THE PURVEYOR S STORY. 1al

so very excellent, that every one was anxious to get a little of it.
We could not, however, but remark that one of the guests did
not seem desirous of eating any of it, although the dish stood
directly before him. We invited him to help himself to some,
as we did; but he requested us not to press him to eat any.
“J shall be very careful,” said he, “how I touch a ragout dressed
with garlic. Ihave not yet forgotten what was the consequence
of it to me the last time I tasted one.” We then requested
him to inform us what had been the cause of such an aversion
to garlic as he seemed to have. The master of the house,
however, called out, without giving him time to answer our
inquiries, “Is it thus you honour my table? this ragout is
delicious; do not therefore pretend not to eat it; you must
do me that favour like the rest of the company.” “ Sir,” replied
his guest, who was a merchant of Bagdad, “do not suppose that
I act thus out of any notions of false delicacy. I certainly will
obey your commands if you insist upon it, but it must only be
on condition, that after eating of it you will permit me to wash
my hands forty times with alkali, forty times with the ashes of
the same plant from which that is procured, and as many times
with soap.”

As the master of the house would not dispense with the mer-
chant’s eating some of the ragout, he ordered his servants to get
some basins ready, containing a solution of alkali, ashes of the
same plant, and soap, that the merchant might wash himself as
often as he pleased. After having given these orders, he said to
the merchant, “Come then, now do as we do, and eat ; neither
the alkali, the ashes of the plant, nor the soap, shall be de&-
cient.”

Although the merchant was enraged at this sort of violence
that was done to him, he put out his hand, and took a small
quantity of the ragout, which he put to his mouth with fear and
trembling, and eat with a repugnance which very much aston-
ished us all. But what we remarked with still greater surprise
was, that he had only four fingers, and no thumb, and till this
moment no person had noticed this circumstance, although he
had eaten of several other dishes. The master of the house then
spoke, “ You seem to have lost your thumb,” said he ; “how did
such an accident happen? There must probably have been some
singular cireumstances connected with the occasion of it; and