Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 13, 1925 — page 164: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

636 ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. struct him in playing the harp. So faith- fully and assiduously had Yosuf Abram studied that now he could play with such skill that the harp strings seemed to be parts of his fingers and the music part of his soul. “His artistry had long since surpassed that of his venerable uncle and _ teacher, but Yosuf was careful never to do his best in the old man’s presence, so his benefactor might feel no shame for his age, or envy for the youth and fire of his pupil. Indeed, So great was Yosuf’s consideration for the old man that he often struck a false note to enable his uncle to scold and correct him, for he knew scolding and rectifying youth to be the greatest pleasure of the aged, and he wished the declining years of his uncle’s life to lack no happiness that he could cause. “ Like most musicians, Yosuf Abram was forced to earn his bread by playing and begging, but he wandered not from place to place exchanging moments of ecstasy for a crust of bread. Rather, he took up his stand boldly in the crowded bazaar, playing now before the booth of one merchant and now before the booth of another. ‘“ Wherever Yosui played there men gath- ered to listen with bated breath to the lan- guage of souls and acquire a little knowl- edge of the wonders of the gardens of para- dise, where ten thousand angels play on ten thousand harps in a harmony so great that mortal ears would burst with the hearing of it. “ Wherever Yosuf played there trade was best, for he attracted many men, and these bought of the nearest wares when the music ceased. Indeed, they were glad of the prox- imity of that which they needed, for many of them used the time in listening to Yosuf’s playing that should have been spent in making purchases. “The merchants were not long in realiz- ing that prosperity followed in the trail of the voung beggar, and Yosuf soon found himself the recipient of many gifts from them, while anything he desired to purchase was quickly tendered him with the respects of the owner and a polite request to play some of his beautiful music in the shade of that booth on the following day, * One merchant went as far as to offer Yosur a definite stipend if he would play each day in the shade of his booth alone, but the young beggar was shrewd enough to know that to be dependent upon one man and to antagonize the other merchants would be a folly that even Allah could not forgive. He expressed his polite regrets and explained that music was a God-given gift and could not be confined to one spot or to one man, but was for the enjoyment of every one. Therefore, lest he anger the protector of all, he must continue to spread far and wide the beauties of his play- ing and thereby give thanks for the great gift of skill that Allah, blessed be his name, had granted him. “Thus it came about that the fame of Yosuf Abram spread throughout the city. Men spoke of him when going to the mosque before prayer, or when idling in the drowsy hours of mid afternoon, And be- cause all that men know is also soon known to women, Yosuf’s name was often upon fairer lips than he suspected. In fact, he became the byword of the city, and his fame penetrated even unto the thrice guard- ed stronghold of the great and powerful Khan Adir Kuri. ‘It was Arimida, beautiful lady in wait- ing to the Princess Roxanna, who told that stern and glorious daughter of the great Khan about the wonderful playing of the young harpist. Arimida knew about him from a serving maid named Tabitha, who had it directly from a bedridden uncle, who had it from his son, who was a merchant in the bazaar. In this circuitous manner did news from the city outside enter into the thrice guarded domain of the great Khan Adir Kuri. “ Great was the curiosity of the princess when she heard of the gifted Yosuf Abram. She expressed her wonderment that an ig- norant beggar of common blood could play such music. She deplored the fact that cus- tom, pride and station forbade her going out into the bazaar and listening to the beg- gar play upon his harp. Then she gazed out of the window and remarked, for the twelfth time that morning, that surely her garden was the most beautiful in the world. That it had the most beautiful and smailest comicaooks CO