ENTITLED _AL-BUSTÁN_, OR THE ORCHARD
When Mahmoud’s nephews reappeared before him at the hour of public
executions it was in a certain weariness of spirit; for though they
knew that the fortunes of their uncle must subsequently be recovered
in the narrative (since there he was before them, rolling, or, as the
phrase went in Bagdad, “dripping” with it) yet the blows of fate had
fallen upon him with such violence in the recent tale that something
of his then despair had entered their own souls. They sat down
therefore with hanging heads to listen, as they feared, to little
better than the further advance of intolerable things.
The old man began in a subdued voice of lamentable recollection:
“I wandered on through the bare uplands, miserable, weak, penniless
and in rags. So far had my soul fallen that on the seventh day I came
near to omitting my prayer at even ... but I thank Heaven that this
temptation was conquered! I knelt down painfully upon the little
carpet which was my last possession and submitted myself to the will
of Allah.
“As though in answer to my prayer, and while I still knelt there,
I saw afar off the figure of one who moved, as I could see from
that distance, with a carriage of leisure, and I hoped--I dared to
hope--that in answer to my prayer, I will not say a victim, but, at
any rate, some provender was to be afforded me.
“I hastened my steps to catch up the stranger, and as I approached
him remarked with pleasure his fine clothes and stately manner. ‘I
have here,’ said I to myself, ‘some Important Man, some one doubtless
unused to the base necessities of commerce; simple, noble in mind,
straightforward, generous, amply provided: the very companion whom
I should desire.’ I turned over in my mind (as I slackened my steps
for a moment, so that he should not yet observe my arrival) various
schemes whereby I might excuse my intrusion upon his solitary walk.
At last I hit on that which seemed to me the most agreeable to his
supposed circumstances and to my appearance. I strode up to him and
bowing low asked him whether his Greatness could direct a poor wretch
to a certain village the name of which I had heard and which lay more
or less in the direction I had taken.
“The stranger turned to salute me and with that I felt an added
delight. For he was the very thing I had prayed. Young, simple in
manner, courteous, probably, by his dress, independent and wealthy;
probably, as our language has it, ‘his own father.’
“He wore rare ornaments; his cloak was of the finest wool and the
cord that bound his headdress was interspersed with silver.
“By way of reply to my request, he told me in a pleasant, deep voice,
speaking after the fashion of the rich, that he was himself strolling
towards it so far as his own house and farm, which lay between, and
that there he would put me upon my way. I expressed my gratitude, and
my fear lest so bedraggled a companion might be distasteful to him.
He smiled and assured me that he loved nothing better than converse.
He had visited a neighbour that morning to ask advice on a certain
set of pear trees of his which had not been doing well. He had left
his servant to follow him with his mount, preferring this hour’s
stroll back homewards in the cool of the sunset hour which had now
descended.
“As we went we talked of many things and I frankly told him the story
of my life; for I have discovered that nothing is more pleasing to
men of his station than the account of how another has been reduced
from wealth to poverty.
“‘I was not always,’ said I, as I strolled by his side, ‘the
deplorable figure you now see me. Indeed, but a very few months ago I
was the over-manager of a great fruit plantation some hundred miles
to the north of this place. I had come with good recommendations
from my former employers, planters of the Gulf. I had left these
my original masters with the best of characters and the kindest
of recommendations, and only because the eldest son of one of the
partners had to be put into the business and there was no room for
both of us. I had accumulated in some years of useful service a
sufficient little capital which my kind masters were so exceedingly
generous as to double, and I was able to put the total sum into
the new business to which I had been recommended. For it is always
better,’ I added, ‘to have some stake in the firm.’
“‘You are right,’ said my new friend in hearty approval. ‘There is no
greater error than to offer a firm such intangible things as talent,
honesty and the rest. Valuable as they are, if they are unaccompanied
by metal they are without substance and void.’
“With an expression of great humility I applauded his reply and told
him how flattered I was to find that my judgment had jumped with his.
‘But, alas, Sir!’ I continued deferentially, ‘There is no controlling
the current of our destinies! For there is One above----’
“‘I know, I know!’ agreed my companion hurriedly, in the tones of one
to whom the sentiment was familiar and at the same time doubtful, and
I continued:
“‘By that Divine Will,’ I went on, ‘was I visited. Heaven saw fit
to try its servant. In the course of my management I was sent to
negotiate the purchase of a cargo of lime-dressing at the nearest
port, for use upon the plantation. On my way I had the misfortune to
be robbed at an inn of the pouch of gold that had been confided to
me. I ought, of course, to have returned at once and told my partners
and employers what had happened, and to have offered, perhaps, to
repair out of my own property what might look like the result of my
own negligence; but I was afraid lest I should not be believed, and
again lest, if I were believed, the loss should prejudice me in their
eyes as an incompetent. What I did was to go forward to the port that
very day, penniless, and trust to the credit of my firm to complete
the transaction I had in hand.
“‘But once again I was unfortunate! I carried through the
negotiations with success and purchased the cargo upon very
reasonable terms. I delayed to the last moment the payment of earnest
money and then, when delay would no longer serve, I said carelessly,
that full payment would follow by messenger within two days. The
merchant’s face darkened. He told me that he had been led on by false
pretences, roughly bade me begone and would hear no more of the
transaction. He refused to sign, and indeed left me abruptly, saying
that he was off to seek another purchaser and telling me at the same
time that he was seriously considering whether or no to summon me
before the magistrate for having thus lost him a whole day upon a
false pretence.
“‘He was as good as his word, and I received a summons from the
magistrate that very evening to attend his court the next day.
“‘It was unfortunate that during the night another theft took place
in the inn where I lay. The bundles of those staying at the place
were searched. My own alone contained no valuables of any kind. One
would have thought that such a circumstance would have spoken in my
favour. It was exactly the other way. It was argued that a man who
will stay in an inn without the means of paying must be a thief of
some sort and that since the sum stolen was not to be found elsewhere
it was probably I, thus manifestly suspect of trickery, who was the
culprit. In my fright I attempted to escape. I was caught and roughly
handled, with the final result that I appeared in the magistrate’s
court covered with blood, my garments torn and in such a posture
subjected to a double accusation upon the part of the innkeeper and
also upon the part of the foreign merchant who appeared upon the
original charge.
“‘In such distress I had no avenue of escape save a reference to my
honoured firm, the name of which, though distant, was familiar to the
Court. The magistrate expressed his doubt that I had any connection
with such important people, and asked me if I would risk the sending
of a messenger to my so-called partners. I said I would do so gladly,
but during the two days’ interval of the messenger’s absence I was
closely confined in the public prison, where I regret to say the
foreign merchant had the heartlessness to come and make faces at me
through the bars, and where, having no money to give my gaolers, I
was treated with the utmost harshness.
“‘My misfortunes were not at an end. As luck would have it the firm
to which I belonged and of whose books I had the sole management,
undertook a surprise audit on the very day of my departure, and
discovered a most serious deficit in one item which the partners, in
their ignorance, could not account for. Had I been present I could
easily have explained what had happened. It was but an advance which
I had made to a customer whose transactions with us were of the
highest value. As much in my own interests as in those of my partners
I was well justified in risking the money. I had acted foolishly
perhaps in refusing to take a receipt or to enter the matter in the
books, but the thing was only for a week and after so many years
of prosperity I could not dream of so small a thing turning out
untowardly. However, there it was. My partners hurriedly sent after
me and learned to their dismay that I had left the first inn upon the
road without payment, and giving no account of my future movements.
They had sent a man post-haste on a swift horse. He had covered the
distance to the port in twelve hours, but (as I was now in prison),
could discover nothing of me in the town nor find any cargo I had
bought or, indeed, any trace of me. He returned to my partners, as
they had instructed him, upon another beast as swift (having sold
his spent mount) and it was just as they received this grave news
of my apparent absconding, just while my partners grew more and
more convinced of my supposed guilt, that the messenger from the
magistrate arrived and completed the accusation. They answered, not
by coming in person, but by sending a letter of the most violent
kind, calling me a notorious thief, expressing their pleasure that
I had been laid by the heels and begging that, so far as they were
concerned, the magistrate would not spare me in any punishment he
might see fit to inflict for my other escapades. Meanwhile (they
said) they would not trouble him to enter judgment for the sum I had
taken, since they had replaced it out of my capital in the firm,
which nearly, or exactly, made good the deficit.
“‘You may imagine, my Lord, the result of all this! The magistrate
read the Court a sermon on the justice of the law which spared no man
for his rank or commerce, and concluded, “You have before you the
sad spectacle of a man of substance fallen through temptation into
poverty and disgrace.” The foreign merchant contemptuously waived his
action, the innkeeper with equal contempt expressed himself satisfied
with the punishment I had already undergone, claiming only my clothes
by way of payment, giving me these few rags in exchange. With yet
another admonition the magistrate dismissed me. I went out from the
court a broken man, wandered aimlessly southward, doing a little work
here and there upon the farms, and I am now seeking the next village
with the object of offering my services.
“‘Such, Sir,’ I concluded, ‘is my tale.... Here am I, with every
commercial aptitude, and full training in the various transactions
of business (but especially in the management of plantations) for no
fault of my own unable to exercise these talents, rehabilitate my
character, and recover my position in society.’
“The rich young man was deeply touched by my story, every word of
which, I am glad to say, he seemed to believe; for I was not deceived
in my reading of character and I had rightly guessed that a man under
thirty, honest-faced and clearly enjoying leisure and wealth would be
singularly open to the reception of any romantic tale that might be
offered to him.
“‘It is indeed fortunate,’ he answered, ‘that you understand
plantations. It is a matter in which I am for the moment interested.
I have an orchard which is not doing well.’ He had evidently
forgotten his first sentence on our meeting which had given me my
clue. But rich and generous natures are like that in early youth:
hence, also, are they bad players in games of skill.
“‘Come with me,’ he continued, ‘and pass the night in my house
yonder’ (it already lay before us in the hollow); ‘the conversation
on your past life, which is doubtless full of adventures, will
entertain me at my meal. To-morrow I will see that you have
occupation upon my farm, and after a short experiment I think
we shall get along very well indeed together, particularly as I
have recently planted by way of experiment a number of pear trees
which--as I think I just told you--are not doing well. I thought
myself able from my general knowledge to conduct this orchard, but
I regret to say that some of the trees have died, and that the rest
are in a poor way. I evidently lack the special experience required.
Since plantations are your special line you may be of the greatest
service to me in this little matter.’
“Here, my dear nephews, I was in something of a quandary. This, I am
told, is a difficulty we men of affairs come across often enough in
the conduct of our negotiations. It is our duty, as I need hardly
tell you, to add details of a corroborative kind to the statements we
have to make in affairs. To omit any detail is to court suspicion. On
the other hand, one never knows where the most necessary fictions may
lead one. Here I was confronted by the task of bringing to fruition
an orchard ... an orchard of pears ... and I knew nothing whatever of
orchards and of pears far less.
“I replied, therefore, with the greatest enthusiasm that the
opportunity was exactly what I should have desired. Orchards were the
_one_ kind of plantation I had most carefully studied, and of all
fruits _pears_ were those upon which I had specialised most. Once I
had seen the kind of tree my kind host had planted I should certainly
be able to tell him what was the matter.
“It was almost dark when we came to his enclosure, but so eager was
he on his new idea that he led me at once to the back of the house
where the trees were planted. Very sickly indeed did their gaunt
twigs look in the gloaming. A good third of them were shrivelled and
dead, the rest drooped in various degrees, one only gave a promise of
fruit out of some three hundred stems. The rich man surveyed the ruin
and gazed at me anxiously while I held my chin in my hand as though
meditating upon the best course for him to pursue, but in reality
considering my own.
“Then it was, my dear infants, that I received from on High one of
those illuminations which have always been, with me, the forerunners
of great things. I deliberately kept the rich young man waiting
for the space of a long prayer and then said suddenly and with
determination, ‘Scrap the lot!... Excuse me,’ I added, ‘I have used a
phrase current in the barbaric cities of the north, which is somewhat
corrupt in speech. My intention was to express to your Highness my
conviction, formed upon this rapid survey in gathering darkness, that
the orchard can no longer be saved, for I am sure my judgment will be
confirmed when I make a more thorough examination to-morrow morning
in broad day. I see also, even in this light, that the type of tree
you have planted is wholly unsuited to the climate. May I be so bold
as to ask where you purchased the stock?’
“‘I was assured,’ answered my new friend a little shamefacedly, ‘that
it was stock grown within this very region and peculiarly adapted for
our dry climate: for the drought of our position which, as you know,
stands too high for waterways.’
“I shook my head. ‘You were deceived,’ said I. ‘Who sold you this
unsuitable stock?’
“He told me that it was a sound friend of his who had gone off for
a while upon a journey, that he was quite sure he had not intended
to deceive. ‘Perhaps there was some error in the consignment shipped
to you,’ I answered cheerfully as we turned towards the house.
‘This kind does admirably in the River Lowlands, and I take it your
friend’s servants by some mistake sent your consignment to some
lowland client and _his_ to _you_ in these uplands. Anyhow, the
orchard is manifestly doomed, as you can see, and for my part I make
no doubt that the trouble has come from the use of a wrong species.
Now what you want here,’ I continued rapidly, turning over my chances
well in my mind, and plumping for technical terms, ‘is a pear
neither palinate nor sublongate, nor, for that matter perforate, but
daxullic, or, as we sometimes call it in the trade “retarded”--at any
rate in the second and third stirp.’
“‘I see; I understand; I apprehend,’ said the rich young man. For
thus, have I discovered, do rich young men carry on a conversation
which leaves them entirely at sea.
“‘I do not,’ I hastened to add, ‘insist, of course, upon the Persian
stock, though that is the best. It might be difficult to procure and
it is _very_ expensive. What I mean is something of the same family.
I should advise, as a stock more easily purchased in the local
markets, the pear called by the merchants “The Glory of Heaven.”
“‘It was introduced some few years ago by my friend Nasredin and is
now a favourite stock on the Plateau of Reshed where the climate
is very similar to yours. It bears a large, luscious fruit, highly
marketable, and maturing early; and it can be purchased at a moderate
expense. I will, if you like, go for you to the nearest provider of
such things and see what I can do.’
“My host thanked me profusely. He remarked how small the world was
and at the same time how manifest were the workings of Providence. He
blessed the day when he had met me. For though (he said), the matter
of expense did not weigh upon him, he had made a particular point of
success in the matter of pear trees, and but for my advice he really
did not know what he should have done.
“He was so keen upon the affair that he pressed me to start for the
nearest nurseryman the very next morning. There was an excellent
nursery plantation, he said, not more than half a day’s ride away
to the West. It stood, with the owner’s house in the midst, just
outside the gates of the town to which he would direct me, either
going himself or sending his bailiff with me. He would also send
a wagon for the conveyance of the young shoots. Indeed, as the
meal progressed (for we were now dining), he grew more and more
enthusiastic on the matter and could hardly bear the delay of the
night. I saw which way the land lay and saw fit to increase his
keenness. I therefore told him it was quite impossible to act with
such speed. ‘The young shoots,’ said I, ‘must not be left to lie
untended and unplanted. We must first of all prepare the ground. The
old trees must be dug up, the pits enlarged. It is the narrowness
of the earthing that has been half your trouble, for the smaller
root tendrils which we call “trips” are easily estopped in hard
groundings.’ ‘I see!’ said he, sapiently. ‘The ground must be well
soaked,’ I continued, ‘and manured with a full dressing of lime, and
only when all this has been completed could I think of advising you
to plant.’
“I paused to concoct something new, and the amiable youth filled the
gap for me by murmuring: ‘Precisely! Exactly! Now I understand.’
“I resumed: ‘Further we must underpin the runners and work up the
earth herring-wise. And then there is the daubing.... It will be a
matter of full three days’ work. On the fourth day I can set out
before sunrise. You may take it that I will be back by evening, and
we will, if you please, plant the very next morning--that is on the
fifth day--lest the stock should suffer; for I have always found it,’
I added profoundly, ‘of invariable service to plant immediately.
I have indeed lost in the past one or two most valuable sets of
trees--_pear_ trees--by delaying at this season of the year so much
as twenty-four hours before putting them in the ground.’
“As I thus spoke he nodded frequently, admiring my talent and
knowledge of these affairs, and I took occasion, as evening wore on,
to ground him yet more deeply in this fascinating subject, which I
had already begun to feel was mine.
“The next day with the first of the light we both of us set out to
the orchard. He summoned his workmen and our labours engrossed us
for many hours during which I fed his enthusiasm with renewed tales
of marvels in the way of fruit-growing--and especially of pear
trees. That particular pear called ‘The Glory of Heaven’ increased
wonderfully as I proceeded until at last it had grown to such a size
that each individual fruit was as large as a child’s head, and half a
dozen of them would fetch a piece of gold ‘if’ (I was careful to add)
‘if they are properly packed! For I regret to say that, simple as
the detail is, the neglect of good packing has been the ruin of most
speculators in this line.’
“During the second day of our labours I dilated upon other details of
the trade which occurred to me as I went along. I especially insisted
upon what I called the _maximum point_, and for this he was all ears.
“‘There is a limit,’ I said, ‘to your plantation, after which the
expenses of management begin to eat into the profits earned. A
first small speculation of 300 trees, such as you have here, is,
of course, a mere bagatelle. It would provide you with amusement,
but no appreciable income. The most profitable size of orchard is
far larger.... In such a situation as yours,’ said I, looking round
with an air of a connoisseur, ‘and with such soil as this,’ and
with that I took up a clod and carefully crumbled it in my fingers,
‘possessing acidulated properties of this type, but corrected by
some slow exhaust of porphyritic matter, it would need but a top
dressing of bardulm and an occasional picketing of charcoal to make
some 3,000 trees produce a regular annual profit of not less than
200 pieces of gold--and that upon an original expenditure less than
double the amount. I would estimate your return with care and good
fortune at quite fifty per cent., but at any rate you could calculate
upon thirty per cent. But _more_ than 3,000 trees,’ said I, musing,
‘would, I fear, be an error; the earnings after that get eaten into
by expenses.’
“He interrupted me with the eager words: ‘I should be happy----’ I
lifted my hand to check him and said, ‘No! I assure you, that even
such a number as 3,500 would be just beyond the line, and as you
approach 5,000 you would find the expense absorbing nearly all your
profit. It is as great an error to over-do these things as to starve
them. Let us fix the number at 3,000 and the capital expenditure at
400 pieces of gold. Then I think you will not be disappointed.’
“The third day I spent overlooking the levelling of the ground and
its last preparation, as also in making mysterious marks with little
pegs and jotting down notes in a book: all of which excited the owner
to the last degree, and left him (as the phrase goes) with his tongue
hanging out for the new trees.
“That evening my kind host after some little embarrassment made me
an offer. Would I, he asked, share in the profits of the enterprise?
I at once refused. My decision surprised him: but, as he pressed
the project upon me, I told him that gratitude was only a part of my
decision. I owed him everything; he had found me--it seemed a month
ago indeed, though it was but three days--in rags; he had clothed
me, fed me and, what was more, trusted me. His trust, I assured him,
would not be deceived. ‘I shall be content,’ I concluded, ‘with the
salary proper to my position’ (he at once mentioned a sum, which I
halved), ‘but I will go so far as this; if, upon the opening of the
fourth year, your profits shall be found to have _exceeded_ what I
have suggested, if you make in the three years more than 600 pieces
of gold, at 200 pieces a year, which I suggest as the probable
result, I will accept, though reluctantly, one half of the excess.
For I am confident,’ and here I put an especially serious tone into
my voice, ‘that we shall do better than I have said. I have ever
held it my duty to give a conservative estimate and to avoid the
disappointment of those who employ me. To this, among other things,
do I ascribe the great success which attended me during my earlier
years, and which only failed me through the deplorable accidents I
related to you on our first meeting.’
“My host appeared a little confused at my probity, or rather, at my
scruples; but he told me that he had always found such errors to be
upon the right side, and assured me that I should not lose by the
austerity of my temper. Nor did I....
“We spent the rest of the evening looking at the illuminations in his
fine library. I expressed myself enthralled by them all. I lingered
with especial care over every representation of an orchard in these
pictures, and spoke in the most learned manner of the various fruits
therein displayed. As luck would have it we came to one particularly
fine painting in which were delineated the most enormous pears of a
brilliant golden hue interspersed with soft leaves. ‘This,’ I cried
delightedly, ‘is the very fruit of which I have been speaking! How
interesting! How exciting!’
“‘Is that so?’ said my host, transported at the coincidence, ‘Once
more I must say it: how small is the world!’
“‘Yes,’ said I, ‘it is that pear “Glory of Heaven,” of which I have
been speaking and which you may see, by comparison with the insects
here portrayed and of the trellis work, to be most enormous fruit. Of
its succulence I must leave you to judge when you shall gather your
first harvest. Of its highly saleable quality in the markets of the
north you will, I trust, soon have satisfactory experience.’
“‘I shall indeed!’ said my host, now quite beside himself with the
combined emotions of the collector and the man of property. He
blessed again and again the day he had the good fortune to meet such
a man as myself. Summoning his bailiff he gave orders for the wagon
to be prepared over night and the horses to be ready by sunrise. ‘No,
no,’ said I, ‘an hour before sunrise, if you please! I am determined,
at whatever inconvenience to myself, to have the plants back here,
at your house, on the night of the same day. I will risk no failure
in this great affair!’ Again he blessed and thanked me, and when his
dependents were dismissed took me aside and prepared to count out
the money which would be required for my expenditure.
“‘You said 400 pieces of gold,’ said he, as he disposed the coins
in little heaps of ten upon the table. ‘You had better make it 500,
for there may have been fluctuations in the market since you last
purchased, and it is good that you should have a margin.’
“I told him I thought the provision a wise one, but that I would
account for every penny when he should next see me. And this,
curiously enough, was my true intention, though I could not have
given him any very exact date for our next meeting. I wrote him out
a formal receipt in spite of his protests, remarking that business
was business; and so that every formality should be accomplished
I signed the document in the name of an old friend of mine, one
Daoud-ben-Yacoub. I said I would further have affixed my seal had I
possessed one, but placed as I was, no such instrument was available.
“‘The ball of your thumb will do,’ said the young man carelessly. His
words brought me up rather sharp, and it was not without trepidation
that I acceded to this chance request. But once more the inspiration
of Heaven served me. I dexterously substituted my middle finger for
my thumb as I pressed the wax thereunder. This arrangement,” said the
old merchant, as he crossed the two fingers in the presence of his
nephews, by way of illustration, “I recommend you upon every occasion
of life. It is especially useful in those tyrannical countries where
the police take the thumb-marks of innocent wayfarers. I have used
it a dozen times.... But to return to my tale.
“I pattered on to my kind host as I pressed my finger down, and thus
distracted his attention from too close a watch on my hand. ‘This
thumb mark,’ said I, releasing my middle finger from the wax, ‘this
thumb mark is as good as any signature, I think; for Allah has made
it the sign manual of all honest men; no two are alike. Remember,
pray,’ I added laughingly, ‘that it was the thumb of my _right_ hand.’
“‘I will,’ said he, laughing in turn. ‘As you say, these are mere
formalities. I do not think the less of you for your insistence upon
their performance.’
“With these words we parted in the greatest mutual satisfaction. He
to dream of this fine new plantation and his coming wealth, but I to
pour out my soul in prayer to my Maker and humbly to ask for further
guidance.
“Next morning while it was yet dark I rose and mounted, the bailiff
at my side, and the slaves taking the wagons behind. Early as was the
hour my kind host was astir; he gave me his blessing for the tenth
time on my departure and poured out petitions for my safe return. I
hung the pouch of gold to my saddle bow, where I securely fastened
it; I took the weapon with which he had kindly provided me in case of
any misadventure by the road, and left him under the benediction of
God. I thought a little sadly, as we rode out in silence through the
gate and out on to the bare uplands again, how transitory were all
human affections. How short had been this episode of friendship and
hospitality! How brief even in the short course of one human life are
these passages of complete confidence and brotherly kindness! When
should we meet again?
“Of my journey there is little to be related. We plodded on, our
pace necessarily determined by that of the slow wagon following us
and my mind still turned upon what my future action should be; for,
to tell you the truth, my dear nephews, Allah had vouchsafed me no
revelation, in spite of my earnest prayers during the night, and I
was still considering what turn I should give to the affair when once
more that Infinite Mercy which has never failed me (or, at any rate,
only for some short few days and even so but to chastise my pride)
came to my rescue.
“There are, in this country, deep gullies called _nullahs_, the
course of streams which run but rarely on these heights, but which,
when they run, dig their channels deeply into the friable soil. The
crossing of these gullies by any rolling vehicle is something of a
business. As we reached one, therefore (they came at intervals of two
or three miles) the bailiff and I were careful to dismount and help
the slaves with the wheels.
“It was while thus engaged during our careful drop into the second
_nullah_ that the inspiration from on high flashed into my brain. I
perceived that the wheels of the wagon were fastened to the hub with
wooden pins, one of which, at the off-hind wheel which I was holding
back, looked a little loose. The slaves had their backs turned to
me, holding back the front wheels, and checking the horses; at the
other hind wheel, with the body of the front wagon between us and
concealing his view from mine, strained and heaved the bailiff, a
fat, elderly rogue, unaccustomed to such work. I pulled out the pin,
threw it into the depths of the neighbouring scrub, and as I did
so continued to cry, ‘Steady there! Steady! So! Hold hard! That’s
better! Woa-oh! Stand by!’ and other words of the sort, which showed
my interest in the operation. I could see the wheel wobbling as we
crossed the flat bed of the _nullah_. At the foot of the far rise it
was nearly off. The time had come. ‘Now!’ I cried suddenly, ‘_All
together_! Whip up the horses and shove!’ The whips cracked, the
slaves hauled at the traces, the horses strained, up went the wagon,
off came the wheel and the whole collapsed upon one side with a great
din and with a sharp cracking, as though something had given way.
“And so it proved to be; for the main axle, though not snapped, had
split; so there we were with the wagon out of service for the moment,
the axle unsure, a hind wheel off, and the whole contraption on its
side.
“The bailiff was seriously disturbed. It seemed that my kind host
was a firm master, that he had his moments of sharp temper; and the
bailiff bewailed his fate and considered what awaited him on his
return. I laughed good-naturedly and reassured him.
“‘Come, come,’ said I, ‘it is no great matter! I understand these
things. Do you ride on towards the town. I will help the slaves put
back the wheel. We will make some sort of jury pin to put into the
hub, we will tie a rope round the cracked axle, and all will be well.
We are men enough between us to repair the wagon, but you, as I say,
ride forward. I shall soon catch you up.’
“The bailiff was relieved at this proof of my efficiency and good
will, and delighted to be released from the work to which he was
quite unused. He rode on at a moderate pace while the slaves and I
heaved the wagon back upright. I fashioned a jury pin out of a piece
of the scrub and I was careful to make it too weak for its work. We
bound a piece of rope round the axle and when all this was done I
bade them go forward carefully lest a further accident should befall.
I then rode on smartly to catch up the bailiff, who had by this
time got about a mile ahead. As I neared him I looked back from an
intervening rise of land. It was as I had anticipated. The jury pin
had given way, and the wagon was on its side again: but the lift of
land soon hid it from me and down on the further slope I caught up
the bailiff, ambling along. ‘The wagon is all right,’ said I, ‘but
it will have to go rather slow.’ He gave a great sigh of content.
‘Thanks be!’ said he. ‘Truly you are a genius!’
“‘Not at all!’ said I modestly. ‘It is quite a small accident and
of a sort to which I am accustomed; but do you ride back now that
everything is well, for the slaves are uneducated men’ (this sort
of flattery is honey to bailiffs), ‘and will need some one of your
standing to moderate their pace and to check their horses and to see
that the wagon comes on in good condition. Go very carefully, for the
axle is weak. When you shall reach the town we will get a proper pin
and have everything put right in an hour or two, meanwhile I will go
forward and we will make an appointment at the market gardener’s,
which you will reach, I think, some three-quarters of an hour after
myself. For we are now, I take it, some couple of hours from the
town.’
“‘You are right,’ said the bailiff, ‘you have but to follow the track
and we will come after you.’ With that he turned back. Once I had
seen him disappear behind the rise of the hill I dug my spurs sharply
into my poor horse and went at top speed across the _bled_.
“I am a poor rider and had not my saddle been ample and my stirrups
weighty I should have fallen. But Providence was with me once again.
I came through a gap of rocks and saw, immediately before and below
me, the white domes and flat roofs of a large city, and just outside
the gate a fine plantation of young fruit trees, which I recognized
as the nursery gardener’s.
“I had ridden past his house and grounds, and admired the young pear
trees especially (a fine collection) when a useful thought occurred
to me, and I acted on it at once, eager though I was to save time.
I turned back and said to the slave at the gate of the plantation,
‘I have a message for your master. Tell him that if any one asks for
Daoud-ben-Yacoub, he has bidden me say that he went back by a short
cut to help his companions with a broken wagon.’ I then turned again
and rode off towards the city walls.
“I approached the town and rode through the gate with dignity in
the new fine clothes the young lord had given me. I nodded in a
superior manner to the guard and made straight for the opposite
entrance to the city. A horse fair was proceeding. I put up mine at
an inn, took off the bag of gold (which was heavy, but not too heavy
to be carried) walked towards the market and asked where I could
best purchase a horse. The name of a horse-seller was given me. I
approached him, failed to believe all that he told me with regard to
the beast he offered, but said it would be enough for my purpose. I
had not an idea whither to fly, yet fly I must, for sooner or later
the bailiff or my late master himself must follow. I knew nothing
of the country nor the names of its towns nor of the roads. I took
refuge in a piece of diplomacy. As I paid for the horse, I said to
the seller, that I had to reach my mother’s house in the next city
before sundown, and that I hoped my purchase was able to carry me
that far in the remaining half-day.
“‘Half a day’s riding?’ answered the merchant in astonishment. ‘I
know not how you ride! If you mean the town of Taftah it is not more
than three hours’ going for any reasonable mount.’
“‘Is that so?’ said I in surprise. ‘I am a stranger and I can only
believe what I was told. But you know how vague these country people
are. I was assured that this was the road to Taftah,’ and here I
pointed through the eastern gate.
“‘Yes! That is the road,’ he said. ‘You can easily reach your
mother’s house before evening upon this beast,’ he said, clapping its
crupper. ‘Without doubt you will be there long before the prayer:
and God be with you, Hassan!’ For, incidentally, it was as Hassan
that I had done business with him.
“I paid him ten pieces of gold for the beast. (It was more than it
was worth). I humbly repeated his prayer which I felt did apply with
peculiar force to me now, for I was conscious that I was once more
under the beneficent guidance of Heaven--who could not be with that
heavy pouch now hanging again on his saddle? I rode out therefore
confidently, quite careless whether I killed the beast or no in my
rapid progress and brought it into Taftah well within three hours in
such a state that I was delighted to find a purchaser (to whom I gave
my name as Abdurram, and my profession as that of a leather dresser),
who offered but five pieces of gold: I was glad to be rid of the
horse and him at that.
“Time still pressed. I might be traced. I knew not what accidents had
occurred upon the road behind me, whether indeed those poor fools
had managed to mend the wagon again, if not, whether the bailiff
would have the courage to tell his master or ride on to find me in
the first town. If he had so ridden on he might find evidences of
my departure, and even (more doubtfully) of my second horse and its
purchase.
“But though time pressed it would have been fatal to show any too
great speed. I therefore sauntered very gradually in my fine clothes,
afoot, bearing my pouch in my hand concealed under the fold of my
garment, until I reached a gathering of merchants outside a sort
of Exchange which this town of Taftah boasted, like others of the
neighbourhood, in the vicinity of the governor’s palace.
“It was there that, during a conversation which, for all my anxiety,
I took care to make slow and dignified, I learned how _dates_ were in
great demand in a large city called Laknes, about two weeks’ journey
beyond the hills. It was, to a business man like myself, a most
fascinating story that I heard! The people of that far country were
passionately fond of dates and gave that fruit the briskest market
imaginable. Their appetite had grown all the more formidable since
the next people immediately beyond them had passed a law prohibiting
the culture and sale of all dates on account of the toothache
sometimes arising from that fruit. With this reduction of supply
Laknes became more of a bidder for dates than ever. Great rewards
were offered to any taking the fruit to such a market. The last
advices, not a month old, quoted thirty dinars the kantar and were
rising. The merchants designed to despatch a caravan the day after
the morrow.
“With equal leisure and dignity I left them after this little talk
and made it my immediate business in the next half-hour to procure
with the capital at my disposal a number of camels and a couple of
bales of dates for each, together with a few slaves that should
conduct the caravan to its destination; I also hired a free man for a
leader, as he was acquainted with the road.
“By this time it was nearly dark. I had given orders (in order to
conceal my movements) that I should not start till late in the week,
but I had also given a child a small coin to come up to me, upon a
signal, with a piece of paper folded, upon which indeed nothing was
written. Just as the camels were being driven off to their litter, I
signalled to the child, who ran up and gave me the note. I opened it
before the head man, put on an air of great perturbation, and said,
‘This message changes all my plans! I fear I disturb you, but will
you start out to-night?’
“‘Willingly,’ said he. ‘We have provisions, and I know a good place
on the road where we can purchase more to-morrow. The weather is
warm and if your business demands haste, it may be better to march
during the cool.’ The slaves (who were not consulted) were no doubt
agreeable enough. We set out and all that night went our way.
“It was a monotonous journey through an arid land, with few towns
or villages, sufficient watering, but no more. Though I pressed the
pace we lost no beasts, and on the twelfth day, with the cool of the
evening, we reached Laknes.
“My camels were parked, I took my place in the chief inn of the city
(under the name of Ishmaïl-of-Taftah, merchant), and my first act
before ordering a meal was, again, from the very bottom of my heart,
to thank Allah for the return of his mercies. My capital was, indeed,
nearly exhausted. I had but a few pieces of gold left in my garment,
and the pouch was empty; but there was my solid row of camels and my
fine cargo of dates. I made no doubt I should sell at a good profit
next day and that my career was once more launched. I took care to
speak to all openly of my arrival, to hint at my wealth, to make all
familiar with the name of Ishmaïl-of-Taftah, a merchant in dates
which it was proposed to offer next day in the market. For there
are occasions, my dear nephews, in commerce when it is perfectly
advisable to tell the truth and even to spread it abroad.”
With these unexpected words the merchant Mahmoud suddenly ceased his
tale, for the shriek of the Muezzin was heard rending the air. The
nephews rose and bowed. “We trust,” said the eldest, “that when we
next appear we shall find you, my dear uncle, climbing from greatness
to greatness in the story you still have to unfold.”
“Alas, my children,” answered the venerable sage, “I fear you must
hear of other disappointments before the goal is reached!”
At this the youngest boy put forth his lower lip, which trembled, and
began screwing up his eyes.
“Stop!” said the merchant testily. “Stop! My little fellow! I have
had enough of this!”
“Oh, Uncle,” sobbed the boy, “I cannot bear to think that perhaps all
that new wealth will be stolen from you.”
“Stop, I say!” shouted Mahmoud angrily, and half-rising, “I tell you
I have had enough of it! I appreciate your motive. I admire your
judgment. It is marvellous in so young a child. But I cannot be
disturbed with useless tears at things so long past. You show too
great a sympathy. You are too sensitive my dear.”
The child saluted, assumed a more equable appearance, and followed
his brothers out of the room, while Mahmoud, his equipoise a little
disturbed by the incident, set himself right by the simple process
of drawing from one sleeve a handful of coins and counting them out
slowly into the other: a pastime which never failed to restore him to
the best of tempers.
والنّخل الجمل
AL-JAMAL WA’L-NAKHL
That is:
CAMELS AND DATES