any of those things...not Commander,

I'm not Monarch, I'm not the Prophet's Voice,

and I'm not Sultan Haroun Abraschild!

It is one of Your Majesty's jokes?

No. I'm just a drunk from

the backstreets of Cairo.

Then why would the whole Court

say that you were Sultan?

Look at yourself, Your Majesty...

that's not the face of a drunkard...

that is the face of a king!

The only thing Amin thought about for years

was where the next drink was coming from...

but everything had changed...

he was a different man.

Then there is the matter of

the Chinese Ambassador...

we have already decided to resume

negotiations with the Great Khan...

Ah, you say I'm Sultan?

Of course you are, Your Majesty.

And I have absolute power?

By Divine Right.

Then instead of talking about

the Great Khan,

we should be talking about my people...

their needs...their happiness...

Scribe...I, Sultan Abraschild,

institute the building of new schools

in each of the major cities...

But, Sire, we must consult

and ponder this matter.

If I consult and ponder, I'll do

nothing. Scribe, 'another decree...

we will reduce the people's taxes by half!

But, Sire, the Treasury...

...can afford it. Now, Commander, do

you believe the Army is underpaid?

Undoubtedly. I have submitted reports

indicating we can't expect troops to defend

- the nation if they're poorly paid.

- I accept all your recommendations,

Commander, and we'll start by

doubling the pay of all the troops.

How will we finance this, Your Majesty?

Cut out all the waste and extravagance,

particularly here in the Palace. Now,

Vizier, I've read your reports too... the

state bureaucracy needs a radical overhaul.

Now, I propose to put you ideas

into practice immediately.

What a fool!

We've got more done today

than we have in years.

This time Sultan Abraschild wasn't laughing.

Amin the Beggar was taking his role very

seriously...feed a grub royal jelly,

and he will turn into an Emperor

butterfly in an instant.

Sultan Abraschild now wanted

to complete the joke.

What a jest, eh?

I doubt he'll enjoy it, when he wakes.

Well, I enjoyed it, that's what counts.

Besides, he's had one day of power...

that's more than most get in a lifetime.

What will you do with him now, Sire?

Throw him back...that's

the best part of the joke!

It was a rude awakening...

it was terrible.

From extreme wealth, to extreme poverty.

That's enough to send any man mad.

Oh, no...no...this is a

dream... this is a dream...

I'm the Sultan...

I'm the Sultan...

I'm the Sultan...

I'm the Sultan...

I'm the Sultan... I'm the Sultan...

I give orders...I give

orders... I give orders...

I give orders... I give

orders... it's the demons...

it's the demons...hahahahahah.....

it's the demons...it's the demons...

Only a madman could think he

was ruler of the world...

but it was so real to me...

so real.

But it all grew less and less

real as the days past...

soon Amin began to doubt

if it had ever happened...

but fate and Sultan Abraschild hadn't

finished playing with him yet.

You should eat.

I'm not hungry...

stay and talk...

stay and talk...

no one will talk to me...they think I'm mad.

Are you?

I was...I thought I was Sultan Abraschild...

I dreamed of being the Sultan for

so long, it became real for me.

Were you better than Sultan Abraschild?

Only in my dreams, friend.

Oh, thank you, friend, thank

you, thank you, thank you...

Laughter's the cure for all our ills...

He thinks he's cured.

Now you've found out what happened to

him, he can be left alone, Your Majesty?

He thought he did a pretty good

job as a one-day Sultan...

I think I'll give him another crack at it.

You're going to repeat the jest?

A good jest is worth repeating.

But Sire, it could send him

mad for the rest of his life.

You two have no sense of humour.

Compliments of the Sultan

himself. It's his birthday...

every prisoner is given a free cup

of wine to celebrate the occasion.

Long live Sultan Abraschild!

And so Amin's torture continued...

It was a terrible nightmare...

which was happening again.

I'm mad again! Save me!

What is it, Your Majesty?

I'm Amin...this is a prison cell... I'm mad!

Calm yourself, Sire. You

had another bad dream!

But which is the dream and which is real?

Is this the dream or was that the dream?

We'll send for the Royal Physicians.

It's the demons! They carried me here...

they're in the air...demons!...demons!

Listen, listen, it's the

demons, they're laughing at me!

Death to all demons!

Death!

Perhaps he should have remembered...

never tell the same joke twice...

Dead!

Well, there's one good

thing... no more jokes.

And he died with a smile on his face...

what do we do now? Who's his heir?

He has none. There'll be a fight amongst

the nobles... it'll mean civil war...

unless we act.

In what way?

Well, Sultan Abraschild ordered us

to treat Master Amin as Sultan.

Yes, but he meant he was

to be Sultan for a day.

We know that, but others don't.

Well, if he keeps cutting taxes, he

has nothing to fear from anyone.

We'll say Sultan Abraschild has

gone on a holy pilgrimage to Mecca

and asked his friend to take his place.

Well, it's true, in a way.

True or false, it's plausible,

that's the important thing.

Your physicians will see you later, Majesty.

You've been ill.

I have?...who's that?

That, oh that was the Royal Jester.

What's the matter with him?

His last joke was a killer!

What's so funny?

He always said we had no sense of humour!

So it was, Amin became one of the

most beloved Sultans in history...

and Abraschild was completely forgotten.

I saw myself as Sultan Abraschild...

he was consumed by laughter...

I was consumed by fear of betrayal,

and I was prepared to do

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