Tarikh-i Salatin-i Afaghina 5: Anecdote of a woman who committed three murders in one house.
Táríkh-i Salátín-i Afághana of Ahmad Yádgár (extracts) 5
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Anecdote of a woman who committed three murders in one house.
5.1
There was a man in Samana who gained his livelihood by trading. He was called away from home on business, and entrusted the care of his house to a trustworthy individual, between whose habitation and his own there was only a wall. This neighbour, therefore, used frequently to go into the merchant's house, and assist and advise in all its concerns, and see that matters went on smoothly during the owner's absence. Whenever he went there, he saw a young man frequently entering. He fancied at first that the young man must be some connexion of the owner of the dwelling; but he afterwards reflected that if he were, the house would not have been given into his own charge. He therefore determined to find out all about the youth. He then made a hole in the partition wall, and from time to time looked through it into the next house. One night he saw the young man, dressed in white and scented with perfume, enter the merchant's dwelling, place a handsome carpet near the merchant's wife, and spread out upon it sweetmeats, wine, and pan; after partaking of which, shortly afterwards, they lay down together and indulged in improper familiarities. The woman had a child, which slept in another room, and when it cried she gave it some milk, and then returned to her lover; but as the child persisted in worrying her with its cries, the woman went and squeezed its throat so that it died, and slept the sleep which knows no waking. After which she again sought the youth's embraces.
5.2
When a short period had passed, the young man said, "Why has not the child cried again for such a long time?" The woman replied, "I have taken steps to prevent it from crying altogether." The young man was greatly disturbed, and inquired what she meant. She answered, "I have killed the boy on your account." The youth said, "O creature, who fearest not God, for the sake of a moment's pleasure you have slain the fruit of your own womb; what confidence can I place in you?" He immediately put on his clothes, with the intention of quitting the place. The woman seized his skirt, saying, "It is through you that I have acted thus, and you cease to love me; for God's sake do one thing to save me from shame. Make a hole in the corner of this room in order that I may bury him." The youth at last reluctantly consented. She accordingly brought a mattock, and gave it to him, and he dug the hole; when the woman brought the child, and gave it to him to conceal it in the ground. The young man, taken in by the woman's artifice, bent down towards the hole for the purpose of placing the child in it; and that deceitful woman then raised the mattock with both hands, and struck him so violently on the head, that she split it in two, and he fell dead into the hole. She covered him over and smoothed down the earth. The neighbour had witnessed all that had happened, and was thunderstruck at the woman's atrocity.
5.3
Nevertheless, the woman, feigning the deepest grief, went about, weeping and exclaiming, "A wolf has eaten my child."
5.4
When, after a lapse of some time, her husband returned, people came to condole with him; and they repeated the usual prayers. When they went away, the friendly neighbour said to him, "Come for a short time to my house to dissipate your melancholy." The merchant accordingly accompanied him, and after they had partaken of food, he related to him the whole history of the deaths of both the child and the young man, and said, "Pretend that you have hidden some gold, and that you want a mattock for the purpose of digging it up." He consented to do this, and the woman, much pleased when she heard about the treasure, readily brought the mattock, upon which he immediately began to dig up in the spot which had been indicated. When the woman perceived that her secret would become known, she fastened the door of the room in which the digging was going on with a chain, and set fire to the roof. When the flames burst forth, she began to cry out for her neighbours to come, as her house had caught fire and her husband was burning. By the time they arrived, the unfortunate man was roasted. The friend had even seen all this likewise, and having collected all the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, went with them to the kotwál, and explained what had occurred. On the receipt of this information, they opened the hole, and found the bodies of the youth and child. They then buried this bloody-minded woman up to the middle, in the centre of the bazar, and goaded her with arrows till she died.