Nevertheless, if you will, leave me alone." And the damsel bent

low, so that the breath of her mouth stirred the hair on



Deodonato's head, and he shivered as he knelt.

"My Prince and my King!" said she.



And Deodonato shot to his feet, and before them all he kissed

her, and, turning, spoke:



"As I have wooed, let every man in this Duchy woo. As I have

won, let every man that is worthy win. For, unless he so woo,



and unless he so win, vain is his wooing, and vain is his

winning, and a fig for his wedding, say I, Deodonato! I, that



was Deodonato, and now am--Deodonato and Dulcissima."

And a great cheer rang out in the Hall, and Fusbius fled to the



door; and they tore his gown as he went and cursed him for a

knave. But the President raised his voice aloud and cried:



"May Heaven preserve your Highnesses--and here's a blessing on

all windows!"



And that is the reason why you will find (if you travel

there, as I trust you may, for nowhere are the ladies fairer or



the men so gallant) more windows in the Duchy of Deodonato than

anywhere in the wide world besides. For the more windows, the



wider the view; and the wider the view, the more pretty damsels

do you see; and the more pretty damsels you see, the more jocund



a thing is life--and that is what the men of the Duchy love--and

not least, Duke Deodonato, whom, with his bride Dulcissima, may



Heaven long preserve!

VIII.



ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS

WELL.



There was once--the date is of no moment--a Sultan, and he had a

Vizier named Ashimullah. This minister was a wise man, much



trusted by his master; but he was held in some suspicion and

dislike at the court because he had been born--or, if that be



doubtful, had at least been bred--a Christian, and had been

originally a prisoner of the Sultan's armies.



But Ashimullah, for reasons which intimatelyconcerned his own

head, but need not concern anybody else's, promptly found the



true path; and, having professed a ready conversion to

the tenets of Islam, rose rapidly to a high place in the service



of the Sultan, so that his promotion never ceased until he was

installed in the office of Grand Vizier. Yet, remembering his



discreditable past, the Sultan was accustomed to exact from him

the fullest and most minute observance of his religious duties.



To such observance Ashimullah submitted, comforting himself with

the example of Naaman the Syrian; for Ashimullah was still, in



secret, a Christian, and his adherence to Islam was only a polite

concession to public feeling. But there was one point on which



his conscience struck him sorely, and this was no other than the

question of wives. Ashimullah had one wife, a lady of great



beauty and remarkable accomplishments, and for the life of him he

could not see how, consistently with the religion which he held



in his heart and with the honor that he owed to the lady, he

could take any other wife. Such an act appeared to him to



be a deadly sin, for it was most plainly held and laid down by

the rules of his religion, and had moreover been amply proved by



experience, that one wife was enough for any man. Therefore when

the Sultan, hearing that Ashimullah had but one wife, and



considering the thing very suspicious and unnatural, sent for

him, and required him to order his establishment on a scale more



befitting his present exalted position, Ashimullah was in sad

perplexity. To obey was to sin, to refuse was likely to cost him



his life; for if his master suspected the sincerity of his

conversion, his shrift would be short. In this quandary



Ashimullah sought about for excuses.

"O Commander of the Faithful, I am a poor man, and wives are



sources of expense," said Ashimullah.

"My treasury is open to the most faithful of my servants," said



the Sultan.

"A multitude of women in a house breeds strife," urged



Ashimullah.

"He who governs an empire should be able to govern his own



house," remarked the Sultan.

"I have no pleasure in the society of women," pleaded Ashimullah.



"It is not a question of pleasure," said the Sultan solemnly, and

Ashimullah thought that he saw signs of suspicion on his master's



august face. Therefore he prostrated himself, crying that he

• admiration [,ædmə´reiʃən] n.赞赏，钦佩 (初中英语单词)


• conceal [kən´si:l] vt.藏；隐瞒 (初中英语单词)


• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)


• reasonable [´rizənəbəl] a.合理的；有理智的 (初中英语单词)


• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)


• movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)


• decree [di´kri:] n.法令；公告；天命 (初中英语单词)


• preserve [pri´zə:v] v.保藏 n.保藏物 (初中英语单词)


• damsel [´dæmzəl] n.姑娘，未婚少女 (初中英语单词)


• sovereign [´sɔvrin] a.至高无上的 n.君主 (初中英语单词)


• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• withdraw [wið´drɔ:] v.收回；撤销；撤退 (初中英语单词)


• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)


• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)


• strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)


• attentive [ə´tentiv] a.注意的；殷勤的 (初中英语单词)


• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• instrument [´instrumənt] n.仪器；手段；乐器 (初中英语单词)


• counsel [´kaunsəl] n.商议；劝告；律师 (初中英语单词)


• barely [´beəli] ad.公开地；仅仅 (初中英语单词)


• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


• worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)


• wedding [´wediŋ] n.婚礼，结婚 (初中英语单词)


• blessing [´blesiŋ] n.祝福 (初中英语单词)


• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)


• suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)


• promptly [´prɔmptli] ad.敏捷地；即时地 (初中英语单词)


• conscience [´kɔnʃəns] n.良心；道德心 (初中英语单词)


• remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)


• deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)


• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)


• moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)


• establishment [i´stæbliʃmənt] n.建(成)立；研究所 (初中英语单词)


• commander [kə´mɑ:ndə] n.指挥员，司令员 (初中英语单词)


• multitude [´mʌltitju:d] n.大群(批)；众多 (初中英语单词)


• govern [´gʌvən] v.统治；控制；指导 (初中英语单词)


• learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)


• strove [strəuv] strive的过去式 (高中英语单词)


• earnestly [´ə:nistli] ad.认真地；急切地 (高中英语单词)


• highness [´hainis] n.高，高贵，高尚 (高中英语单词)


• lessen [´lesən] v.减少；缩小 (高中英语单词)


• throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)


• obedience [ə´bi:djəns] n.服从；顺从 (高中英语单词)


• withdrew [wið´dru:] withdraw的过去式 (高中英语单词)


• crooked [´krukid] a.弯曲的；畸形的 (高中英语单词)


• girdle [´gə:dl] n.腰带 vt.用带束(缠) (高中英语单词)


• repeal [ri´pi:l] vt.&n.废除；撤销；放弃 (高中英语单词)


• straightway [´streitwei] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)


• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)


• nowhere [´nəuweə] n.无处；不知道 (高中英语单词)


• sultan [´sʌltən] n.苏丹 (高中英语单词)


• concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)


• promotion [prə´məuʃən] n.促进；提升；倡仪 (高中英语单词)


• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)


• suspicious [sə´spiʃəs] a.可疑的，多疑的 (高中英语单词)


• solemnly [´sɔləmli] ad.严肃地，庄严地 (高中英语单词)


• whatsoever [,wɔtsəu´evə] (强势语)=whatever (英语四级单词)


• impair [im´peə] vt.削弱；损害 (英语四级单词)


• resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)


• conversion [kən´və:ʃən] n.转化；变换；皈依 (英语四级单词)


• observance [əb´zə:vəns] n.遵守；惯例；仪式 (英语四级单词)


• unnatural [,ʌn´nætʃərəl] a.不自然的 (英语四级单词)


• sincerity [sin´seriti] n.真诚；诚意 (英语四级单词)


• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)


• whereon [weər´ɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语六级单词)


• prerogative [pri´rɔgətiv] n.特权 a.(有)特权的 (英语六级单词)


• intimately [´intimitli] ad.密切地；熟悉地 (英语六级单词)


• syrian [´siriən] a.&n.叙利亚人(的) (英语六级单词)


• sorely [´sɔ:li] ad.痛苦地；剧烈地 (英语六级单词)


• consistently [kən´sistəntli] ad.一致地；始终如一地 (英语六级单词)