Sheikh Ali-Banu of Alexandria was a very rich, but very unhappy person: the Franks took his son Kairam, and there was no news from the boy, and his wife died of grief. Every year, on the day of Kairam’s abduction, the sheikh cleaned the house as a holiday, for the dervish said that on the same day the son would return home, and called guests who comforted the sheikh with fairy tales.
Little Longnose
The shoemaker Friedrich lived in Germany. His wife Hannah and son Jacob successfully traded vegetables in the market. When an ugly old woman came up to their tray, Jacob became angry at her choosiness and criticized the woman - the old woman promised this that he would become the same. When Jacob helped her bring the bags, in her house, where pigs and squirrels served, the old woman fed him a delicious soup. He fell asleep and had a dream about how for 7 years he served the old woman in the guise of squirrels, and even became an excellent cook. When the boy woke up and returned to the market, it turned out that 7 years had indeed passed, and he turned into an ugly dwarf. Parents did not recognize and did not believe him. Jacob got to the gourmet duke as an assistant chief of the kitchen (as an exam, he prepared Danish soup with red Habsburg dumplings). The duke ate his cooking and praised him.Once a dwarf, among other things, bought a goose Mimi, an enchanted girl, from the market. She helped him make the Queen’s pie for the duke and his guest, the prince, as well as find the much-needed sneeze for health pie, in which Jacob recognized a component of that soup. In his room, he sniffed the weed and became himself again. First, they went with the goose to Mimi's father - the wizard of Waterbrock, who thanked Jacob - he returned to his parents with a decent amount of money.
Let's go back to the sheikh’s palace. 4 young men, whom the old man led here, discussed the charm of fairy tales and tried to discover what lies in their charm - maybe the unknown beautiful world outlined by them is more attractive than the real one? The old man remembered the short stories, where nothing supernatural happens, where the art with which the image of the hero and his character is conveyed is important.
Young Englishman
Then the next narrator began his story. A newcomer appeared in the small town of Grunwiesel, who led a secretive lifestyle, which caused a lot of talk at his own expense. However, after visiting the town with a circus, he brought his nephew = a foreigner, who, after teaching dance and the local language, introduced him to society. Despite terrible manners and strange behavior, the guy conquered the city - everyone found him sweet, the youth even inherited his manners. At a concert ending the winter evenings, the nephew was supposed to sing a duet with the daughter of the burgomaster. The handsome man began to sing, well, very out of tune, and when he was completely out of hand, the burgomaster loosened the knot of his neck scarf on the recommendation of his uncle (who himself tightened the knot in such cases).When the raging nephew was caught, it turned out that an orangutan from a traveling circus was hiding under clothes and a wig. Only a letter was found in the visitor’s house, in which he explained that he did not want to wallow in local customs, and therefore left his deputy. The monkey was left to the scientist who owned the cabinet of natural history items.
On the same day, the sheikh released the slaves, hoping thereby to earn the mercy of Allah for his son. The old man turned out to be a learned dervish Mustafa. He introduced the guys to the sheikh, and he promised to fulfill their desires: one was allowed to manage his books, the second - to amusements, the third - to have fun with the help of his dancers and musicians, and also decided to sponsor the fourth.
The story of Almanzor
The last slave of those who should have been released began his story. On the ship of Algerian pirates, along with the narrator was a young man, as it seemed to him, born not for slave clothes. He said he was from a noble family and was taken away by the Franks. Listeners began to be indignant - this story is cruel to the sheikh, but he asked the narrator to continue. So: although the Franks promised to send Almanzor home, he was brought to France and showed under the guise of a guarantee of peace with Egypt - they say, the father sent his son to study in a friendly country. Almanzor was settled by a doctor who taught the young man local customs. But Almanzor was a frequent guest with an old orientalist who arranged "oriental conversations" with a guy.The Franks elected the commander who was friends with Almanzor in the Frankish camp in Egypt. The young man accidentally met him, not knowing the purpose, and asked to introduce one of the nobles, so that he put in a word for him in front of the king. And then when they entered a room full of people, and only his friend did not take off his hat, Almanzor realized who his acquaintance really was. The emperor sent him to Egypt, but the ship was captured by the British, then by Tunisian pirates. The young man fell into slavery and was bought by his own father ...
So the sheikh found his son, and Kayram (Almanzor) - his father. Sheikh introduced the four young men to his son and invited them to visit and entertain him. The young men thought that if they had not started a conversation with the old man, they would have missed their chance.
