James Jeffery Roche

“ A wild cry escaped from the besiegers at the same; but the false Soothsayer, raising aloft a green banner, the Prophet’s sacred ensign, exhorted his followers to fight in the name of Islam. The fanatical appeal gave new heart to the rebels, so that not even the stout lances of Ben Zoin could have overcome the hostile array, had there not appeared at the further gate of the city a new cohort of cavalry, led by a plumed knight, whose face no man recognized, as he and his followers, with levelled spears, thundered on the rear of the rebel horde. ”

“ Will not your Highness deign to tell her meanest slave how she purposes to carry us in safety to Nhulpar and home again, with our heads on our shoulders?”
“O Shacabac,” laughed Kayenna, “thou art only a man, after all, and a bachelor at that. Hast never heard of even a man’s outwitting another, not to speak of the endless resources of his superior, Woman?” ”

“ But, when they had passed on, Kibosh spoke to Hassan, saying, ‘O Hassan! but now thou didst complain of thy poverty; and, lo! thou hast a purse full of gold and silver.’
“‘It is not mine,’ said Hassan, in confusion: ‘it is my wife’s.’
“‘But thy wife is as poor as thyself,’ retorted Kibosh, severely; for he knew that Ayesha was only the daughter of old Cassim, the tent-maker, who was as poor as any man in the quarter, and indeed lived partly on the bounty of his son-in-law. ”

“ Shacabac, much disconcerted, repaired to the palace, where he remained long in consultation with the Pasha and his spouse.
But, in a case wholly without precedent in history or fiction, the wisdom of even so great a man as Shacabac is necessarily at fault: the experience of one so aged as Muley Mustapha avails no more than the instincts of a child. ”

“ Shacabac, who did not disdain the music of his own voice, replied:—
“Truly, this Soothsayer hath deeply offended; but he showeth a proper taste in literature, and, perchance, seeth more of the future than ordinary mortals. It is true, I have counselled mercy to all creatures; for mercy may sometimes be wisdom. I have said:—
“‘Kick not the sleeping tiger in thy path; and, if thou meetest a shark in the river, go thy way,—the sea is wide enough for him and for thee. ”

“ CHAPTER XI. Some men borrow books; some men steal books; and others beg presentation copies from the author. Ben Haround.
The courier told only the truth. Dark and dangerous times had befallen poor old Muley Mustapha in his lonely palace of Ubikwi. For days he had wandered disconsolate through the zenana, missing the presence of Kayenna, which had ever been as the cooling east wind to his fevered brow; missing Shacabac, whose words of wisdom had so often wooed him to repose; missing Al Choppah and his diverting bowstring and scimitar that had enlivened many a long hour. ”

“ The incident,” added Shacabac, “attracted much attention at the time, and led to the strict laws since passed against the importation of elephants and pianos into Khali-Mazu.”
“Verily, the device was ingenious,” commented Kayenna; “but it hardly matches what is required of us in a few days hence. Hast thou ever heard of a youth so situated that he could not fill any office in the land, yet rising to the highest, and that, too, without awakening the hostility of a single human being, notwithstanding the fierce jealousy which assails even those of lofty rank when they aim for rank yet higher?” ”

“ The Soothsayer fled from the palace in terror; but, on gaining the street, he found his voice again, and began shrieking aloud that the Pasha had become mad and was threatening the lives of all his friends.
“Know ye, O people of Ubikwi,” he shouted, “that the old man’s sins have found him out; and Heaven hath punished him by striking him with madness, because he hath sinned against the truth by passing off as his son a female child born unto him eighteen years ago!”
“‘Out of this, fortune-telling dog!’”
A large crowd was speedily attracted by the cries of the Soothsayer ”

“ With great felicity and originality of thought the speaker pointed out that the people of Ubikwi and the people of Nhulpar were of the same origin, speaking the same language, that of Omar and Abdullah. “We must be friends,” he said, “for the sake of our common blood, our common language, and the common Koran which teaches us all. A quarrel between two such peoples would be a crime against humanity.” ”

“ Struck by the aptness of the reply, Muley Mustapha made the sage his Vizier on the spot.
From that day forth the Pasha had peace in his household. There is much virtue in self-abnegation; but, like most unconditional surrenders, it does not always evoke the admiration of the victors. Yet was Muley Mustapha not without his [Pg 19] reward. Kayenna knew just how far she might venture in dictating to him, and, by judiciously yielding that for which she cared naught, managed ever to obtain that which she desired. ”

“ Go, and be silent; for traitors may be in this caravan also.”
The bearded, black-browed Ben Zoin bowed as he took the sacred signet, and promised to be at the capital of Kopaul as speedily as camel might carry him.
“Thou didst well to tell me of that caitiff’s words, good Shacabac,” said [Pg 64] Kayenna, graciously; “and, though thou art not over-clever in all things, yet I believe thee honest in most. For this act thou mayst find thyself one day Grand Vizier of three realms, an thou diest not of thy weight of wisdom in the mean time.” ”

“ Patriotic Orders, which had vowed to die for their country many a time, did not forget their vows when the dread ordeal came, but, on the contrary, with a fortitude unequalled in history, chose the most lingering death that a patriot might suffer, and voted unanimously to die of old age for the land which they loved so well and so wisely. ”

“ Shacabac received them affably, and in reply to their address delivered a discourse fraught with practical wisdom, of which unhappily only a few fragments have been preserved to this day; but these are not without their value to traders of another and a foreign generation. He said:—
“We have all more or less to do with Commerce. We buy goods, and sometimes pay for them. We sell the precious products of our hands or brains at the best price we can get. ”

“ As for the old Soothsayer, he deserved his doom for lacking faith in his own predictions. I regret not his death. No government can be conducted safely unless its members be able to convince themselves and others that with them all wisdom dieth. Frequent changes of administration, save in favor of our own party, are disastrous to the welfare of any country. ”

“ Kayenna was at first deeply incensed on reading those advertisements, and would fain have invoked the assistance of the King of Nhulpar to punish the culprit; but Shacabac sagely counselled her, saying: “Let it be. If the people of Nhulpar believe in this two-headed Snake, all the more will they reverence thee who art supposed to own others of the kind; and meanwhile the terror of thy name shall be spread throughout the earth. ”

“ Great is Philosophy, and marvellous is Science; but miraculous is this thing which the Giaours call ‘Luck.’ Methinks it hath more to do with Science than with Philosophy. Would that the knave had stayed with me long enough to explain the strange mutations of that mysterious game which he calleth Po-kah! ”

“ Twice blessed is he in whose tent dwell both his mother and his wife’s mother; for, even though he gain not Paradise, yet shall he fear not Gehenna.
“In choosing a wife, disdain not youth nor beauty; for these are things which time will cure.
“Love not a woman for her riches; but, loving first the riches, thou shalt learn in time to love her for their sake.
Shacabac, the Sage
“There are two ways of missing the miseries of matrimony: one is by not getting married, the other by not being born. The Prophet hath said that there is a third, which is by always overlooking the errors of thy partner. ”

“ It is thus that we destroy such of our criminals as outlive the Process of Lor.”
“What doth the knave mean?” asked Kayenna, with a frown, aside to Shacabac.
“It passeth my comprehension,” was the reply, “but I fear me the dog laugheth at our faces; for how can any man call down lightning from heaven [Pg 84] to destroy his enemies?” Then, addressing the stranger, he asked sternly: “Hath this divinity of thine—this not very infallible Lor—command of the forces of nature, so that it can at will draw down the thunderbolt wherewith to smite its victims? Thy tale is wondrous strange. ”

“ Meanwhile, Shacabac, you will bear witness that I have the messenger’s permission to examine the document.”
As a matter of fact, she had not that permission; but the last man on earth to challenge the statement at that moment was the poor wretch pinioned by two stout guards and overshadowed by the giant form of Al Choppah, who, without understanding a word that was said, grinned anticipatively, as a conscientious sinecure might, at the thought of doing something, however trifling, in the line of duty. ”

“ Buy when the market is rising: sell when it is going to fall. If you be not a prophet, any friend on the Street will notify you of each impending change. Were it not for this unfailing, beautiful trust in human nature, few of us would be able to make money. ”

“ She had many things to do, attending to the wants of her numerous offspring, preparing the mid-day meal, and arranging the thousand little details of her house for the day. Moreover, she knew that her attire was hardly meet for the eyes of strangers. Her next-door neighbor, Ayesha, the wife of Hassan, the porter, had but the day before called on her, attired in a new yashmak, which was a sore trial to the patience of Zaidee, it having cost not less than fifty piastres at the bazaar kept by Solyman, the one-eyed Hebrew, opposite the fountain adjacent to the house of Amrou, the camel-driver. ”

“ So shalt thou have fresh-laid eggs for thy breakfast.’
“As to this wretched Soothsayer, I fear me much his character as a prophet is sorely damaged. Nevertheless, as I have written elsewhere:—
“‘A bad character is better than none at all. Rather behave ill than have men say of thee, “Lo, he knoweth not how to behave.”’”
Just then appeared a slave with the startling tidings that a messenger from the great Sultan of Kopaul had arrived and besought an interview. ”

“ Shacabac fixed an angry eye in the direction of the intruder, but lowered it when he discovered the speaker to be Badeg, who was gazing at him with a contemptuous leer.
“I see a messenger from the palace,” said the Sage; “and this class is now dismissed. Badeg, I will speak with thee anon; for I would fain know what thou hast learned from the stars that is [Pg 52] more wondrous than the marvels of which I have humbly discoursed.”
“Speak as thou wishest, or hold thy tongue, if that be wiser,” replied the Astrologer, insolently ”

“ Encouraged by the silent approval of [Pg 42] the Pasha and fortified by a copious draught of the strong waters forbidden, but not unknown, to true believers,—concerning the use whereof he had eloquently written: “Hospitality saith, ‘Be blind when the guest helpeth himself to thy wine flask; but be deaf when he asketh for more’; also, ‘Tempt not thy neighbor with the cup which inebriates, lest he fall; but, if thy neighbor offer thee to drink, refuse him not, lest thou give him needless pain,’”—the Sage continued:—
“To be constant in love to one is good: to be constant to many is great. ”

“ The Sultan is very old (may his years be many!) , and he will have gone to his fathers long ere he discover the deception; and thou and thy noble spouse shall reign in Kopaul ere anybody know, if they ever know, that thy son is not thy son.”
Audacious as was this proposition, yet the Pasha grasped at it as a drowning man at a straw, especially as it met the approval of Shacabac. He generally [Pg 28] accepted the advice of that wise and good philosopher.
The Soothsayer and the Physician were enjoined to strict silence ”

“ What hath all this to do with me?”
“What hath it to do with thee?” answered the astrologer. “Much, very much, with thee and thine, and with the people of Ubikwi, and the people of Kopaul, and the people of Nhulpar, when they learn that the secret known to the dead Hassan (for he died very suddenly that same day) and confided to Kibosh (also an unhappy victim of Azrael’s visitation) is now my secret. Dost wish to hear it? ”

“ Muley Mustapha, while secretly contemning the whole science because of the wretched blunder whereby he thought himself the chief sufferer (though the lately deceased soothsayer, had he been able to give an opinion, might have thought otherwise) , found [Pg 30] it hard work to keep up a pretence of respecting the new incumbent and his office. Kayenna, more alive to the danger of arousing suspicion, took pains on every occasion to show profound respect for the holy man, and never failed to enjoin a similar course on the part of her lord. ”

“ CHAPTER VII. Nevertheless, much depends on a man’s horoscope. One is born in the desert, and becomes a brigand; another is reared in the great city, and publishes books. It is Kismet.—Ben Haround. A splendid retinue attended the virtuous Kayenna, the highborn Prince Muley, and the Sage Shacabac, as they set out at sunrise of the next day, from the gates of Ubikwi, on the long and toilsome journey to Nhulpar. Muley Mustapha watched them with tearful eyes, not knowing when, if ever, they might return, nor what might be the event of their enterprise ”