He makes a soliloquy, and becomes an itinerant vendor of smoke.
I held a consultation with myself as to what I should do next for my
livelihood. Various walks in life were open to me. The begging line
was an excellent one in Meshed, and, judging from my success as
water-carrier, I should very soon have been at the head of the
profession. I might also have become a _lûti_,[23] and kept a bear; but
it required some apprenticeship to learn the tricks of the one, and
to know how to tame the other: so I gave that up. Still I might have
followed my own profession, and have taken a shop; but I could not bear
the thoughts of settling, particularly in so remote a town as Meshed.
At length I followed the bent of my inclination, and, as I was myself
devotedly fond of smoking, I determined to become an itinerant seller
of smoke. Accordingly I bought pipes of various sizes, a wooden tray,
containing the pipe-heads, which was strapped round my waist, an iron
pot for fire, which I carried in my hand, a pair of iron pincers, a
copper jug for water, that was suspended by a hook, behind my back, and
some long bags for my tobacco. All these commodities were fastened about
my body, and when I was fully equipped, I might be said to look like
a porcupine with all its quills erect. My tobacco was of various
sorts--Tabas, Shiraz, Susa, and Damascus. It is true that I was not very
scrupulous about giving it pure; for with a very small quantity of the
genuine leaf I managed to make a large store, with the assistance of
different sorts of dungs. I had a great tact in discovering amongst my
customers the real connoisseur, and to him I gave it almost genuine. My
whole profits, in fact, depended upon my discrimination of characters.
To those of the middling ranks, I gave it half-mixed; to the lower sort,
three-quarters; and to the lowest, almost without any tobacco at all.
Whenever I thought I could perceive a wry face, I immediately exerted my
ingenuity in favour of the excellence of my tobacco. I showed specimens
of the good, descanted on its superior qualities, and gave the history
of the very gardener who had reared it, and pledged myself to point out
the very spot in his grounds where it grew.
I became celebrated in Meshed for the excellence of my pipes. My
principal customer was a dervish, who was so great a connoisseur that
I never dared to give him any but pure tobacco; and although I did not
gain much by his custom, as he was not very exact in his payments, yet
his conversation was so agreeable, and he recommended so many of his
friends to me, that I cultivated his good will to the utmost of my
power.
Dervish Sefer (for that was his name) was a man of peculiar aspect. He
had a large aquiline nose, piercing black eyes, a thick beard, and a
great quantity of jet black hair flowing over his shoulders. His conical
cap was embroidered all over with sentences from the Koran, and holy
invocations: the skin of a red deer was fastened loosely upon his back,
with the hairy side outwards: he bore in hand a long steel staff, which
he generally carried on his shoulder, and in the other a calabash,
suspended by three chains, which he extended whenever he deigned to ask
the charity of passengers. In his girdle he wore large agate clasps,
from which hung a quantity of heavy wooden beads; and, as he swung
himself along through the streets and bazaars, there was so much of
wildness and solicitude in all his words and actions, that he did not
fail to inspire a certain awe in all beholders. This, I afterwards
learn, was put on, in order to suit the character which he had adopted;
for when he smoked my pipes, if no one chanced to be present, he was the
most natural and unreserved of beings. Our acquaintance soon improved
into intimacy, and at length he introduced me into a small circle of
dervishes, men of his own turn and profession, with whom he lived almost
exclusively, and I was invited to frequent their meetings. It is true
that this did not suit my views in the smoking line, for they amongst
them consumed more of my good tobacco than all the rest of my other
customers put together; but their society was so agreeable that I could
not resist the temptation.
Dervish Sefer, one evening when we had smoked more than usual, said to
me, Hajji Baba, you are too much of a man to be a seller of smoke all
your life:--why do you not turn dervish, like us? We hold mens beards
as cheap as dirt; and although our existence is precarious, yet it is
one of great variety, as well as of great idleness. We look upon mankind
as fair game--we live upon their weakness and credulity; and, from what
I have seen of you, I think you would do honour to our profession, and
in time become as celebrated as even the famous Sheikh Saadi himself.
This speech was applauded by the other two, who pressed my entering upon
their profession. I was nothing loath, but I pleaded my ignorance of the
necessary qualifications.
How is it possible, said I, that a being so ignorant and
unexperienced as I am can at once attain to all the learning requisite
for a dervish? I know how to read and write, tis true; I have gone
through the Koran, and have my Hafiz and Saadi nearly by heart; besides
which, I have read a great part of the Shah Nameh of Ferdûsi, but beyond
that I am totally ignorant.
Ah, my friend, said Dervish Sefer, little do you know of dervishes,
and still less of humankind. It is not great learning that is required
to make a dervish: assurance is the first ingredient. With one-fiftieth
part of the accomplishments that you have mentioned, and with only a
common share of effrontery, I promise you, that you may command not only
the purses, but even the lives of your hearers. By impudence I have been
a prophet, by impudence I have wrought miracles, by impudence I have
restored the dying to health--by impudence, in short, I lead a life of
great ease, and am feared and respected by those who, like you, do not
know what dervishes are. If I chose to give myself the trouble, and
incur the risks which Mahomed himself did, I might even now become as
great a prophet as he. It would be as easy for me to cut the moon in two
with my finger as it was for him, provided I once made my hearers have
confidence in me; and impudence will do that, and more, if exerted in a
proper manner.
When Dervish Sefer had done talking, his companions applauded what he
had said, and they related so many curious anecdotes of the feats which
they had performed, that I became very anxious to know more of these
extraordinary men. They promised to relate the history of their lives at
our next meeting, and, in the meanwhile, recommended me strongly to turn
my thoughts to a line of life more dignified, and fuller of enjoyment,
than that of a vagabond seller of adulterated smoke.
[Illustration: The dervish slays the ape. 8.jpg]