文學與人生 Dream sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.

"The Appointment in Samarra"
(as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])

The speaker is Death

There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me.  She looked at me and made a threatening gesture,  now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate.  I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.  The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went.  Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threating getsture to my servant when you saw him this morning?  That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise.  I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

一個巴格達的商人派自己的僕人去市集買一些日用品。不一會，僕人臉色蒼白、渾身發抖地回來了，他說，主人，我剛剛在市集的時候被一個女人撞到，我轉過身卻發現撞到我的是死神。

她看著我，對我做了一個預示兇兆的手勢。現在，請把你的馬借給我，我要逃開這個城市，避開我的命運。我要去薩馬拉，這樣死神就找不到我了。

那個商人把馬借給了他，這個僕人于是騎上馬，用馬刺刺馬腹側，儘快地跑了。這個商人走進市集，他看到了站在人群裡的我。他向我走來，問道：你今天早上看到我僕人的時候為什麼對做那個恐嚇手勢？

那不是一個恐嚇手勢，我說，那只是一個意外的震驚。我很奇怪我為什麼在巴格達看到他，因為我和他預約今晚在薩馬拉見面。