The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan Part 31

?I have one more favour to ask of my master,? said I, ?which is, that he will deign to accept a small _peish-kesh_, a present from his humble slave; it is a praying-carpet, and, should he honour him so far as to use it, he hopes that now and then he will not forget the donor in his prayers.?

?May your house prosper, Hajji,? said he very graciously, ?and I am thankful to you for remembering me, not that there was the least occasion for this present. Be a good Mussulman, wage war against the infidels, and stone the Sufis,--that is the only return I ask; and be a.s.sured that, by so doing, you will always find a place in my memory.?

I then presented my gift, with which he seemed much pleased; and, having received my dismissal, I returned to my caravanserai, in the determination of pursuing my road to the capital as fast as I could. I did not even give myself time to call upon my other friends at Rom, or even to take a look at my former unhappy cell in the sanctuary; but, saddling my mule, I pushed on to the caravanserai of the Pul-i-dallak that very night.

I reached Tehran in the evening, and, in order not to see the spot in which the unfortunate Zeenab was buried, I made a deviation from my straight road, and entered by the Casbin gate. I was happy to remark that I was not recognized by the guards, who, when I was in office, were accustomed to show themselves on the alert at my approach. But indeed it was not surprising that the active, bustling, imperious nasakchi should not be known under the garb of the would-be humble and insignificant priest; so for the present I felt secure in my disguise, and I boldly took my way through the bazaars and the most public places of the city, where formerly nothing but my face was to be seen; and happy was I to find that no one recollected me. I inquired my way to the house of the Mollah Nadan, which was speedily pointed out, for he was a well-known character; but, on second thoughts, I deemed it more prudent and convenient to put up at a small caravanserai, situated near the house of my new master, than to present myself, late in the day as it then was, to him, upon whom it was my interest, by my looks and appearance, to produce the best possible impression.

Having taken good care of my mule, I slept soundly after the fatigues of the journey; and the next morning I repaired to the bath, where, having given a fresh tinge to my beard, and plentifully used the khena to my hands and feet, I flattered myself that in appearance I was precisely the sort of person likely to meet with success.

The mollah?s house was situated between the royal mosque and the quarters of the camel artillerymen, and near to the entrance of the bazaar, which, leading by the gate of the said mosque, opens at its other extremity immediately on the ditch of the Shah?s palace. It had a mean front; although, having once pa.s.sed through the gate, the small courtyard which immediately succeeded was clean, and well watered; and the room which looked into it, though only whitewashed, had a set of carpets, which did not indicate wealth, but still spoke the absence of poverty.

In this room was seated a wan and sickly-looking priest, whom I took to be the master of the house; but I was mistaken--he was in his anderun, and I was told that he would shortly make his appearance.

In order to make known my pretensions to being something more than a servant, I sat down, and entered into conversation with the priest, who, from what I could pick from him, was a dependent upon the mollah. He, in his turn, endeavoured to discover what my business could be; but he did not so well succeed, although the strange and mysterious questions which he put drew forth my astonishment.

?You are evidently newly arrived in Tehran?? said he.

?Yes, at your service,? said I.

?You intend probably to make some stay?? added he.

?That is not quite certain,? said I.

Then, after a pause, he said, ?It is dull living alone, even for a week, and Tehran is a city full of enjoyment. If there is any service that I can perform, I will do it--upon my eyes, be it.?

?May your kindness never be less! My business is with the Mollah Nadan.?

?There is no difference between him and me,? said he. ?I can facilitate any business you may have; and, praise be to Allah, you will be served to your heart?s content. We have at our disposal of all sorts and all prices.?

?I am not a merchant,? said I.

?There is no necessity to be a merchant,? said he; ?it is enough that you are a man and a stranger. You will find, be it for a year, a month, a week, a day, or even an hour, that you will pa.s.s your time agreeably; upon my head be it.?

I became more and more puzzled at his meaning, and was on the point of asking him to enlighten my understanding, when the Mollah Nadan, in person, entered the room.

He was a tall handsome man, about forty years of age, with a jet-black beard, glossy with fresh dye, and with fine brilliant eyes, painted with the powder of antimony. He wore on his head an immense turban of white muslin, whilst a _hirkeh_, or Arab cloak, with broad stripes of white and brown alternately, was thrown over his shoulders. Although his athletic person was better suited to the profession of arms than to that of the law, yet his countenance had none of the frankness of the soldier, but on the contrary bespoke cunning and design, while at the same time it announced good-humour.

I got up at his approach, and immediately presented my note from the mushtehed, whilst I did not venture again to sit. Having unrolled it, he looked at me and then at it, as if to divine what could be my business; but as soon as he had deciphered the seal, his face expanded into a bright smile, and he requested me to be seated.

?You are welcome,? said he; and then he asked me a series of questions concerning the health of the holy man, which I freely answered, as if intimately acquainted with him.. He read the note with great attention, but said not a word of its contents. He then began to make apologies for not having a kalian (a pipe) to offer me, ?for,? said he, ?I am not a smoker of tobacco. We, who rigidly uphold the true faith, reject all such luxuries, and mortify our senses. Our Holy Prophet (upon whom be blessings and peace!) has forbidden to his followers whatever intoxicates; and although tobacco be almost universally used throughout Persia as well as Turkey, yet it is known sometimes to obscure the understanding, and therefore I abstain from it.?

He continued to talk about himself, his fasts, his penance, and his self-mortification, until I began to think that I should pa.s.s my time but so-so in his house, nor enjoy the delights the priest had just before promised me; but when I compared his healthy and rubicund face, his portly and well-fed body, to the regimen which he professed to keep, I consoled myself by the hope that he allowed great lat.i.tude in his interpretation of the law; and perhaps that I should find, like the house which he inhabited, which had its public and private apartments, that his own exterior was fitted up for the purposes of the world, whilst his interior was devoted to himself and his enjoyments.

CHAPTER LIII

The mollah Nadan gives an account of his new scheme for raising money, and for making men happy.

When left to ourselves (for the priest soon after quitted the room), mollah Nadan, taking the mushtehed?s note from his breast, said, that he should be happy to receive me in his service upon so good a recommendation; and having questioned me upon my qualifications, I gave such answers, that he expressed himself satisfied.

?I have long been seeking a person of your character,? said he, ?but hitherto without success. He, who has just left us, has a.s.sisted me in my several duties; but he is too much of a _napak_ (an intriguer) for my purpose. I want one who will look upon my interests as his own, who will eat his bit of bread with me and be satisfied, without taking a larger share than his due.?

In answer to this, I informed the mollah that although I had already seen much of the world, yet he would find in me a faithful servant, and one ready to imbibe his principles; for (as I had already explained to the mushtehed) my mind was made up to leading a new life, and endeavouring under his direction to become the mirror of a true Mussulman.

?In that,? said the mollah, ?esteem yourself as the most fortunate of men; for I am looked up to as the pattern of the followers of the blessed Mahomed. In short, I may be called a living Koran. None pray more regularly than I. No one goes to the bath more scrupulously, nor abstains more rigidly from everything that is counted unclean. You will find neither silk in my dress, nor gold on my fingers. My ablutions are esteemed the most complete of any man?s in the capital, and the mode of my abstersion the most in use. I neither smoke nor drink wine before men; neither do I play at chess, at _gengifeh_ (cards), or any game which, as the law ordains, abstracts the mind from holy meditation. I am esteemed the model of fasters; and during the Ramazan give no quarter to the many hungry fellows who come to me under various pretexts, to beg a remission of the strictness of the law. ?No,? do say to them, ?die rather than eat, or drink, or smoke. Do like me, who, rather than abate one t.i.ttle of the sacred ordinance, would manage to exist from _Jumah_ to _Jumah_ (Friday) without polluting my lips with unlawful food.??

Although I did not applaud his tenacity about fasting, yet I did not fail to approve all he said, and threw in my exclamations so well in time, that I perceived he became almost as much pleased with me as he appeared to be with himself.

?From the same devotedness to religion,? continued he, ?I have ever abstained from taking to myself a wife, and in that respect I may be looked upon as exceeding even the perfection of our Holy Prophet; who (blessings attend his beard!) had wives and women slaves, more even than _Suleiman ibn Daoud_ himself. But although I do not myself marry, yet I a.s.sist others in doing so; and it is in that particular branch of my duty in which I intend more especially to employ you.?

?By my eyes,? said I, ?you must command me; for hitherto I am ignorant as the Turk in the fields.?

?You must know then,? said he, ?that, to the scandal of religion, to the destruction of the law, the commerce of _cowlies_, or courtezans, had acquired such ascendancy in this city, that wives began to be esteemed as useless. Men?s houses were ruined, and the ordinances of the Prophet disregarded. The Shah, who is a pious prince, and respects the Ullemah, and who holds the ceremony of marriage sacred, complained to the head of the law, the mollah bashi, of this subversion of all morality in his capital, and, with a reprimand for his remissness, ordered him to provide a remedy for the evil. The mollah bashi (between you and me, be it said) is in every degree an a.s.s,--one who knows as much of religion and its duties, as of Frangistan and its kings. But I--I, who am the mollah Nadan,--I suggested a scheme in which the convenience of the public and the ordinances of the law are so well combined, that both may be suited without hindrance to either. You know it is lawful among us to marry for as long or as short a time as may be convenient; and in that case the woman is called _muti_.

?Why then,? said I to the chief priest, ?why not have a sufficient number of such like wives in store, for those who know not where to seek for a companion? The thing is easy to be done, and Nadan the man to do it.?

?The mollah bashi, who, though the cream of blockheads in all other cases, is very quick-sighted when his interest is concerned, caught at my idea, for he foresaw a great harvest of gain for himself. He consequently acquired possession of several small houses of little value, in which he has installed a certain number of women, who, through his interference, are married, in the character and with the privileges of muties, to whoever is ambitious of such a marriage; and as both parties on such occasion pay him a fee, he has thus very considerably increased his revenues. So eagerly do the people marry, hat he has several mollahs at work, wholly engaged in reading the marriage ceremony. He has entirely excluded me from any share in his profits,--I who first suggested the plan; and therefore I am determined to undertake the business myself, and thus add to the public convenience. But we must be secret; for if the mollah bashi was to hear of my scheme, he would interpose his authority, overthrow it, and perhaps have me expelled the city.?

During this exposure of the mollah?s plans, I began to look at him from head to foot, and to question within myself whether this in fact could be the celebrated pillar of the law, of whom the mushtehed, good man!

had spoken in such high terms. However, I was too new in holy life to permit any scruples against the fitness of such schemes to come across my mind; so I continued to applaud all that Nadan had said, and he continued as follows:--

?I have already three women in readiness, established in a small house in the neighbourhood, and it is my intention to employ you in the search of husbands for them. You will frequent the caravanserais, watching the arrival of merchants and other strangers, to whom you will propose marriage, upon easier terms than the chief priest can offer, and according to the riches of the bridegroom you will exact a proportionate fee. I shall not give you any wages, because you will have opportunities of acquiring such knowledge from me, that in time you may become a molla` yourseln, and show the0road toall truabelievErs in thu pracmices of`their dty. You will fiLd everything provided fnr you in my house; and4 now andthen, pportunidies wi|l offer0vor put|ing something honestly into yowr pockeT* Whene|er my friends cmme to see me, and when they taje theirsham (dnner) wkth me, bou will appear as my sepvant; on other Occasions you may sit bfore me,and acd as my ssribe.?

The enllah herE finirhed speaking, in`the exectationof hea"ing what I should say in answe2; but Ivas so bewilderEd by this vast bkeld of action hat he!had opejed to m view, that it 4ook me w.me minutes to recollect myselt. I, whf had expdcted to lead t`e life of a recluse, to sit in a corner all th5day lo*g, reading my Koran, or8mumblino prayec--to fbequent ldctures$in the _medresswhs_ (schools), and homilies in the mosuqes,--I in shor$, who n my ma|er expmcted tolave fnund a dm{piser of this world?s coods, and full of no otHir carethan tkqt of preparing$for the next,--f&a suddej was called upo/ to engcge more deeply in the usiness of life`|han before, anto follow thefootstets of a min who seemed to exist For no otjer purpose tha.`to amess wealV, and ecquire cmnsideration. ?Hnwever,I can b5t try,?

thoughT(I. My kirc.u.mstqjces were too dgsperate6to admit`of much hesitction; aod, aftep all, tv be thepupil ov one of the most celeb!ted men of theapitalh was a qktuatio not tobe desphsed; anE so I accepted0f the }ollah?soffer.

He then told me that ym shoul$ soon hawe some further`conversation, Wlich, for the present, le was ofliged t/ defer, because he was called pon to !ptend the chief$f the aw; but before he went, he mentioned,phat ashe abstakned frnm worldly pomp, he kept After cnnsiderable trouble,? said he, ?I have ma"aged to procure!c white one, whmch, you know, Is an animal thaT confers conside2ation n its rider; bdt, as mz businecs and my`dignitY increag, I intend to 0romote myself o a mul.? I didnot loce this kpportunity of iforming him thau(I had a very G.o.d one to disp{e of; and, afteV some gegotiation, it was dechded that we shou|d keep both mu and a{s; he, gs the dignitary,O riding the forker, wh)lst I snould be carrie` ebout of the hubler beast.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hqjji interviews 4he fair candid~es for0marriagi. 28.jpo]

CHAPTER LIV

Hajji`Baba becomes a promoter of matr)mony, a.d of the register he k%eps.

Prepa#atory t the fuhl comprEhension$of the tties o my office, the mollah Nadan rquested ie to itroducemyself to the m}ties, axd gain from them sufficient ingormationto enable me to make a register in w(ich I sHculd inqert thei ages, appearacce and Seauty, tumpers,and general quqlificatins as wives. Tjis I shOuld carry about me, in ovder to be able to exh{bit it to0any strEnger who might fall in my way.

I firkt went g the bazaar, afd furnihed mysulf with$a priesT?s cloa*, with ` coat dhat b.u.t.tons across the b2east, !nd a long piecepof white muslio, which$M twisted roundmy head. Thus aacoutredL in the`ull drdss of my new character,%I procGeded to Phe women?s houSe, and &ound a peady amission for thmy had bagn apprhsed of mq intenaed visi.

I found theo all three seaped in a0mean anl wretched apartm%nt, smking.

their vels weredlooselythrown cver their heads which,$upon myappearance, by$i habit common |o all our womene(they dew tigh over their faces, mer%ly keepMlg one eye free'

?Peqce be ufpo you, khanums!? said I (for I{new how an appearance /f [email protected] concilites)--?I am coiE, on the part og the mollah Nadcn, to make yow a tendmr of my humble Qervices> and pephaps, as you know the object od my viskt, you will not object Po lay your veils on oneside.?

?May you abide in peacu,? said they, ?ollah!/ and th%n gave }e to unferstand, ry many flattermg speeqhes, thA5 I was welcome,*and that they`hoped mq presene would bring taem goodluck.