Showing how the ambition of the mollah Nadân involves both him and his
disciples in ruin.
Upon a closer acquaintance with my master, the mollah Nadân, I found
that, besides his being the most covetous of men, he was also the most
ambitious; and that his great and principal object was to become the
chief priest of Tehran. To that he turned all his thoughts, and left
nothing untried which might bring him into notice, either as a zealous
practiser of the ordinances of his religion, or a persecutor of those
who might be its enemies. He was the leader in prayer at the principal
mosque; he lectured at the royal medresseh, or college; and whenever he
could, he encouraged litigants to appeal to him for the settlement of
their disputes. On every occasion, particularly at the festival of the
No Rouz, when the whole corps of mollahs are drawn up in array before
the king, to pray for his prosperity, he always managed to make himself
conspicuous by the over-abundance of adulation which he exhibited, and
by making his sonorous voice predominate over that of others.
By such means, he had acquired considerable celebrity among the people,
although those who knew him better held him in no great estimation. An
opportunity soon occurred which abundantly proved this, and which, as I
will now narrate, gave an entire new turn to my fortunes.
The winter had passed over our heads, and spring was already far
advanced, when reports reached the capital, that in the southern
provinces of the kingdom, particularly in Lar and Fars, there had been
such a total want of rain that serious apprehensions of a famine were
entertained. As the year rolled on, the same apprehensions prevailed
in the more northern provinces; and a drought, such as before was
never known, gave rise to the most dismal forebodings. The Shah ordered
prayers to be put up at all the mosques in the city for rain, and the
mollah bashi was very active in enforcing the order.
My master Nadân had there too good an opportunity of manifesting his
religious zeal, and of making himself conspicuous by his exertions, not
to take advantage of it; and he lost not a moment in giving himself all
the stir in his power. Conscious of the influence he had obtained over
the populace, he went a step farther than his rival the chief priest,
and invited an immense crowd of the lower orders to follow him to a
large open space without the city, where he took the lead in prayer.
The drought still continuing, the Shah ordered all ranks of people to
attend him, and join in the supplications which he had first commenced.
He accounted this so great a triumph, that his zeal now knew no
bounds. He caused all sects, Christians, Jews, and Guebres, as well as
Mussulmans, to put up their prayers: still the heavens were inexorable;
no rain came, the despair increased, and Nadân redoubled his zeal.
At length, one morning when the weather was more than usually sultry,
he addressed a mob which he had purposely gathered round his house, in
words something to this purpose:--
Is there nothing more to be done, O men of Tehran! to avert this
misfortune which awaits the land of Irâk? Tis plain that the heavens
have declared against us, and that this city contains some, whose vices
and crimes must bring the Almighty vengeance upon us. Who can they be
but the kâfirs, the infidels, those transgressors of our law, those
wretches, who defile the purity of our walls by openly drinking wine,
that liquor forbidden by the holy Prophet (upon whom be blessing and
peace!) and by making our streets the scene of their vices? Let us go;
follow me to where these odious wine-bibbers live; let us break their
jars, and at least destroy one of the causes of the displeasure of Allah
against us.
Upon this a general stir ensued; and fanaticism, such as I never thought
could be excited in the breasts of men, broke out in the most angry
expressions, which were only the forerunners of the violence that
soon after ensued. Nadân, putting himself at the head of the crowd,
haranguing as he pressed onwards, and followed by me--who had become as
outrageous a fanatic as the rest--led us to the Armenian quarter of the
city.
The peaceable Christians, seeing this body of enraged Mohamedans making
for their houses, knew not what to do. Some barricaded their doors,
others fled, and others again stood transfixed, like men impaled. But
they did not long remain in doubt of our intentions; for first they were
assailed with volleys of stones, and then with such shouts of execration
and abuse, that they expected nothing less than a general massacre to
ensue.
The mollah entered the houses of the principal Armenians, followed by
the most violent of the mob, and began an active search for wine. He
made no distinction between the womens apartments and the public ones,
but broke open every door; and when at length he had found the jars in
which the liquor was contained, I leave the reader to imagine what was
the havoc which ensued. They were broken into a thousand pieces; the
wine flowed in every direction; and the poor owners could do nothing but
look on and wring their hands.
By the time that this ceremony had been performed in every house,
the fury of the mob had risen to the utmost, and from the houses they
proceeded to the church, which being forced open, they demolished
everything within--books, crucifixes, ornaments, furniture--nothing was
spared; and as there would not be wanting abundance of rogues on such
occasions, it was soon discovered that whatever valuables the despoiled
had possessed were carried away.
The ruin was now complete; and nothing more was left to the fury of the
mob but the unfortunate sufferers themselves, who perhaps would next
have been attacked, had not a kings ferash appeared, accompanied by
one of the principal Armenians, and their presence produced an almost
instantaneous return to reason.
Apprehensive of the consequences of their conduct, all Nadâns followers
made a precipitate retreat, leaving that revered personage and myself to
face the kings officer. I presume our feelings will not be much
envied when we heard him inform us, that the King of Kings demanded our
immediate presence. The mollah looked at me, and I at him; and, perhaps,
two bearded men never looked more like raw fools than we did at that
moment. He endeavoured to temporize, and requested our conductor to
accompany him to his house, in order that he might put on his red cloth
stockings.
There will be no occasion for red cloth stockings, said the ferash,
dryly.
This produced a universal tremor in the mollah, and I must own that it
communicated itself to me in no agreeable manner. But what have I done,
in the name of the Prophet? exclaimed he:--the enemies of our faith
must be overthrown. Is it not so? said he to the ferash.
You will see, returned the impenetrable man of blows.
We at length reached the palace, and at the entrance found the grand
vizier, seated with the mollah bashi, in the chief executioners
apartment.
As we stood at the window, the grand vizier said to the mollah Nadân,
In the name of Ali, what is this that we hear? Have your wits forsaken
you? Do you forget that there is a king in Tehran?
Then the mollah bashi exclaimed, And who am I, that you should presume
to take the lead against the infidels?
Conduct them before the king, exclaimed the executioner, as he arose
and took his staff of office in hand. Do not keep the Centre of the
Universe waiting.
More dead than alive, we were paraded through the avenues of the palace,
and then stepped through the small low door, which introduced us into
the enclosed garden, where we found the king seated in an upper room.
As we approached, I perceived the august monarch twisting his
mustachios, which is always esteemed a sign of wrath. I cast a glance at
Nadân, and I saw him streaming from every pore. We took our shoes off,
as soon as we had come within sight of him, and advanced to the brink of
the marble basin of water. The party who stood before the king consisted
of the mollah bashi, the chief executioner, the Armenian, Nadân, and
myself.
The chief executioner then placed his staff of office on the ground,
and making a low prostration, said, with all the prefatory form of words
usual in addressing the Shah, This is the mollah Nadân, and this his
servant, pointing to me.
Say, mollah, said the king, addressing himself to my master in a very
composed tone of voice, how long is it since you have undertaken to
ruin my subjects? Who gave you the power? Have you become a prophet? or
do you perhaps condescend to make yourself the king? Say, fellow, what
dirt is this that you have been eating?
The culprit, who on every other occasion never wanted words, here lost
all power of utterance. He stammered out a few incoherent sentences
about infidels, wine, and the want of rain, and then remained immovable.
What does he say? said the king to the mollah bashi. I have not
learnt from whom he claims his authority.
May I be your sacrifice, said the chief priest; he says, that he
acted for the benefit of your majestys subjects who wanted rain, which
they could not get so long as the infidels drank wine in Tehran.
So you destroy part of my subjects to benefit the remainder! By the
kings beard, said the king to Nadân, tell me, do I stand for nothing
in my own capital? Are a parcel of poor dogs of infidels to be ruined
under my nose, without my being asked a question whether it be my will
or not that they should be so? Speak, man; what dream have you been
dreaming? Your brain has dried up. Then raising his voice, he said,
After all, we are something in our dominions, and the kâfirs, though
such they be, shall know it. Here, ferashes (calling his officers to
him), here, tear this wretchs turban from his head and his cloak from
his back; pluck the beard from his chin; tie his hands behind him, place
him on an ass with his face to the tail, parade him through the streets,
and then thrust him neck and shoulders out of the city, and let his
hopeful disciple (pointing to me) accompany him.
Happy was I not to have been recognized for the lover of the unfortunate
Zeenab. My fate was paradise compared to that of my master; for never
was order more completely executed than that which had passed the Shahs
lips.
Nadâns beard was ripped from his chin with as much ease by the ferashes
as if they were plucking a fowl; and then, with abundance of blows to
hasten our steps, they seized upon the first ass which they met, and
mounted the priest, the once proud and ambitious priest, upon it, and
paced him slowly through the streets. I walked mournfully behind, having
had my mollahs shawl torn from my head, and my _hirkeh_ (cloak) from my
back.
When we had reached one of the gates Nadân was dismounted, and with
scarcely a rag to our backs, we were turned out into the open country;
and it is worthy of remark, that no sooner had we left the city than
rain began to pour in torrents, as if the heavens had been waiting to
witness the disgrace of two of Persias greatest rogues, and to give
the mollah Nadân the lie in favour of the poor, injured, and ruined
Armenians.
[Illustration: Drowning of the mollah bashi. 31.jpg]