The night before I was born he dreamed that I came into the world with the head of a dog and the tail of a dragon; and that, in haste to conceal my deformity, he rolled me up in a piece of linen, which unluckily proved to be the grind seignior's turban; who, enraged at his insolence in touching his turban, commanded that his head should be struck off.
"My father awaked before he lost his head, but not before he had lost half his wits from the terror of his dream.

He considered it as a warning sent from above, and consequently determined to avoid the sight of me.

He would not stay to see whether I should really be born with the head of a dog and the tail of a dragon; but he set out, the next morning, on a voyage to Aleppo.
"He was absent for upwards of seven years; and during that time my education was totally neglected.

One day I inquired from my mother why I had been named Murad the Unlucky.

She told me that this name was given to me in consequence of my father's dream; but she added that perhaps it might be forgotten, if I proved fortunate in my future life.