The Little Hunchback 2

But when he had got over the first shock he began to think of some way out of the difficulty, and seizing the hunchback in his arms he carried him out into the street, and leaning him against the wall of a shop he stole back to his own house, without once looking behind him. , ,A few minutes before the sun rose, a rich Christian ¹ merchant, who supplied the palace with all sorts of necessaries, left his house, after a night of feasting, to go to the bath. Though he was very drunk, he was yet sober enough to know that the dawn was at hand, and that all good Mussulmen would shortly be going to prayer. So he hastened his steps lest he should meet some one on his way to the mosque ², who, seeing his condition, would send him to prison as a drunkard. In his haste he jostled against the hunchback, who fell heavily upon him, and the merchant, thinking he was being attacked by a thief, knocked him down with one blow of his fist. He then called loudly for help, beating the fallen man all the while. , ,The chief policeman of the quarter came running up, and found a Christian ill-treating a Mussulman. "What are you doing?" he asked indignantly. , , ,"Well, you have had your revenge," said the man, catching ³ hold of his arm. "Come, be off with you!" , ,As he spoke ⁴ he held out his hand to the hunchback to help him up, but the hunchback never moved. "Oho!" he went on, looking closer, "so this is the way a Christian has the impudence⁵（冒失） to treat a Mussulman!" and seizing the merchant in a firm grasp he took him to the inspector ⁶ of police, who threw him into prison till the judge should be out of bed and ready to attend to his case. All this brought the merchant to his senses, but the more he thought of it the less he could understand how the hunchback could have died merely from the blows he had received. , ,His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。,The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心 。