Of his ingenuity in rescuing his masters money from the Turcoman, and
of his determination to keep it.
One of the first objects which I had in view for the furtherance of my
plan of escape was to obtain possession of the money which was sewed in
the padding of my former masters turban. But it had been thrown into
a corner of the womens tent, to which I had no access, and it
required much ingenuity to get at it without creating suspicion. I
had established my reputation as a barber throughout ours and the
neighbouring encampments, and had become a favourite of the men; but
although I had reason to believe that the Banou of my master would fain
become more intimately acquainted with me than she hitherto had been,
yet as neither she nor any of the other women could employ me in my
profession as a shaver, our intercourse hitherto had been confined
to tender glances, occasional acts of kindness on her part, and of
corresponding marks of thankfulness and acknowledgement on mine. But as
they knew enough of civilized life to be aware that in Persia barbers
were also surgeons--that besides shaving and rubbing in the bath,
they could bleed, draw teeth, and set a broken limb--the Banou soon
discovered that she wanted to be bled, and sent a deputation to ask
me if I could perform that service for her. Looking upon this as
a favourable opportunity to learn some tidings of the object of my
solicitude, or perhaps to gain possession of it, I immediately answered
that provided I was furnished with a penknife, I hoped that I could
bleed as dexterously as the best of my profession. The instrument
was produced, and one of the elders of the tribe, who pretended to a
smattering of astrology, announced that a conjunction of the planets
favourable to such an operation would take place on the following
morning. At that auspicious moment, I was introduced into the womens
tent, where I found the Banou seated on a carpet on the ground, waiting
for me with great impatience. She was not a person to excite sensations
of a tender nature in a novice like me; for, in the first place, she was
of an unwieldy size (so different from the slim forms that we are taught
to prize in Persia)[10] that I looked upon her with disgust; and, in the
next, I lived in such terror of Aslan Sultan, that had I aspired to her
favour, it must have been in the constant dread of the loss of my ears.
However, I was much noticed by her, and received great attentions from
her companions, who, looking upon me as a being of a superior order,
all wanted to have their pulses felt. Whilst making my preparations
for bleeding the Banou, I cast my eyes about the tent, in the hopes of
seeing the prize, which I was anxious to possess. It struck me that I
might make the very operation in which I was engaged subservient to my
views, and demanding to feel the patients pulse once more, which I
did with a look of intense meditation, I observed that this was a
complicated disorder--that the blood must not be allowed to flow upon
the ground, but be collected in a vessel, that I might examine it
at leisure. This strange proposal of mine raised an immediate outcry
amongst the women; but with the Banou a deviation from the usual
practice only served to confirm her opinion of my superior skill. Here,
however, a new difficulty arose. The scanty stock of a Turcoman could
ill afford to sacrifice any utensil by applying it to a service which
would defile it for ever. They were recapitulated one by one, and all
found too precious to be thrown away. I was hesitating whether I might
venture to go straight to my point, when the Banou bethought herself
of an old leather drinking-cup, which she desired one of the women to
search for in a corner of the tent. This will never do: you can see
the light through it, said I, holding it up towards the tent door, and
pointing to the seams with the penknife, which I held in my hand, and
with which I cut, at the same time, half a dozen of the stitches.
Where is the cap of that old Emir? cried out the Banou.
It is mine, said the second wife; I want it to stuff my saddle with.
Yours! returned the other in a fury. There is but one God! Am not I
the Banou of this harem? I will have it.
You shall not, retorted the other.
Upon this an uproar ensued which became so loud and threatening, that
I feared it would come to the ears of Aslan Sultan, who very probably
would have settled the dispute by taking at once the bone of contention
from the contending parties. But luckily the astrologer interfered, and
when he had assured the second wife that the blood of the Banou would
be upon her head if anything unfortunate happened on this occasion, she
consented to give up her pretensions. I accordingly prepared to bleed
my patient; but when she saw the penknife, the cap underneath to
receive her blood, and the anxious faces of those about her, she became
frightened, and refused to permit me to proceed. Fearing after all that
I should lose my prize, I put on a very sagacious look, felt her pulse,
and said that her refusal was unavailing, for that it was her fate to be
bled, and that she and every one knew nothing could avert an event which
had been decreed since the beginning of the world. To this there was no
reply; and all agreeing that she would commit a great sin were she to
oppose herself to the decrees of Providence, she put out her bare arm,
and received the stab from my penknife with apparent fortitude. The
blood was caught, and, when the operation was over, I ordered that it
should be conveyed to a little distance from the camp, and that none but
myself should be permitted to approach it, as much of the good or
evil that might accrue to the patient from bleeding depended upon what
happened to the blood after it had flown from the body. I waited until
night, when everybody was asleep, and then with great anxiety ripped
up the lining, where to my joy I found the fifty ducats, which I
immediately concealed in an adjacent spot, and then dug a hole for the
cap, which I also concealed. In the morning I informed the Banou,
that having seen some wolves prowling about the tents, I feared that
something unlucky might happen to her blood, and that I had buried it,
caoûk and all. This appeared to satisfy her; and by way of recompense
for the service I had rendered, she sent me a dish made with her
own hands, consisting of a lamb roasted whole, stuffed with rice and
raisins, accompanied by a bowl of sour milk with salt in it.
I must confess that when I became possessed of the fifty ducats, a
recollection of my poor former master, who was leading a melancholy life
in the mountains with the camels, whilst I was living in comparative
luxury, came across my mind, and I half resolved to restore them to him;
but by little and little I began to argue differently with myself. Had
it not been for my ingenuity, said I, the money was lost for ever;
who therefore has a better claim to it than myself? If he was to
get possession of it again, it could be of no use to him in his new
profession, and it is a hundred to one but what it would be taken from
him, therefore, I had best keep it for the present: besides, it was his
fate to lose, and mine to recover it. This settled every difficulty,
and I looked upon myself as the legitimate possessor of fifty ducats,
which I conceived no law could take from me. Meanwhile, I made an
attempt to convey to him half of the roasted lamb which I had just
received, through the means of a shepherds boy who was going into
the mountains, and who promised not to eat any of it by the wayside.
Although I doubted his word, yet, after my deliberation about the
ducats, my conscience wanted some quietus: I cannot do less, said I,
than make my fellow sufferer in adversity a partaker of my prosperity.
But alas! the boy had scarcely crossed the deep ravine that bordered the
encampment ere I could perceive him carrying the meat to his mouth, and
I made no doubt that every bone was picked clean before he was out of
sight. It would have been a useless undertaking to have pursued him,
considering the distance that already separated us, so I contented
myself by discharging a stone and a malediction at his head, neither of
which reached their destination.
[Illustration: Turcomans attack the caravanserai. 5.jpg]