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Years ago there lived a young merchant so busy with his success that he neglected his voluptuous wife. Hence, the lady summoned her husband's man servants into her chambers to quench her sexual thirst.
One day as a maid straightened the boudoir, she heard laugh ter on the stairway. Shortly, her ladyship and a servant pranced into the dimly-lighted bedchamber. The crafty maid hid herself in the closet and watched the shadowy figures frolic about the bedstead. They performed gymnastic feats the maid could only dream about.
Try as she might, however, the maid could not detect which of the master's four man-servants romped with the frisky lady.
Suddenly, footsteps on the stairs halted the activity. The servant bolted from the bed, tumbled naked into a massive chest across the room and closed the lid.
The lady feigned sleep.
The merchant gently woke his wife from her pretend slumber to announce that he was required to leave the city on business for several days.
As soon as his lordship departed, the servant emerged and the couple resumed their pleasure more passionately than before. The maid watched and perspired.
Days later, upon the merchant's return, the cunning maid reported the incident, but was unable to identify the unfaithful servant.
To avoid a scandal which would destroy his reputation, the merchant decided to discretely dispose of the unfaithful servant.
The merchant possessed an oriental dye, which, if touched by the skin, left a red stain that only time could erase. The merchant secretly doused the lining of the great chest with this fluid.
The next week he stopped often at his home when least expected, hoping to surprise the couple, and send the guilty servant into the chest to be branded a villain. So often did he appear, however, that the lady was unable to frolic.
On the pretence of seeking lice, the merchant inspected the four men daily. He found no blotches, and correctly determined that he had not allowed sufficient time between his home visits for the trap to be sprung.
The week following, the merchant announced that he would be away for a month on business. Minutes after his departure, the wife, whose passion had blossomed like spring ivy, summoned all four servants. The robust pleasures she shared with the quartet were many and varied, but after an hour the unmistakable noise of her husband's return terminated their pleasure.
All four servants dove for the chest, which was large enough to conceal but three. The fourth servant tumbled beneath the massive bed, where he tried to melt into the tiles.
The merchant entered and felt his wife's wrist. Her racing pulse told him the trap had been sprung. Only great restraint prevented his opening the trunk. He feared anger would posses him, and a murder in his wife's boudoir would damage his reputation irreparably. He explained to his wife that his trip had been canceled, and then left.
Later, he returned and summoned the servants for lice inspection.
He was dismayed to discover red blotches on three of his servants. The merchant, whose mind never slept, locked the three servants in their quarters. He then sat with the fourth servant, about whose loyalty he now had no doubt.
The puzzled servant spoke. "Did you quarantine the three because they were lousy?"
"Far worse," his master said. "You saw the red blotches?"
"I did."
"Do you know what that means?"
"No, master."
"The red marks are symptoms of the most dread and contagious disease known in the world-leprosy."
The fourth servant shivered.
"Go! Summon the leper cart. Their bodies must be carried to the pit of rotting flesh."
The servant ran like a stallion, but his mind was troubled.
As the leper cart creaked away with its shrieking passengers, the distraught servant turned to his master.
"The three lepers have performed duties for her ladyship. And I have worked by their sides so that our sweat has mingled. What of her ladyship and I?" the servant said. "Are we also doomed?"
"You both must be isolated for a considerable time. I shall prepare quarters for you next to her chamber. You, my faithful servant, shall insure that no one enters her room. Only you shall deliver food and drink to her."
The servant, who was handsomest of all, nodded.
Hence, the merchant, having confidence in his servant's loyalty, and knowing full well that there was no leprosy in his home, considered his problem solved.
His unfaithful servants were gone. His wife was shut away. To be denied her natural pleasure was punishment enough for a woman who would take three lovers to bed at once.
He was a happy man as he immersed himself in his trade.
But what of her ladyship and the fourth servant, who lived with the gnawing fear that each day the red blotches might appear?
Who could blame them for seeking pleasure in their final days?
And so they did.
What of the crafty maid?
She frequently watched-and sometimes she came out of the closet to partake of the enjoyment.
Marty RicKard Bio
Marty RicKard attended William Penn College , Iowa State University and University of Southern Mississippi , from which he holds a BS degree in journalism and photojournalism. He also has a Masters Degree in photography, in addition to the Craftsman, CPP, and A-ASP degrees. Marty spent two years as a technical writer for White Motor Company, and has worked for the Charles City Press, Mason City Globe-Gazette, and Davenport Times-Democrat. He was co-owner of the weekly New Sharon Star, where he was twice named Iowa Master Columnist for his article, which was syndicated in twenty Iowa newspapers. For more than a decade Marty's regular column appeared in the Professional Photographer magazine. He has been published in many other magazines and newspapers, including Writer's Digest, Writer Advice, Golf Digest, Resource Magazine, Picture, Range Finder, and Darkroom. In addition to his writing credits, Marty has won numerous photography awards, has lectured in 48 states, and has traveled internationally as lecturer, and judge. He was one of thirty from the U.S. to participate in the first cultural exchange with China in 1986. He currently is a regular columnist for Lens Magazine, and a full-time writer of fiction and poetry. He is the author of two poetry books and one volume of short stories. He is an entertaining speaker.
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