"Whew! It's comic, and if I were not such a ridiculously tragic person
I should like to scream with laughter. The Ulema are at a loss to know
what to do about the invitation to the King's Dinner, and have been
putting their turbaned heads together like frightened chickens in a
storm. Never having been invited to such functions before, they suspect
treachery, think their conspiracy has got wind, and are for excusing
themselves on the ground of a general epidemic among grandmothers, which
will require them to be present at funerals in various parts of the
country.
"On the other hand, Caiaphas, who is giving himself the airs of a
hero--a hero, mind you--counsels courage, saying that if there is any
suspicion of conspiracy the only way to put it out of countenance is to
accept the Consul-General's invitation, which is of the nature of a
command, and that this argument applies especially to me (that is to
say, Ishmael), who might otherwise expose myself to the inference that I
am not the wise and wealthy chief of the Ababdah, but another person who
dare not permit himself to be seen. The fox! All the same I may find
that it suits my book to go to the King's Dinner."