title: The Pomegranate King: Essays
author:  Nishta J. Mehra 
description: Nishta J. Mehra was raised among a tight-knit network of Indian immigrants in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the proud graduate of St. Mary's Episcopal School and went on to earn a B.A. in Religious Studies from Rice University and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. Currently a middle school English teacher, she authors the popular food blog Blue Jean Gourmet and lives with her partner Jill and their son Shiv in a suburb of Houston, Texas. She is a fan of bourbon and old-school Tex-Mex (though not necessarily together) and makes a very fine buttermilk biscuit.
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  ##### www.blackmask.com
  
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  A House of Pomegranates
  
  
  THE YOUNG KING
  
  THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA
  
  THE FISHERMAN AND HIS SOUL
  
  THE STAR-CHILD
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  # A House of Pomegranates
  
  
  ### Oscar Wilde
  
  
  This page copyright © 2002 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com  
    
  
  * THE YOUNG KING
  
  
  * THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA
  
  
  * THE FISHERMAN AND HIS SOUL
  
  
  * THE STAR-CHILD
  
  
  
  
  
  Transcribed from the 1915 Methuen and Co. edition by David Price,
  
  
  email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
  
  
  ## THE YOUNG KING
  
  
  [TO MARGARET LADY BROOKE—THE RANEE OF SARAWAK]
  
  
  It was the night before the day fixed for his coronation, and the
  
  
  young King was sitting alone in his beautiful chamber. His courtiers
  
  
  had all taken their leave of him, bowing their heads to the ground,
  
  
  according to the ceremonious usage of the day, and had retired to the
  
  
  Great Hall of the Palace, to receive a few last lessons from the
  
  
  Professor of Etiquette; there being some of them who had still qui