In this excerpt from the film 'Targets' (1968, direction by Peter Bogdanovich), the main character, actor Byron Orlok (played by Boris Karloff), narrates a compelling short story, about death and avoiding our fate. The story is actually a retelling of an ancient Mesopotamian parable by W. Somerset Maugham, entitled: \"The Appointment in Samarra\".
I've transcribed the full story here:
Once upon a time, many, many years ago, a rich merchant in Baghdad sent his servant to the marketplace to buy provisions. And after a while the servant came back, white-faced and trembling and said, 'Master, when I was in the marketplace, I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and I turned to look and I saw it was Death that had jostled me. When she looked at me she made a threatening gesture... Oh, master, please lend me your horse and I will ride away from this city and escape my fate. I will ride to Samarra; death will not find me there.'
So, the merchant loaned him the horse and the servant mounted it, dug his spurs into its flanks, and as fast as the horse could gallop he rode towards Samarra.
Then the merchant went to the marketplace and he saw Death, standing in the crowd. And he said, 'Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?' And Death said, 'I made no threatening gesture; that was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him here in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight... in Samarra.'
