Kismet Page #7

---

And keep still another 10 in case

that your husband should be mean or cruel.

You give me this...

...instead of my father.

Marsinah, when a mars fortune

is on the rise...

...he knows it beyond logic,

beyond reason.

Trust me as you always have.

- But I'm content the way we are.

- And?

We have more than enough money

to satisfy us.

Only a fool would risk his neck for more.

No, Marsinah, come here.

A fool sat beneath an olive tree

And a wondrous thought had he

So he rose and he told it to the sky

And where was I?

Behind the tree I overheard

His reverie

Why be content with an olive

When you could have the tree?

Why be content to be nothing

When there's nothing you couldn't be?

Why be contented with one olive tree

When you could have

The whole olive grove?

Why be content with a grove

When you could have the world?

The fool stood beneath the olive tree

"What a wondrous thought," said he

But alas, it is very, very deep

And so he yawned and went to sleep

Because, you see

He was a fool

Why be content with an olive

When you could have the tree?

That which has lulled you to sleep, fool

Has awakened me

Why should I sigh that my lot is my lot

That I can't make it anything more

When that is a lie

An excuse for a fool to snore

I walked

From behind the olive tree

With a wondrous change in me

For I walked with my eye upon a star

If you have heard and do not heed

There is a word

For what you are

And, oh, my friend

The word is

Fool

Lalume.

Bow low for the Mighty Wazir.

- Lalume.

My lord?

Lalume, he's succeeded.

Our wizard has succeeded.

I'm not surprised, are you?

I am flooded with relief.

Had the Caliph

married that backyard bride...

...why, I truly believe

I'd have had to kill myself.

My dear husband,

you will never have to kill yourself.

Now, where is he now, do you suppose?

I shall have to destroy him

as soon as possible.

Destroy him? Why?

A man who's abetted me in

a treasonable act, knowing what he knows,

how could I let him live?

Of course.

But what a pity though.

Think of the power

you are throwing away.

Imagine the Wazir of police

with a wizard in his employ.

Power within power.

Power.

- Yes.

- You could change the face of Baghdad.

All Persia.

All Arabia might be yours.

Oh, wise, Lalume.

We must befriend him.

Make him a permanent guest in our home.

Then persuade him

to put his talents to our use.

But perhaps he won't return.

- Perhaps he...

- He will return.

- How can you be sure?

- You'd just be angry if I told you.

- Oh, nevertheless, I wish he would... Oh!

- Your wish is my command.

Oh. Greetings, great wizard. Heh.

Well done. Excellently done.

I thank you.

Oh, your patent of nobility

awaits only your signature.

Your coronet,

I shall bring with my own hands.

Oh, inform the harem to entertain

my magical guest.

To delight him continuously.

Feed him sweetmeats and watermelons.

Feed him rahadlakum.

It shall be done, my lord.

- Rahadlakum?

- An ecstasy of taste.

A delight that will steal your brain away.

Well, some other time, perhaps.

Without my brains, I am defenseless.

What's wrong?

- Ahem.

You are hostile.

Great Lady, I have but one goal.

To take my coronet of office...

...collect my grant from the Caliph's

treasury and live in well-fed obscurity.

I want you to remain here.

In what capacity?

Your fullest.

- Lalume.

- Hmm?

You have saved my life and befriended me.

And I'm grateful.

But you know me as I know you.

We are practical people

who live by real values in Allah's name.

- Let's not try to fool each other.

- I'm not trying to fool you.

- Not at all.

- But I have a daughter. I can't desert her.

Your daughter would be as safe here

as you.

- Safer.

- Yet, I'm no magician.

How long do you think I could live

under the Wazir's roof before he found out?

About 30 years.

Guard.

- The Emir Hajj commands you.

- Uh...

Go to the camel stables

hard by the street of the vendors.

You'll find a young lady there

who'll answer to the name of Marsinah.

- You fetch her to me.

- Immediately, Emir Hajj.

Emir Hajj.

Can it really be?

- Come with me.

- Where?

- To the harem.

- Must I?

Pretty poet. I would like the Wazir

to believe it was his harem...

...that enticed you to remain here.

It would simplify our lives.

I understand.

On days when my lord groweth restless

And bored with his sword and his plume

His handmaiden hath what he needeth

And what doth he need

Rahadlakum

On nights when my lord looketh listless

And black is the hue of his gloom

His handmaiden hath what he lacketh

And what doth he lack

Rahadlakum

'Tis sweet with the meat of the litchi nut

Combined with the kumquat rind

The kind of confection

To drive a man

Out of his Mesopotamian mind

And lo, if my lord feeleth faithless

And roameth by night from his room

His handmaiden fanneth her fires

And out of her pan

Riseth a tantalizing perfume

He scenteth the scent

He turneth his face

His previous place in her embrace

He doth resume

And love is in bloom

The while they consume

- Rahad

- Rahad

Rahadlakum

Oh, gracious emir...

...everyone marvels at your wizardry.

May an humble servant

plead the benefit of your magic?

He may.

My third wife is soon to spawn a child.

I now have seven daughters.

Will the gracious emir this time

grant me a boy?

My good man,

this assurance I can give you.

If it is not a boy,

it will not be my fault.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You know,

I wouldn't be surprised if he did have a boy.

After all, didn't the Caliph's commoner

disappear as I guaranteed?

Did not Jawan find his son?

Could it possibly be

that I actually do possess the power?

Ahem. Allah, this is me again.

Restore my missing tooth.

No magician.

Just an ordinary man.

Far from ordinary.

Lalume.

Lalume, why don't you answer?

Where's Hajj?

Oh, bother, he's disappeared again.

- Ah.

- Gah!

My coronet.

Where were you this time?

That would be hard to explain

to a layman.

Your Emirship.

Your Emirship.

I thank you.

- How do I look?

- Ooh, heh-heh. Magnificent.

Does he give you

a kind of creepy feeling?

Do you mean a sort of

tingly sensation under the skin?

- Yeah.

- He certainly does.

Perhaps now you'll remain here

as our guest.

Magician though I may be,

I am unable to tear myself away.

All Persia, all Arabia, all Mesopotamia...

Great Wazir?

Yes.

- Great Wazir, a summons from the Caliph.

- Hmm.

Call my litter.

Enjoy yourself, friend. I shart be long.

Now, let's see, where were we?

About here, I think.

Oh, I'm being foolish. Not now, not here.

But when, Lalume? And where, Lalume?

And in heavers name,

how soon can we be there, Lalume?

I have heard of an oasis in the desert,

about a week's journey by dromedary.

- Not that I've ever been there.

- Of course not.

It is called

the Oasis of Delightful Imaginings.

No one around for miles and miles.

The sound of palm trees

rustling in the distance.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes