Hilaire Belloc

“ Here is the model of all that a man of affairs should be! Oh! Mahmoud, you thought yourself something in your trade, but you have met your master, and more than your master! You have met one who is to you as the most holy of saintly men is to the basest of the Kafir. There is none on earth like him. Allah has raised him beyond all others.
“But it is not enough, my dear nephews,” continued the old man, whose eyes were now filled with a sort of sacred light, “it is not enough to admire those who set us great examples. ”

“ The King listened to me with rapt attention as I unfolded with an inspired eloquence my faith that no one man should intercept profits which were due to the work of all. ‘It is your majesty,’ I cried, ‘who alone should have control over what concerns the body corporate of your people.’ He and he alone should superintend the purchase of pipkins, should regulate their sales, should receive all sums paid for them, and should use that revenue as he might think best for himself and the commonwealth. ”

“ I, for my part, retired to an inner room which I had hired, there disposed of my baggage (having seen to the stabling and feeding of my honest mule) , and instantly fell upon my knees to thank Allah with all the fervour I could muster for His abounding grace. Indeed, my heart overflowed with gratitude when I considered the quite exceptional opportunity. I felt about this young man as does a caravan, when, after a weary march through the desert, there gleams a pure lake not half an hour away. How short a space of time now lay between this moment and the beginnings of splendid negotiations! ”

“ But all the while most reverently worship Him the Supreme, the All-compelling, the Giver of Great bags of coin. No talent in the deception of individuals or the gulling of the crowd can of itself bring the great reward. The acquirement of those immense sums which are the chief glory of man, is, like all else, in the Hand of God. ”

“ The embankment on which I stood swept round in a horseshoe shape—not everywhere finished, but everywhere traced out. It thus enclosed a peninsula, bounded by the river: a space of marshy ground full of stagnant pools and water-grasses. Three or four furlongs away, cutting across the whole neck of the horseshoe of swamp and stretching from the river to the river again, ran the well-built stone wall of a strong town, the flat roofs and low domes of which (it had no tower or minaret) made a ridge of snow-white against the intense blue of the sky. ”

“ The old man recovered himself with dignity, wiped his eyes on a piece of priceless embroidered silk from Samarcand, threw it out of the window, and, in his more usual tone, pursued the recital of his fortunes.
“The young man never dreamt that such a chance and dusty traveller as I, with my one mule, could help him. He had merely burst out with his story to me as he would have done to any human being that would hear him. I had the more advantage of him from his ignorance of my real wealth. ”

“ I am delighted to find that one so young has already so sound a sense of our duty in the battle of life. There are, I repeat, men so despicable that they will put their substance aside, taking from it what they need from day to day, until one of these two events befalls them: at the worst they live too long and spend their last miserable years in destitution: at the best (and it is a poor best) they live too short, and have the infinite mortification, in the agony of death, to discover that they might have had some slightly larger income had they made a more exact calculation. ”

“ No doubt your excellent father, my brother, and his guests made it plain to you that, if anything, my reward had been far below that to which I was morally entitled. For a man who not only builds for a city a fine bridge but also, from a pure public spirit, leaves it open and free to all, is worthy of very high reward indeed at the hands of the Commonwealth. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ As I thought it probable that my good old friend himself would return speedily with his slave to the Bazaar, and as the complication of the affair might embroil me, I hid during the remainder of the day squeezed in a jackal’s earth beneath a bank. Before nightfall I ventured out and gazed about me, leaving my original pouch, my windfall and my big leathern bag of 10,000 dinars in the jackal’s earth while I surveyed the track. ”

“ And how we respect the way in which you have borne inevitable misfortune! But though I praise you as much as any other for your conduct and resignation, do you not push it a little too far? We, the free inhabitants of this our beloved Izmat, have a most glorious privilege, which is, that not the King himself (the glory of Allah be upon him) has any privilege as against the humblest of his subjects, when it comes to the issue of law. Our judges, as you know, stand above all mortal frailty and are, as we devoutly and firmly believe, filled with the spirit of God Himself. ”

“ He seemed, for the moment, not so much the Merchant as the Senator, the Free Bridgeite of the great old days, and his nephews could not but admire the lofty air, the direct glance, the eloquent vibration of voice which accompanied this mood.
“I for my part,” continued the old gentleman, now transformed by the recollection of his part in public life, “did not fear to speak openly in the Council and (such was my love for my fellow-citizens) even in the market-place. I was untiring in explaining the simple economic principles underlying the policy of The Free Bridge. ”

“ There are some men, my dear nephews, who even in these circumstances would have begun bargaining for a higher price. These are men who love the making of small sums and who do not understand the enormous weight of caprice and chance in human affairs. So far from attempting to get a higher price, I expressed my gratitude and said that for my part I was quite willing to take less, but that I somewhat feared my master’s anger and could not return to him without at least fifty pieces of gold, adding that I considered ten pieces a sufficient reward for myself. ”

“ These generously proposed that, though I had found the money, yet of the resultant profit we should take equal shares. ‘I propose that your own salary during the work,’ said I, ‘should be small; indeed, no more than your bare maintenance. For we have no margin, nay, less than we need. But if you are not agreeable, pray name your terms.’ He could find no words for my generosity! Of course he would live on the least possible sum and work to an extreme! ”

“ This merchant was reputed among the people of the place to be of a singularly cunning and secretive temperament, a character which (you may think it strange!) they admired as though it were the summit of human wisdom. I confess that I found him, in the matter of Kzaran carpets at least, very different from his reputation. A more garrulous old gentleman never trod this earth. He was in a perpetual stammer of excitement, and though I was careful to lead him by the most roundabout roads that he might have time to cool his ardour, the delay did but seem to increase it. ”

“ Here was the best of company, the most dignified of position, the most charming of climates, surroundings of wealth, luxury and ease; the culture of a thousand years; all that our religion permits in art and entertainment. ”

“ Come, I trust your honest face and youthful candour. You shall take them at your own price! And I will even advise you of the city of India where you will find your best market.’
“Put thus, the offer, I will confess, attracted me; but I had already learned the wickedness of mankind (though not as yet, I am glad to say, my dear nephews, at my own expense) , and I said that I would at least so far meet him as to take the jewels to a local merchant, invent some tale, as though they were my own, and see what sum might be offered for them. ”

“ By so much as I ascribe to the Mercy of Allah whatever goods have befallen me, by so much do I ascribe to His inscrutable wisdom and kindness even the sharp reverses of this life. For by these we learn that there is an element of speculation in all business; that we are surrounded by the competition of rivals whom we should never despise; that our friends ever lie in wait to outwit us. It is only by the humble acceptation of such lessons that we become even more acute in dealing with our fellow-beings than we were before we had suffered loss. ”

“ But I would sit by the side of my friend Tarib and others as they harangued the populace in the open places of the city or, upon occasions, in the mosques. On such occasions I would show by my smiles and applause my approval of all that was said for the betterment of the poor or the rich, as the case might be, and I always laughed at the ritual jests, sometimes even before they were delivered. In this way I grew familiar with most of those in the capital and with many of the provincial towns, and hoped to conquer general favour. ”

“ Are you not in this palace of mine with all my slaves around you? and splendid hangings upon the wall? Come, look about you and do not mix up these words of the past with real things that you can touch and see to-day.”
The little boy tried to stifle his sobs, but they returned with increased violence.
“Oh, uncle, to think that you, who had been so rich, should become so poor; to think that those who gain great wealth cannot keep it for ever! Consider all your wealth! ”

“ When I rose as though to leave, the Vizier, in a state of the utmost excitement, implored me to reconsider so sudden a decision. He was prepared (he swore) to take but an instalment of the whole. Ready money was absolutely necessary. And if, with my profound knowledge of finance, I could devise some way of escape for his master, the most substantial proofs of gratitude would be afforded me. ”

“ Meanwhile I devised in my leisure time an amusing instrument of gain called ‘The Cream Separator.’ I paid my wretched Sultan and his Court for a law, to be imposed, compelling all men, under pain of torture, to reveal their revenues from farming or any other reputable trade, but taking no account of gambling and juggling as being unimportant and too difficult to follow. ”

“ 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 [Pg 190] 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? ”

“ The blackness of the treason wounded me even more than the sufferings of my bastinado. I almost lost my faith in man; by the Everlasting Mercy I did not lose my faith in Heaven!... Nothing, my boys,” said the old man, his voice trembling, as he remembered this terrible passage of the past, “nothing but Religion supported me during the fearful days that followed. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The hoards of gold still remaining in the country reappeared as though by magic—so much more delightful is it to lend voluntarily at interest than to pay away under torture for ever—and at last there applied at my office for the favour of extending a loan ten times as many citizens as the situation required. ”

“ For you must know that when, after laying in stores at a neighbouring village, I had driven my donkey forward for nearly a week over barren and uninhabited mountains, and when I had nearly exhausted my provision of dried cakes and wine (a beverage which our religion allows us to consume when no one is by) , I was delighted to come upon a fertile valley entirely closed in by high, precipitous cliffs save at one issue, where a rough track led from this enchanted region to the outer world. ”

“ 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. ”

“ and so I was, for I saw the prospect of refreshment at the charges of another, an opportunity, which remember—my dear nephews—is never to be neglected by men of clear commercial judgment. ”

“ I was admitted to their Senate without the usual formality of a cash payment.
“The world was now indeed at my feet. But you must know,” continued Mahmoud with something of sadness in his voice, “you must know, my dear, innocent lads, that wealth will not stop still. The mere administration of a great fortune tends to increase it, and when one has for years found one’s occupation in the accumulation of money, it is difficult in middle age to abandon the rooted habit. ”

“ I heard cries arising behind me on every side, and upon attempting to look round (a difficult feat for one so unused to the saddle) I was aware of a now considerable mob, in the midst of which I saw the distant figure of the horse’s wealthy owner frantically exclaiming and gesticulating.
“Nothing, my dear nephews, is more foolish than to treat generously, or even rationally, an excited crowd of human beings. All historians and philosophers will tell you that man in this state is but a wild beast, to be fled or mastered according to our abilities. ”

“ As I thus expressed myself the Vizier constantly and gravely nodded, as who should say that he esteemed no man so much as one who showed himself indifference to the feelings of the vulgar. I next asked of what sum the Government was in immediate need, and on hearing that it amounted to about a quarter of my total capital I put on a very grave look and said that I feared the immediate provision of so large an amount was hardly possible, in view of the poverty and embarrassment of his unhappy country. ”