Death Speaks...

I had a collection of Jeffrey Archer’s short stories.

One of the stories I still remember after having read it more than a decade ago is the one I am going to share with you now.

Here it goes…

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 market-place 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 market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture 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.

I don’t know about you but it made a deep impact on me for sure.

It also reminded me of this quote I can’t stop thinking about.

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.

~Jean de La Fontaine

Thanks for reading, please share what you thought or felt from reading this.

Until tomorrow 🙏

Regards,

Roshan