Question

In "The Story of Baba Abdalla," how does Baba Abdalla respond after losing his sight?

Answer 1

Answer:

Immediately after losing his sight, Baba Abdalla regrets his avarice. He also asks people to slap him as a punishment.

Explanation:

"The Story of Baba Abdalla" is one of the 1001 Nights' stories.

The main character and narrator, Baba Abdalla, has the location of a treasure revealed to him by a dervish. Abdalla grows greedy, convincing the dervish to give him all of the treasure. He also convinces him to put on some special ointment in his eyes. The dervish warns Abdalla that applying the ointment to his left eye would reveal to him the location of other treasures. However, applying it to the right eye would leave him blind. Abdalla ignores the warning and insists on having it applied on both eyes.

As promised, Baba Abdalla becomes blind. He shrieks, desperately, immediately understanding it was his own fault. He begs the dervish to reverse the blindness, only to find it cannot be done. He is left alone, "speechless with shame and confusion, and so wretched that [he] stood rooted to the spot." Later on, as he is taken to Bagdad, as a way to punish himself for his greed, Abdalla asks people to slap him.