Page 88 - English Class 06

Once in the royal city of Isfahan, there was an old woodcutter who lived alone with his

young daughter. Everyday, the woodcutter went out to the desert to gather camel-thorn
bushes, then sold them in the market place as firewood. In this way, he earned barely
enough for the two of them.

One morning, the woodcutter’s daughter said, “Father, we always have enough to eat.
But just once, it would be nice to have something special. Do you think you could buy us

some date cakes?”
“I think I could do that, my dear,” said the woodcutter. “I’ll just gather some extra wood
today.”

So, the woodcutter walked farther that day to gather more thorn bushes. But, he took
longer than he meant to. By the time he got back with the wood, darkness had fallen. It was

too late to go to the market place. What’s more, when he reached his house, he found that
his daughter had already bolted the front door and gone to bed.

Knock as he would, there was no answer. So, he had to sleep outside on the doorstep.
The woodcutter sank to the doorstep and wept.

“What’s wrong, old man?” He looked up
to see a dervish in a long green robe and
a tall green cap.

“Holy sir, I had gone out to gather
thorn bushes and I have come home

too late to get into my house. And in
all that time, I’ve had nothing to
eat,” replied the woodcutter.

“What night is this, old man?”
asked the dervish . The woodcutter
said, “Why, Friday eve, of course.”

“That’s right. It’s the eve of our
holy day. And that’s the time of
Mushkil Gusha the Remover of

Difficulties.”

The holy man took some roasted bolted : to lock a door or window
chickpeas and raisins from his pouch dervish : a member of the
muslim Sufi religious order
and handed them to the woodcutter.
chickpeas : gram or chana
“Here, share this with me. You may
not know it,” the dervish went on, What do you mean by camel-thorn bushes?

English-6 88