The Little Hunchbacked :

Once upon a time in ancient Kashgar, on the borders of great territory, a tailor lived
with his wife. The couple were deep in love with each other.
One morning the tailor was working busily in his shop. A little hunchbacked came
and sat by the shop's door. He held a tambour that he played and sang many sweet
songs. The tailor was very impressed by the talents of the little hunchbacked.
He thought, "I'll take him home. When I am at the shop my wife is lonely at home.
He will entertain my wife well."
So the tailor took the little hunchbacked house in the evening. His wife had already
arranged hot dinner on the table. On seeing a guest, she brought a plate and soon
they were introduced. Three of them had a good dinner and joked with each other.
The little hunchbacked ate a fish. But, as ill-luck would have it, he swallowed a fishbone. Soon enough, the little hunchbacked started choking. The tailor patted his
back hard while his wife gave water to him to drink but the little hunchbacked did
not recover. He choked on the fish-bone and soon lay dead by the dinner table.
The tailor and his wife felt very sorry at their guest's demise. Then they grew
worried. They feared that the guards of the king would come to accuse them of
murder. They were scared to go to prison. So the couple thought that they would
make a plan so that it would be appeared that someone other had caused his death.

After thinking for a long time, they decided to leave the hunchbacked at a Jewish
doctor's clinic-cum-residence. After a while, the tailor and his wife carried the dead
body of hunchbacked to the doctor's house. They knocked at the door which led to a
steep stairway to the doctor's house. As it was dark a maid came down the stairway
with halting steps. On enquiry, the tailor said, "We have brought a man who is very
ill. Here take this advance money for the Jewish doctor. Tell him to rush down here."
The maid went upstairs to call her master. Meanwhile, the tailor and his wife put the
dead body of the hunchbacked on the stairs in a sitting position at the top stair.
Then they ran away from the spot.
Now the young Jewish doctor came out running to see the ill patient whose advance
payment he had received. As he ran out, he tripped over the body of the
hunchbacked which he could not see in the dark. The collision caused the body of
the hunchbacked to on down the stairs. As the Jewish doctor reached the
hunchbacked, he thought that he had killed him when he rolled down the stairs.
Now it was the turn of the Jewish doctor to fear. He quickly carried the dead body

straight to his wife's chamber. There he told his wife what had happened. His wife
started crying bitterly. The Jewish doctor thought that he would now have to
surrender and confess to the murder of the little hunchbacked. But his clever wife
stopped him. She said, "You'll be foolish to confess and go to prison. Do as I tell you.
Both of us will carry this corpse to our roof. From there we'll step on to our
neighbour's roof. I know that our Muslim neighbour is not at home now. We'll throw
the body into his house by lowering it in through the chimney." The doctor agreed
and soon he and his wife carried out their plan successfully.
The Jewish doctor's neighbour, the Muslim, worked at the Sultan's palace. He
provided oil and butter for the royal kitchen. He had a store-room in his house
where he kept his goods and many rats and mice roamed in freely. When the doctor
and his wife lowered the dead body of the hunchbacked through the chimney, it
went straight into the store-room.
That night when the Muslim-neighbour entered the storeroom with his lantern, he
saw a thief standing by the wall, the roof above where the chimney was. He thought
that the thief had entered through the chimney. He picked a stout stick and started
beating the thief. He yelled, "You thief, you've been stealing my butter for months
and I thought that the mice were doing it."
After a while when the thief did not respond and lay sideways on the floor, the
neighbour went nearer. He was horrified to see that the thief was dead. His brutal
beatings had killed the thief. Now the devout Muslim asked God for forgiveness and
felt very guilty and afraid indeed. Then he thought of getting rid of the body in such
a way that no one would suspect him at all. He thought for a while. Then, he picked
the dead body of the hunchbacked and carried it in the market. As it was night time,
no one saw him as he leant the body against one of the shop's wall and crept back
home.
Just before dawn, a rich Christian merchant was returning from a feast where he had
drunk a lot. He was going to the bath to fresh up. He walked hastily because if he
was seen drunk by any other then he would be punished, according to the law of
the land. As he walked fast, he jostled against a man who stood by a shop's wall. So
by doing that, the hunchbacked fell on the ground. In his drunk state, the Christian
thought that a thief was trying to attack him so he gave a full fisted blow to the
man's face. The man fell on the ground. Then the Christian started calling loudly for
help. Just then a guard patrolling the area came to him. He stopped the Christian
and then called the fallen man to get up but he never moved.
Now the guard declared, "You are a Christian so you killed a Muslim devout. You will
be punished for showing disrespect to another religion."
The guard called his assistants to carry the dead body of the hunchbacked. Then

the Christian was put into prison.

After investigations, it was revealed that the little hunchbacked had been one of the
royal jesters. As the Sultan liked him very much, the guards decided to present the
case in the royal court. The Sult1an was enraged that his subjects were killing each
other in the name of religion. So he sentenced the Christian to death to teach others
a lesson, so that all can live in peace.
Soon the town crier announced that the merchant would be hanged publicly. The
crowd gathered at the gallows to witness his death. Just as the hangman was about
to tighten the rope around the Christian merchant's neck a man came rushing
through the crowd. He cried, "Stop, please in God's name! It is me a Muslim who
killed this Muslim brother. How can one kill a dead man? I can't let my hands be
stained by the blood of an innocent Christian. Please let him go."
The crowd and guards then heard the Muslim's story. Thus the Christian stepped
down and the guards got ready to hang the Muslim. As the Muslim went up to the
gallows, someone screamed, "Guards, do stop right away. I confess to this crime."
There was a roar of confusion in the crowd. Then a man emerged.
He was the Jewish doctor. He said, "Please spare my Muslim friend's life for it is I
who caused the jester's death."
On enquiry, the Jewish doctor narrated his story and confessed to the death of the
hunchbacked caused by him on a dark staircase. The guards and the crowd were
surprised at the turn of event. Then they again fell silent as the hangman tightened
the noose around the Jewish doctor's neck.
Just then the tailor rushed to the gallows and held the .hangman's hand. He said,
"Sir, this noose is for my neck and not for the innocent Jewish doctor. Please listen
to what I have to say and you will learn that I am the real culprit."
As the tailor told his story, the hangman and the guards grew confused. The people
murmured in surprise and confusion. Then the hangman freed the Jewish doctor as
the tailor got ready to meet his death.
Meanwhile in the court, a guard told the Sultan about the drama that had unfolded
at the gallows. The Sultan summoned all the accused to be present in the court.

Once, everyone reached the court. The Sultan heard everyone's story. The Sultan
understood that the hunchbacked had died due to choking on the fish-bone and all
the accused stood innocent. So he set all of them free. Then he ordered his historian
to write this story for the generations to come for he had never known such an
event to occur before.