a [loud] lullaby: the appointment in samarra

and i would sing you a loud lullaby. when you hover aside and fall asleep. and when you drift in dreams... my loud lullaby will keep you awake.

the appointment in samarra

Published Thursday, December 02, 2004 by yani patrik | E-mail this post

Last night, I woke up at 3 am. I fall asleep... for the very first time in months.... I fall asleep. I get up from my bed... walking towards the mirror, and take a good look at my face... I kinda blurry on what happen next, but I ended up cuddling in the corner of my bed holding "College English" book and my fingers layed upon this page... the page that has this story....

"The Appointment in Samarra"

(W. Somerset Maugham )

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 as the servant mounted it, 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 Death standing in the crowd and he came to her and said, "Why did you make a threating getsture to my servant when you saw him this morning?". "That was not a threatening gesture", Death 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".

Well... this is my favorite short story ever.... I read it from the book my late uncle gave me. It's funny how, in so many times... we felt that life is too complicated for us, yet seems easier for others. But the story above often pushed me to sit down and contemplate...

When I read it for the 1st time... I ended up shuddering and laughing grimly.... Basically, that story is the main reason that I was so intriguid with death.... and what my future holds for me...

If life is just merely a tapestry of events that made from a chain of events, that has already laid down upon us. Then what's worth fighting?... But no.... That is too skeptical... even for a skeptical bastard like me...

PS:
Actually, I was going to post this story on new years eve... but I have my second thought... I hope you guys are able to take something from this story... And maybe... a better whole year in next year to come....

1 Responses to “the appointment in samarra”

tribalscribe on 5:45 AM

Hey thanks for the birthday comment :D

You know, this story reminds me of another story i read once a long time ago...very similar, something about a man, being able to foretell his death, how it was going to happen in a car accident, at 5pm on a certain day, and he trys to prevent it by flying to another part of the world, so he can't be there, at that time, when it is to occur... so he flew somewhere else, and got off the plane and looked at his watch, and it was past 5pm. So he breathed a sigh of relief, and got into a taxi to go to his hotel...a minute or two into the drive, the taxi is sideswiped, and smashed into, and instantly, the man is killed. The clock on the building across the street, says.....5pm.

(The man didn't think about how the time zones had changed.)

Cya later Yani - Sephira