There once were two young cousins. They loved each other dearly, and their fathers had planned to wed them when they were old enough.

Eventually, the time came for them to be united in matrimony. The marriage contract was drawn up and the two young people prepared themselves for the ceremony.  

The young man spent the morning in a hammam and on his way back he was distracted by a falling handkerchief and by it’s owner, a beautiful woman, who from her balcony, gestured   to the young man leaving unanswered questions in the air with her fingertips before closing her window. 

 

He was utterly captivated and waited until sunset for her to reappear and when she didn’t he rushed home to his cousin to ask her to decipher the woman’s intriguing actions. By this time, he had missed the wedding. The many guests, some of them important, had left and his father was furious, but his dear cousin was just happy to see him safely home. 

He explained to her what had happened, and she seemed to understand what the woman had been communicating. She instructed him to go back to her and recite certain words. He follows his cousin’s instructions desperate to see this woman again. But, as before, she baffled him with unreadable gestures, and as before he went back to his cousin for advice.  

Every time he returned his poor cousin dried up her secret tears and told him what he must do next, but the young man was so consumed with his desires that he did not notice her sadness. 

 

And so the weeks passed, and the young man walked between his cousin and her explanations and the mysterious woman, his infatuation with her consuming every ounce of his attention. 

He was utterly unable to see his poor cousin’s broken heart. 

 

Eventually, thanks to his cousin’s instructions, he was permitted to meet the object of his infatuation in the flesh. After they had made love, he recited to her a line of poetry, prompted to him by his cousin, to which the beautiful woman cried and replied to him passionately in verse. By the time he returneds home, his cousin could no longer leave her bed, but she smiled at him tenderly and interpreted the lover’s poetry, patiently telling him what he should say on at their next meeting. 

 

The next time they met, his lover cried and said that his cousin had saved him with her words, knowing what kind of woman she herself was: Seducing him with intent to harm him.   However, his cousin had wisely told him just the right words to soften and hold the beautiful woman’s heart and ensure that she would not go along with her hateful plan. Because of this, the woman was moved to tell him that his cousin was gravely ill and that he must go to her before she died.  

 

By the time he arrived home, he was too late. He walked through the door to see the lifeless body of his tragic betrothed where he had left her the day before. He was saddened but also confused. His family seemed to be angry with him and, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t understand why. 

 

As usual the evening came and his body pulled him to the house of his lover. But on his way   he was tricked by an old woman  .

 

What part will this woman have to play in his future? 

How will his lover react when he does not appear? 

Will his cousin be there to save him from beyond the grave?…. I’m going to say… it gets gory!

What will he lose and what unforeseen path will fate chose for him?. 

 

You will have to wait til tomorrow night…