Kismet Page #9

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in case he chooses Samaris or Zubbediya?

As ready as ever, Great Wazir.

You know, I'm consumed with curiosity

as to what trick you would use.

- Couldrt possibly give me just a hint?

- No, I...

All right, I understand. Forgive me.

- Secrets of the trade.

- Hmm.

Oh. Oh-ho, by the way...

...that was an ingenious feat

of magic you performed today.

Which?

Oh. Transferring the Caliph's beloved

to my harem.

What?

- Oh, oh. Just routine wizardry.

- Wonderful. Heh-heh.

But you should have told me.

I thought all was lost

when the Caliph saw her this evening. Heh.

I told him that she was one of my wives.

- A jeweled brain.

- Heh-heh.

And then, just to protect myself,

I married her.

She swore she'd kill herself.

Angry little thing.

Can't understand what attracted the Caliph.

What's her name?

Marsinah. That's it, Marsinah.

Marsinah.

- No.

- Yes, yes, Marsinah.

In Allah's name, what have I done?

Oh, that's all right.

She won't be a danger to us for long.

In fact, she'll cease to exist very soon

after I get down to my palace tonight.

Heh-heh.

Oh, look at him, descendant of Mohammed,

outwitted by an ordinary mortal.

A knife.

The trick has something to do with a knife.

I have written the name of Ababu upon it.

Hide it in your boot.

- My boot?

- Quickly or you'll spoil the trick.

My boot. Ha-ha.

Mighty Caliph, behold.

What have you there?

A blade of virgin iron, All Highest.

As you can see...

...nothing is written upon it.

My lords, ladies.

I throw it thus into the pool.

When retrieved from the water...

...the magic blade will be inscribed

with the name of our Caliph's bride-to-be.

Noble Caliph, lest you suspect fraud...

...your loyal Wazir himself

will retrieve it from the bottom of the pool.

- Who? Me?

The Wazir?

Only he can serve the end I have in mind.

Wazir, explain this fellow's arrogance.

He is a man of wondrous magic,

Your Highness.

The most potent of wizards.

- Proceed.

- Your indulgence, All Highest.

Too much light quarrels with my art.

May they smother all the torches

but this one?

This trick may take a little while.

O most tender of lords.

Now?

Now.

All the way to the bottom,

my brilliant assistant.

Have no fear. I am here to help you.

Your foot. Give me your foot.

My foot?

Uh... Heh.

This feat, if you trouble to try,

will help you to understand...

...the infinite slowness of eye

compared to the speed of hand.

He seems to be struggling.

If I didn't know that he was a magician,

I'd swear the man was drowning.

Yes, he struggles well, doesn't he?

All part of the illusion, of course.

Let me assure you,

he is doing exactly what I wish him to do.

Gentle ruler, be not angry when I say...

...your subjects have been told

your heart is broken.

Perhaps your heart has died.

What judgment would you pass if your love

were lost because a lie spoken?

- What judgment upon the man who lied?

- Why do you ask? Whom do you accuse?

A lover of torture, a drinker of tears,

who laughs aloud when the innocent weep.

And to all beseechments

turns stone-deaf ears.

Who is this man? Name me his name?

A bargain, great Caliph.

Name me his sentence first.

His death,

without delay and without mercy.

I thank you for your verdict.

It has been carried out.

The Wazir. Rescue the Wazir.

Guards. After the assassin.

Don't let him escape.

Has my physician been summoned?

Here, All Highest.

Come back.

- Where's the assassin?

- This way.

Find the traitor.

Here we are. Let's go.

Does he live?

His heart is quite still.

Hold.

I hear a beat. He lives.

- Father.

- Marsinah.

It's all right.

You are safe now.

Everything's gonna be all right.

You attempted murder before the very eyes

of the protector of the faithful.

You have defiled his presence.

- Noble Caliph, I...

- Silence.

For a crime such as yours,

there is no defense to be spoken.

No defense to be spoken, All Highest.

But a living defense.

A breathing one, my daughter.

Then the magiciars story was true.

Entirely true, sire.

She was not the Wazir's wife, All Highest.

Not until after you left there.

Then she was seized

and married by force.

Such a marriage shall have life

no longer than my Wazir.

- The gardener.

- Not the gardener, my dearest.

- The Caliph.

- Marsinah?

Your name is Marsinah?

Only Marsinah.

I am no more than what I seemed.

And I am no less than I seemed,

no less in love, no less humorless.

Is this man be pardoned, O Caliph?

Pardon him, All Highest.

His crime was a service. Let him go free.

No. Don't ask that.

Under the circumstances...

...it would embarrass the All Highest

to pardon his father-in-law.

Oh, prince of justice, let me help you

to compose this most difficult of verdicts...

...against a man who in his life

never once did right.

And never once wronged anyone.

Condemn the scoundrel

to some dreadful oasis.

At least a week's camel journey away.

Force him to take with him

the widow of the soon-to-be-late Wazir.

And all the property she can get...

...before the accounts are audited.

Condemn him to lighten her sorrow...

...and to toil ceaselessly...

...to remove all grief from her heart.

You have just condemned yourself for life,

my lord.

And finally,

O prince of true believers...

...take from me my greatest treasure,

my daughter, Marsinah.

Take her away forever,

by marrying her to the end of her days.

Such is the Caliph's pleasure.

And so he orders.

Princes come, princes go

An hour of pomp and show they know

Princes come and over the sands

And over the sands of time

They go

Wise men come ever promising

The riddle of life to know

Wise men come

Ah, but over the sands

The silent sands of time

They go

Lovers come, lovers go

And all that there is to know

Lovers know

Only lovers know

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