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The old Emir was dead. His eldest son, the newly invested Emir, Haroun surveyed the group before him in the throne room as he sat on his gilded throne. They were his 18 brothers and 7 nephews and they all looked apprehensive, indeed sick with fear. Haroun sighed and then began to speak." My dear brothers and nephews, you all know why you are here and you all know why you have no uncles and great uncles. Though one ought not to speak ill of the dead, especially one's father, the late Abdul Emir was a hard cruel man. On the day when he mounted the throne, he had eleven brothers. The next day he had none. He had had them all slain to eliminate potential rivals and to guarantee my succession to the throne. This was a horrible and evil deed, but not the first of its kind in our family's history. The Emirs have, throughout their history, taken too many wives and concubines and begotten too many sons. And every wife and every concubine has been ambitious to see her son sit on this throne. And so, the harem has always seethed with intrigue and plots. Many an Emir has not hesitated to commit atrocities to safeguard his succession and that of his eldest son. I am no such man as my father was. My dear brothers and nephews, I love you all too much to slaughter you for my own protection and that of my sons. Have we not played together as boys ? Have we not lived together in this palace ? Companions of my youth, must I see you slain out of fear ? And yet........how can I trust you ? Did your mothers not whisper in your ears, even in childhood, 'But for Haroun, you could sit on the throne.' ? I see it in your faces. They did. Must I hate and fear you for that ? You stand there a-tremble with fear of me.....yet, do I not also fear you ? I intend to spare my sons this terrible dilemma. I have but one wife and one concubine and I have already decreed that only the sons of the senior legitimate wife may succeed to the throne. When you have heard my plan for you, some of you may question whether it is more merciful than slaying you. I believe that it is. I intend to have you all gelded. A eunuch cannot succeed to the throne because he cannot beget a successor. Unlike the harem eunuchs who are so familiar to you, however, you will not be nullified. You will retain the dkeur . I have been assured that if a man be gelded after he has attained the full manly development of an adult, his member retains its power of erection and indeed, can remain rigid throughout the night inasmuch as it is not caused to soften by voiding the seed which he no longer has. I have informed the gelder that he will take the greatest care that none of you suffers insult nor injury and that, if but one of you perish, I shall have him boiled alive in oil. I shall spare you as much suffering as I can, for, as I have said, you are all very dear to me. You will be pampered and cosseted. You will want for nothing which your hearts could desire except offspring ." Haroun's words gave rise to mixed emotions, especially in his married brothers. There was relief that their lives would be spared, but dismay at the thought of forfeiting their testicles . There was also hope at his comforting words to the effect that their prowess would be uminpaired, and doubt that this was true. The oldest of Haroun's brothers, Abdullah, spoke. "Allah is merciful and so is Haroun." The brothers and nephews were then taken, one at a time from the throne room and placed in the hands of the gelder who had been reminded that these were the sons and grandsons of an Emir and to be treated gently and with respect. Each was gelded in his turn in the same fashion. A bowstring was knotted tightly about the bag, the knot being tied as tightly as could be achieved by two slaves pulling on each end of the bowstring. When the bag had grown cold to the touch. It was cut off with a single quick slash of a finely honed razor. An astringent balsam was immediately applied to the stump of the bag and cords which were so tightly tied that there was hardly any oozing of blood from them. The severed testicles were carefully packed in natron in a cedar-wood box bearing the name of their owner. Each of the men and boys was put to bed and given cooling beverages to drink to prevent the onset of fever. Watched and attended through the day and night for seven days, the royal eunuchs all survived and recovered fully. Pampered and indulged, they grew stout and placid and soon became contented with their lot. The married brothers found, to their delight, that they did retain sufficient potency to enjoy lying with their wives as often as their diminished ardor required. Indeed, Allah is merciful and so is Haroun. |