"The Shelter of the World"

"The Shelter of the World"
by Salman Rushdie

Rating: 7.9



Short story about Emperor Akbar the Great and his imaginary wife. Emperor Akbar the Great, of Sikri, had succumbed to fantasy. Queens floated within his palaces like ghosts, yet one of these royal personages didn’t really exist.

As for the Emperor, he never again referred to himself in the singular in the presence of another person. He was plural in the eyes of the world, plural even in the judgment of the woman who loved him, and plural he would remain. He had learned his lesson. ♦