The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan Part 30

?Softly, my friend,? said the dervish to the capiji, ?don?t jump so soon from the crime to the criminal, We have a medicine for every disorder, although it may take some time to work.?

He then cast his eyes upon the company present, twinkling them all the while in quick flashes, and said, ?I am sure every one here will be happy to be clear of suspicion, and will agree to what I shall propose.

The operation is simple, and soon over.?

?_Elbetteh_, certainly?: ?_Belli_, yes?: ?_Een che harf est?_ what word is this?? was heard to issue from every mouth, and I requested the dervish to proceed.

He called again to his servant, who produced a small bag, whilst he again took the cup under his charge.

?This bag,? said the diviner, ?contains some old rice. I will put a small handful of it into each person?s mouth, which they will forthwith chew. Let those who cannot break it, beware, for Eblis is near at hand.?

Upon this, placing us in a row, he filled each person?s mouth with rice, and all immediately began to masticate. Being the complainant, of course I was exempt from the ordeal; and my mother, who chose to make common cause with me, also stood out of the ranks. The quick-sighted dervish would not allow of this, but made her undergo the trial with the rest, saying, ?The property we seek is not yours, but your son?s. Had he been your husband, it would be another thing.? She agreed to his request, though with bad grace, and then all the jaws were set to wagging, some looking upon it as a good joke, others thinking it a hard trial to the nerves. As fast as each person had ground his mouthful, he called to the dervish, and showed the contents of his mouth.

All had now proved their innocence excepting the akhon and my mother.

The former, whose face exhibited the picture of an affected cheerfulness with great nervous apprehension, kept mumbling his rice, and turning it over between his jaws, until he cried out in a querulous tone, ?Why do you give me this stuff to chew? I am old, and have no teeth:--it is impossible for me to reduce the grain?; and then he spat it out. My mother, too, complained of her want of power to break the hard rice, and did the same thing. A silence ensued, which made us all look with more attention than usual upon them, and it was only broken by a time-server of my mother, an old woman, who cried out, ?What child?s play is this?

Who has ever heard of a son treating his mother with this disrespect, and his old schoolmaster, too? Shame, shame!--let us go--he is probably the thief himself.?

Upon this the dervish said, ?Are we fools and a.s.ses, to be dealt with in this manner? Either there was money in that corner, or there was not--either there are thieves in the world, or there are not. This man and this woman,? pointing to the akhon and my mother, ?have not done that which all the rest have done. Perhaps they say the truth, they are old, and cannot break the hard grain. n.o.body says that they stole the money--they themselves know that best,? said he, looking at them through and through; ?but the famous diviner, Hezarfun, he who was truly called the bosom friend to the Great Bear, and the confidant of the planet Saturn,--he who could tell all that a man has ever thought, thinks, or will think,--he hath said that the trial by rice, among cowards was the best of all tests of a man?s honesty. Now, my friends, from all I have remarked, none of you are slayers of lions, and fear is easily produced among you. However, if you doubt my skill in this instance, I will propose a still easier trial,--one which commits n.o.body, which works like a charm upon the mind, and makes the thief come forward of his own accord, to ease his conscience and purse of its ill-gotten wealth, at one and the same time. I propose the _Hak reezi_, or the heaping up earth. Here in this corner I will make a mound, and will pray so fervently this very night, that, by the blessing of Allah, the Hajji,?

pointing to me, ?Will find his money buried in it to-morrow at this hour. Whoever is curious, let them be present, and if something be not discovered, I will give him a miscal of hair from my beard.?

He then set to work, and heaped up earth in a corner, whilst the lookers on loitered about, discussing what they had just seen; some examining me and the dervish as children of the evil spirit, whilst others again began to think as much of my mother and the schoolmaster. The company then dispersed, most of them promising to return the following morning, at the appointed time, to witness the search into the heap of earth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The diviner and the rice. 27.jpg]

CHAPTER LI

Of the diviner?s success in making discoveries, and of the resolution which Hajji Baba takes in consequence.

I must own that I began now to look upon the restoration of my property as hopeless. The diviner?s skill had certainly discovered that money had been buried in my father?s house, and he had succeeded in raising ugly suspicions in my mind against two persons whom I felt it to be a sin to suspect; but I doubted whether he could do more.

However, he appeared again on the following morning, accompanied by the capiji, and by several of those who had been present at the former scene. The akhon, however, did not appear, and my mother was also absent, upon pretext of being obliged to visit a sick friend. We proceeded in a body to the mound, and the dervish having made a holy invocation, he approached it with a sort of mysterious respect.

?Now we shall see,? said he, ?whether the Gins and the Peris have been at work this night?; and exclaiming ?Bismillah! he dug into the earth with his dagger.

Having thrown off some of the soil, a large stone appeared, and having disengaged that, to the astonishment of all, and to my extreme delight, a canvas bag well filled was discovered.

?Oh my soul! oh my heart!? exclaimed the humpback, as he seized upon the bag, ?you see that the Dervish t.e.e.z Negah is not a man to lose a hair of his beard. There, there,? said he, putting it into my hand, ?there is your property: go, and give thanks that you have fallen into my hands, and do not forget my _hak sai_, or my commission.?

Everybody crowded round me, whilst I broke open the wax that was affixed to the mouth of the bag, upon which I recognized the impression of my father?s seal; and eagerness was marked on all their faces as I untied the twine with which it was fastened. My countenance dropped woefully when I found that it only contained silver, for I had made up my mind to see gold. Five hundred reals[85] was the sum of which I became the possessor; out of which I counted fifty, and presented them to the ingenious discoverer of them. ?There,? said I, ?may your house prosper!

If I were rich I would give you more: and although this is evidently but a small part of what my father (G.o.d be with him!) must have acc.u.mulated, still again I say, may your house prosper, and many sincere thanks to you.?

The dervish was satisfied with my treatment of him, and took his leave, and I was soon after left by the rest of the company--the capiji alone remaining. ?Famous business we have made of it this morning,? said he.

?Did I not say that these diviners performed wonders??

?Yes,? said I, ?yes, it is wonderful, for I never thought his operations would have come to anything.?

Impelled by a spirit of cupidity, now that I had seen money glistening before me, I began to complain that I had received so little, and again expressed to Ali Mohamed my wish of bringing the case before the cadi; ?for,? said I, ?if I am ent.i.tled to these five hundred reals, I am ent.i.tled to all my father left; and you will acknowledge that this must be but a very small part of his savings.?

?Friend,? said he, ?listen to the words of an old man. Keep what you have got, and be content. In going before the cadi, the first thing you will have to do will be to give of your certain, to get at that most cursed of all property, the uncertain. Be a.s.sured that after having drained you of your four hundred and fifty reals, and having got five hundred from your opponents, you will have the satisfaction to hear him tell you both to ?go in peace, and do not trouble the city with your disputes.? Have you not lived long enough in the world to have learnt this common saying--?Every one?s teeth are blunted by acids, except the cadi?s, which are by sweets??

?The cadi who takes five cuc.u.mbers as a bribe, will admit any evidence for ten beds of melons.?

After some deliberation, I determined to take the advice of the capiji; for it was plain that if I intended to prosecute any one, it could only be my mother and the akhon; and to do that, I should raise such a host of enemies, and give rise to such unheard-of scandal, that perhaps I should only get stoned by the populace for my pains.

?I will dispose of everything I have at Ispahan,? said I to my adviser, ?and, having done that, will leave it never to return, unless under better circ.u.mstances. It shall never see me more,? exclaimed I, in a vapouring fit, ?unless I come as one having authority.?

Little did I think, when I made this vain speech, how diligently my good stars were at work to realize what it had expressed.

The capiji applauded my intention; the more so, as he took some little interest that my resolutions should be put into practice; for he had a son, a barber, whom he wished to set up in business; and what could be more desirable, in every respect, than to see him installed in the shop in which my poor father had flourished so successfully, close to his post at the caravanserai?

He made proposals that I should dispose of the shop and all its furniture to him, which I agreed to do, upon the evaluation of some well-known brother of the strap, and thus I was relieved of one of my remaining cares.

As for my father?s house and furniture, notwithstanding my feelings at the recent conduct of my mother, I determined, by way of acquiring a good name (of which I was very much in want), to leave her in full possession of them, reserving to myself the _temesouts_, or deeds, which const.i.tuted me its lawful owner.

All being settled and agreed upon, I immediately proceeded to work. I received five hundred piastres from the capiji for my shop; for he also had been a great acc.u.mulator of his savings, and everybody allowed that money was never laid out to better advantage, since the shop was sure to enjoy a great run of business, owing to its excellent situation. I therefore became worth in all about one hundred and ten tomauns in gold, a coin into which I changed my silver, for the greater facility which it gave me of carrying it about my person. Part of this I laid out in clothes, and part in the purchase of a mule with its necessary furniture. I gave the preference to a mule, because, after mature deliberation, I had determined to abandon the character of a _sahib shems.h.i.+r_, or a man of the sword, in which, for the most part, I had hitherto appeared in life, and adopt that of a _sahib calem_, or a man of the pen, for which, after my misfortunes, and the trial which I had in some measure made of it at Kom, I now felt a great predilection.

?It will not suit me, now, to be bestriding a horse,? said I to myself, ?armed, as I used to be, at all points, with sword by my side, pistols in my girdle, and a carbine at my back. I will neither deeply indent my cap, and place it on one side, as before, with my long curls dangling behind my ears, but wind a shawl round it, which will give me a new character; and, moreover, clip the curls, which will inform the world that I have renounced it and its vanities. Instead of pistols, I will stick a roll of papers in my girdle; and, in lieu of a cartouche-box, sling a Koran across my person. Besides, I will neither walk on the tips of my toes, nor twist about my body, nor screw up my waist, nor throw my shoulders forward, nor swing my hands to and fro before me, nor in short take upon myself any of the airs of a _kasheng_, of a beau, in which I indulged when sub-deputy to the chief executioner. No; I will, for the future, walk with my back bent, my head slouching, my eyes looking on the ground, my hands stuck either in front of my girdle, or hanging perpendicular down my sides, and my feet shall drag one after the other, without the smallest indication of a strut. Looking one?s character is all in all; for if, perchance, I happen to say a foolish thing, it will be counted as wisdom, when it comes from a mortified looking face, and a head bound round with a mollah?s shawl, particularly when it is accompanied with a deep sigh, and an exclamation of _Allah ho Akbar!_ or _Allah, Allah il Allah!_ and if, perchance, I am brought face to face with a man of real learning, and am called upon to sustain my character, I have only to look wise, shut my lips, and strictly keep my own counsel. Besides, I can read; and, with the practice that I intend to adopt, it will not be long before I shall be able to write a good hand;--that alone, by enabling me to make a copy of the Koran, will ent.i.tle me to the respect of the world.?

With reflections such as these I pa.s.sed my time until it was necessary to decide whither I should bend my steps. Everything told me that I ought to make the most of the good impression which I had left behind me, on the minds of the mushtehed of Kom and his disciples, for he was the most likely person to help me in my new career: he might recommend me to some mollah of his acquaintance, who would take me as his scribe or his attendant, and teach me the way that I should go. Besides, I left him so abruptly when through his means I had been released from my confinement in the sanctuary, that I felt I had a debt of grat.i.tude still to pay. ?I will take him a present,? said I; ?he shall not say that I am unmindful of his goodness.? Accordingly I turned over in my thoughts what I ought to present, when I again determined upon a praying-carpet, which I forthwith purchased; reflecting, at the same time, that it would make a comfortable seat, when duly folded, on the top of my mule?s pad.

I had now nearly finished all that I had to do, previous to my departure. I was equipped ready for my journey, and I flattered myself that my outward appearance was that of a rigid mollah. I did not take upon myself the t.i.tle of one, but rather left that to circ.u.mstances; but, in the meanwhile, the epithet of Hajji, which had been given to me as a pet name when I was a child, now came very opportunely to my a.s.sistance, to aid me to sustain my new character.

One duty I still had to accomplish, and that was to pay the expenses of my father?s funeral. I do own that, cheated as I had been of my lawful patrimony, I felt it hard that such an expense should fall upon me; and several times had planned a departure from Ispahan unknown to anybody, in order that the burden might fall upon the akhon and my mother, to whom I had intended the honour of payment; but my better feelings got the mastery, and reflecting that by acting thus I should render myself fully ent.i.tled to the odious epithet _peder sukhteh_[86] (one whose father is burnt) without further combat, I went round to each of the attendants, namely, mollahs, mourners, and washers of the dead, and paid them their dues.

CHAPTER LII

Hajji Baba quits his mother, and becomes the scribe to a celebrated man of the law.

I took leave of my mother without much regret, and she did not increase the tenderness of our parting by any great expression of sorrow. She had her plans, I had mine; and, considering how we stood circ.u.mstanced, the less we ran in each other?s way the better. I mounted my mule at break of day, and, ere the sun had past its meridian, was already considerably advanced on my road to Kom. I loitered but little on my journey, notwithstanding the pleasures which a halt at Kashan might have afforded me, and on the ninth day I once again saw the gilded cupola of the tomb of Fatimeh.

Alighting at a small caravanserai in the town, I saw my mule well provided, and then, with my present to the mushtehed under my arm, I proceeded to his house. His door was open to every one, for he made no parade of servants to keep the stranger in awe, as may be seen at the houses of the great in Persia; and, leaving my carpet at the door with my shoes, I entered the room, in one corner of which I found the good man seated.

He immediately recognized me, and, giving me a welcome reception, he desired me to seat myself, which I did, with all proper respect, at the very edge of the felt carpet.

He asked me to relate the history of my adventures since I left Kom, for he professed himself interested in my fate; and, having made him all the necessary acknowledgments for procuring my release from the sanctuary, I related all that had befallen me. I also told him what a calling I felt within me to devote myself to a holy life, and entreated his help to procure me some situation in which I might show my zeal for the interests of the true faith.

He reflected for a moment, and said, ?that very morning he had received a letter from one of the princ.i.p.al men of the law of Tehran, the Mollah Nadan, who was much in want of one who would act as half scribe and half servant; one, in short, who might be of good materials for a future mollah, and whom he would instruct in all that was necessary in that vocation.?

My heart leaped within me when I heard this, for it was precisely the place that my imagination had created. ?Leave it to me,? thought I, ?to become a whole mollah, when once I have been made half a one.?

Without hesitation I entreated the mushtehed to continue his good offices in my behalf, which he promised to do; and forthwith addressed a small note, with his own hand, to the Mollah Nadan. This he sealed, and, having duly fas.h.i.+oned it in its proper shape with his scissors, rolled it up and delivered it to me; saying, ?Proceed to Tehran immediately; no doubt you will find the place vacant, and the mollah willing to appoint you to fill it.?

I was so happy that I kissed the good man?s hand and the hem of his garment, making him thousands of acknowledgments for his goodness.