In a small town, a long time ago, there lived two neighbours. One of them envied the other very deeply. The man who was envied decided to shift to a different town to avoid the envious man. So, outside the capital of the kingdom, he found a small house with a well in the courtyard and a garden. He became a saintly man, a dervish, and gave the rooms of his house to other dervishes to live there. His goodness spread to everyone and he became famous. People came to visit the holy man and seek his prayers and blessings. One day, his old neighbour heard of him and hated him even more for his popularity and goodness. He went to the dervish, who treated him with kindness and courtesy. The envious man asked him to walk out with him and, leading him to the well, he pushed him in, to kill him!
Inside the Well
The dervish who was pushed into the well did not die! The well itself was a magical place in which djinns and fairies lived! When he recovered from the shock of falling, the dervish heard them talking to one another and could understand them. One of them said, “This is a very good and holy man who came to live here to get away from his envious neighbour! But that man followed him and pushed him into this well!” “But tomorrow the Sultan is coming to meet him!” said another, “He wants a cure for the princess who has been put under a spell by the Genie, Maimoon.” “How can she be cured?” asked another, “The dervish has a black cat with a white tip on her tail,” said the other, “If seven hairs from the tail are burnt and the perfume of the smoke is applied to the princess’ head, she will be well!”
The dervish found footholds and climbed out of the well. The other holy men were delighted to see him back. Even the black cat came to rub her against his leg! He pulled seven white hairs out of her tail and kept them. When the Sultan visited him the next day, he asked for the princess to be brought there. When she came, he lit a brazier and placed the seven hairs on the coal. He allowed the fragrant smoke to circle her head. Her veil dropped and there was a loud cry. The princess, who seemed to have been unconscious, suddenly woke up. The cry came from the Genie, Maimoon, whose spell had been broken! The Sultan was delighted to see his beloved daughter cured and gave rich gifts to the dervish and his disciples. He also declared that the princess would marry the dervish.
Sometime later, the Vazir died and the Sultan appointed the dervish in his palace. The dervish was the son-in-law of the Sultan who had no sons. Therefore, when the Sultan died later, the ministers, the soldiers and the citizens were very happy to have the dervish as the new Sultan. One day, as the Sultan rode through the city, crowd gathered to cheer him. He saw the envious man in the crowd and sent one of the soldiers to fetch him. The new Sultan told his Vazir, “Give this man a thousand gold coins and, from my own store, give him twenty wagons full of merchandise. Then send a troop of soldiers to escort him to his home!” The envious man was amazed at the generosity of the Sultan and bowed to him humbly. Everyone praised the Sultan for his great mercy and nobility towards the man who tried to kill him!
