Of the man he meets, and the consequences of the encounter.
I left Semnan with a light heart--my sprain was cured--I was young and
handsome--twenty tomauns, my savings at Meshed, clinked in my purse--I
had acquired some experience in the world; and I determined, as soon as
I reached Tehran, to quit the garb of a dervish, to dress myself well
from head to foot, and to endeavour to push my fortunes in some higher
walk in life.
About a days journey from Tehran, as I was walking onward, chanting,
with all my throat, a song on the loves of _Leilah_ and _Majnoun_, I
was overtaken by a courier, who entered into conversation with me, and
invited me to partake of some victuals which he had brought with
him. The heat of the day being overpowering, I willingly accepted his
invitation. We settled ourselves on the borders of a rivulet, near a
cornfield, whilst the courier took off his horses bridle, and permitted
it to feed on the new wheat. He then groped up, from the deep folds
of his riding trousers, a pocket handkerchief, in which were wrapped
several lumps of cold boiled rice, and three or four flaps of bread,
which he spread before us, and then added some sour curds, which he
poured from a small bag that hung at his saddle-bow. From the same
trousers, which contained his shoes, a provision of tobacco, a drinking
cup, and many other useful articles, he drew half a dozen raw onions,
which he added to the feast; and we ate with such appetite, that very
soon we were reduced to the melancholy dessert of sucking our fingers.
We washed the whole down with some water from the rivulet, and only
then (such had been our voracity) we thought of questioning each other
concerning the object of our respective journeys. From my dress,
he perceived me to be a dervish, and my story was soon told: as for
himself, he was a courier belonging to the Governor of Asterabad, and,
to my joy and surprise, was carrying the happy intelligence of the
release of my former companion, Asker Khan, the Shahs poet, from his
captivity among the Turcomans. I did not let the courier know how much
I was interested in his errand, for experience had taught me how wise it
was, in the affairs of life to keep ones own counsel; and, therefore, I
pretended ignorance of even the existence of such a person.
My companion informed me that the poet had managed to reach Asterabad in
safety, and that, being destitute of everything, he, in the meanwhile,
had been dispatched to give intelligence of his situation to his family.
He showed me the letters with which he was entrusted, which he drew
forth from his breast, wrapped up in a handkerchief; and being a very
inquisitive fellow, though unable to read, he was happy to find in me
one who might give him some account of their contents. The first which
I inspected[30] was a memorial from the poet to the king of kings, in
which he set forth, in language the most poetic, all the miseries and
tortures which he had endured since he had been thrown into the hands of
the Turcomans: that the hunger, the thirst, and the barbarous treatment
which he had experienced, were nothing, when compared with the privation
of the all-gracious and refulgent presence of that pearl of royalty,
that gem of magnificence, the quintessence of all earthly perfection,
the great king of kings! that as the vilest reptile that crawls is
permitted to enjoy the warmth of the glorious sun, so he, the meanest
of the kings subjects, hoped once more to bask in the sunshine of the
royal countenance; and, finally, he humbly prayed, that his long absence
might not deprive him of the shadow of the throne; that he might aspire
to reoccupy his former post near his majestys person, and once again
be permitted to vie with the nightingale, and sing of the charms and
perfections of his lovely rose.
The next letter was addressed to the prime vizier, in which that
notorious minister, decrepit in person, and nefarious in conduct, was
called a planet among the stars, and the sheet anchor of the state, and
in which the poet sues for his protection. There was nearly a similar
one to his former enemy, the lord high treasurer. I then inspected the
letters addressed to his family, of which one was to his wife, another
to his sons tutor, and a third to his steward. To his wife, he talked
of the interior arrangements of his anderûn; hoped that she had been
economical in her dress, that she had kept the female slaves in good
order, and desired her immediately to set herself and them about making
clothes for him, as he was destitute of everything.
To the tutor, he enjoined great attention to his sons manners; hoped
that he had been taught all the best forms of cant and compliment; that
he never omitted to say his prayers; that he was by this time able to
sit a horse, to perform the spear exercise, and to fire a gun on the
full gallop.
To his steward, he gave some general instructions concerning the
administration of his affairs--enjoined great economy; that he should
daily go and stand before the prime vizier; praise him to the skies; and
make all sorts of professions, on his part, to his excellency; that he
should keep a good watch upon his women and slaves; that his wife should
not go too often to the bath; that when she and her slaves went abroad
to take the air, he should accompany them. He hoped that no intriguing
old women, particularly Jewesses, had been admitted into his harem; and
that the walls, which surrounded the womens apartments, had always been
kept in good repair, in order to prevent gadding on the housetop with
the neighbours. He ordered that his black slave, Johur, was now no
longer to be allowed free access into the anderûn; and if ever seen
to be familiar with any of the female slaves, he and they were to be
whipped: finally, he desired the steward to give the courier a handsome
reward, for being the bearer of such good news to his family.
I folded up the letters again; those which had been sealed, I again
sealed, and returned to the courier. He seemed to reckon a great deal
upon the reward that he was to get for bringing the first intelligence
of the poets safety, and told me that, fearing some other might get the
start of him, he had travelled day and night; and added, that the horse,
which he now bestrode, belonged to a peasant, from whom he had taken it
forcibly on the road, having left his own, which was knocked up, to be
brought on after him.
After we had conversed a little more, he seemed entirely overpowered
by fatigue, and fell into a profound sleep. As he lay extended on the
grass, I looked upon him, and I began to reflect how easy it would be to
forestall him. I knew the whole of the poets history;--in fact, I was
in some measure identified with it. I began to think that I had a right
to the first relation of it. Then as to the horse, it was as much mine
as his; particularly since the peasant, with his own, must now be close
at hand: so without more ceremony, I unfolded the handkerchief, which
still lay in his lap, and taking out the letter to the steward, I
mounted the horse: I applied the stirrups to his sides;[31] I galloped
off; and in a very short time had left the sleeper far behind me, and
had made considerable progress on the road to the capital.
As I rode along, I considered what was now my best line of conduct, and
in what manner I should best introduce myself to the poets family, so
as to make my story good, and secure for myself the reward which had
been destined for the courier. I calculated that I should have at least
a good days start of him; for when he awoke, he probably would be
obliged to walk some distance before he got another horse, should he
not regain his own, which was very doubtful; and appearing on foot as
he did, it would be a hundred to one if anybody would believe his story,
and he, most probably, would now be refused the loan of a beast to carry
him on. I resolved, therefore immediately upon reaching Tehran, to sell
the horse, and its accoutrements, for what they would fetch; I would
then exchange my dervishs dress for the common dress of the country;
and making myself up as one come from off a long journey, present myself
at the gate of the poets house, and there make the best story I could,
which would be a sufficiently easy matter, considering how well I was
acquainted with every circumstance relating to him.