Mrouf, the Cobbler of Cairo ComedyOpera in Five Acts Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Mârouf, the Cobbler of Cairo: Comedy-Opera in Five Acts

Act II Opens in the marketplace of the city of Kha'itan. A merchant of the town, Ali, enters With two slaves bearing the unconscious form of Marouf, Who has suffered shipwreck. Revived by a dash of cold water, he tells disconnectedly of his past perils; then explains to Ali whence he came and Who he is, whereupon the latter joyfully em braces Marouf as his old schoolmate. Ali, since leaving Cairo twenty years before, has prospered greatly, and become the richest man in Kha'i'tan. He secretly devises a plan to raise Marouf to yet greater Opulence, and sends the latter (without divulging his object) to his own home With instructions to array himself in his - Ali's - finest garments, and to return thereupon to the marketplace. While awaiting Marouf's reappearance, Ali makes preparations to receive a Splendid guest on a scale of un paralleled magnificence, and to the queries of the other merchants replies that his ex pected friend is the richest man in the world. So every one is in a fever of expectation When Marouf enters, richly apparelled, on muleback; all greet him most obsequiously, to his great astonishment; but Ali dexterously leads him to play the part assigned him, so that Marouf at last outdoes his instructor in boasting of his caravan Which (as his fancy depicts it) is approaching in undreamed-of numbers and bearing unheard-of riches. This comes to the ears of the Sultan of Kha'itan, Who is wandering in disguise, with his Vizier, through the town; he is so impressed by Marouf's recital, and especially by the announced gift of thirty bags of precious stones for himself, that he discloses his identity, and invites the astonished Marouf to dine with him.

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