The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan Part 37

?At length the old duenna taking courage, looked boldly into the reservoir, and to her surprise she there found a dead man. More screams and cries ensued, which having brought the chief priest?s wife to her senses, caused her to join the inspecting party. Little could be recognized of a floating corpse inflated with water, presenting various odd surfaces to the eye, and giving but little clue to discovery. At length the head and face appeared to view; and, as soon as the old duenna had applied her lamp to it, one and all cried out, ?O Ali! it is the mollah bashi; it is the mollah bashi!?

?The wife again fell into a trance; the slaves made their cries; in short, there was that stir amongst them, that one would have thought they had heard the ?blast of consternation from the trumpets of the resurrection.?

?But amidst all the wailing, which by this time had attracted every woman in the building, one of the slaves cried out, ?But it cannot be our Aga, for I saw him return from the bath, I made his bed, and I am sure he was soon asleep. It is impossible he can be in bed and asleep, and in the bath, drowned, at one and the same time. It must be somebody else.?

?This observation threw them all into greater consternation than ever, because they immediately felt that what the slave had seen must have been her master?s ghost. ?See,? said the wife,--who had again come to life,--pointing to the face of the corpse, ?I am sure this was my husband; there is the scratch I gave him but yesterday.? ?And there,?

said one of her servants, ?that is the place in his beard from which you plucked a handful of hairs.?

?These tender recollections threw the poor widow into a violent flood of tears, which were only stopped by her slaves a.s.suring her that the mollah bashi was still alive. ?How else could he have taken the lamp from my hand?? said the slave--?how could he have shut the door? how dismissed me? how snored?? So persuaded was she of the truth of what she said, that she forthwith dressed herself, and volunteered to go to her master?s bed-room, where no doubt she would find him asleep.

??But if he is there,? said one of the women, ?then what can this be??

(pointing to the corpse.)

??Why, this must be his ghost,? said another; ?for surely no man can possess two bodies,--one in which he lives, and the other by way of a change.?

??No,? said a third in a waggish tone, ?that would be quite new. He might then make the same use of them as he would of a town and country house.?

?All this time (many additional bathers having poured in) whilst those who were indifferent were speculating after this fashion, the chief priest?s women were uttering loud and piercing shrieks, particularly when the slave returned and informed them that no mollah bashi had she found, and that he had left no trace behind except the print of his body in the bed.

?The story had now got abroad, the bath was surrounded by a crowd, who pressed to gain admittance; and ere the women had had time to dress themselves, the place was full of men. Such a scene of confusion as then ensued had never before been witnessed in a public bath at Tehran. What with the wailing and lamentations of the women of the chief priest--what with the noise and cries of those who inveighed against the intrusion of the men--the clamour was excessive.

?At length the friends and relations of the deceased appeared, and, with them, the washers of the dead, who immediately bore the corpse to the place of ablution, where it was embalmed, and prepared for its journey to Kerbelah, for thither it was judged expedient to send it for burial.

?His widow at once avowed her intention of accompanying the body; and my mules,? added my informant, ?were hired on the occasion. The tent you see yonder is occupied by her and her slaves; and there,? pointing to the packages, ?lies the carca.s.s of her husband. The accompanying dead bodies are the remains of those who, both at Tehran and on our road hither, died about the time that this event took place, and are now sent to Kerbelah to be buried in the suite and under the protection of one who at the day of resurrection, it is hoped, may lend them a helping hand into paradise.?

Here the conductor stopped, whilst I, who had been struck by the latter part of his speech, became almost mute from fear. I felt that having endeavoured to escape danger, I had fallen into its very mouth. Were I to be recognized by the chief priest?s servants, some of whom I had known intimately, their knowledge of my person would lead to my discovery.

?But what happened after the corpse was carried out of the bath?? said I, anxious to know whether the clothes which I had left in one of its corners had been noticed.

?By the head of Ali!? said the man, ?I do not very well recollect. This I know, that many stories were in circulation; and every person had a different one. Some said that the chief priest, after being drowned, was seen in his anderun and went to bed. Others that he appeared the next morning at the chief executioner?s, and rode away with one of his best horses. The chief executioner himself shows a note of his, sealed with his seal, giving him permission to drink wine. In short, so many and so contradictory were the reports, that no one knew what to believe. All were puzzled to find out how he managed to get alive out of the bath (for that is attested by his servants, and by the master of the bath), and still remain in the reservoir. Difficulties continued to increase as fast as people argued, until a discovery took place which threw a marvellous light upon the subject. Some clothes were found in a dark corner of the bath. They were torn and in bad case; but without much difficulty they were known to have belonged to one Hajji Baba, a drivelling priest, and an attendant upon that famous breeder of disturbance, the mollah Nadan, the open and avowed enemy of the head of the law. Then everybody exclaimed, ?Hajji Baba is the murderer! without doubt he is the murderer of the holy man, he must pay the price of blood!? and all the city was in full search for Hajji Baba. Many said, that Nadan was the culprit; in short, messengers have been sent all over the country to seize them both, and carry them dead or alive to Tehran.

I only wish that my fate may be sufficiently on the ascent, to throw either of them into my hands; such a prize would be worth my whole mule-hire to Kerbelah.?

I leave every one to guess my feelings upon hearing this language; I who was never famous for facing difficulties with courage, and who would always rather as a preliminary to safety make use of the swiftness of my heels, in preference to adopting any other measure. But here to retreat was more dangerous than to proceed; for in a very short time I should be in the territory of another government, until when I promised faithfully to wrap myself up in the folds of my own counsel; and to continue my road with all the wariness of one who is surrounded by imminent danger.

CHAPTER LXIII

He is discovered and seized, but his good stars again befriend and set him free.

The caravan pursued its march early the next morning, and I took my station among the muleteers and the hangers on (many of whom are always at hand), in order to screen myself from notice. The litter with the chief priest?s widow, and her attendants, preceded the line of march, the camels with the bodies followed, and the remainder of the caravan, consisting princ.i.p.ally of loaded mules, spread itself in a long straggling line over the road.

I envied every fellow who had a more ruffian-like face, or a more ragged coat than my own; so fearful was I of being thought good-looking enough to be noticed. More particularly I dreaded the approach of the widow?s servants, for although I was dying to know if any of them were of my acquaintance, yet I carefully turned my head on one side, as soon as there was the smallest likelihood of their looking towards me.

The first day?s march had pa.s.sed over in safety; and I laid my head on a projecting part of the baggage, where I slept sound through the night. I was equally fortunate on the second day, and with so much confidence did this success inspire me, that I began to be ambitious of a.s.sociating with something better than a common mule-driver.

I had opened a conversation with one, who I was informed was an Armenian bishop; and had already made him understand how thankful he ought to be for being thus noticed by a true believer, when one of the much dreaded attendants rode by us, and in him I recognized the man who had endeavoured to palm off a muti upon me, upon my first introduction to the mollah Nadan. My heart leapt into my mouth at the sight of him.

The chief priest?s ghost, had it appeared, could not have frightened me more. I turned my head quickly on one side, but he pa.s.sed on without heeding me; so for this time I was let off only with the fright; but I resolved to return to my humble station again, and forthwith left the bishop to his own meditations.

On the following day we were to pa.s.s through the defiles infested by the Curdish banditti, when every one would be too much taken up with his own safety to think of me. Once having pa.s.sed them, we should no longer be in the Persian territory, and I might then claim protection of the Turks, in case I were discovered and seized.

On that eventful day, a day well remembered in the annals of my adventurous life, the caravan wore a military appearance. All those who possessed anything in the form of a weapon brought it forth and made a display. The whole scene put me in mind of a similar one which I have recorded in the first pages of my history; when, in company with Osman Aga, we encountered an attack from the Turcomans. The same symptoms of fear showed themselves on this occasion as on that; and I am honest enough to own that time had not strengthened my nerves, nor given me any right to the t.i.tle of lion-eater.

The whole caravan marched in compact order, marshalled by a chaoush and by the conductor, who, with the servants of the chief priest?s wife, formed a sort of vanguard to the main body. I, who had my own safety to consult for more reasons than one, huddled myself among the crowd, and enjoyed the idea that I was enc.u.mbered with no other property than the money in my girdle.

We were proceeding in silence; nothing was heard save the bells of the caravan, and I was deep in thought in what manner I might dispose of my ninety-five tomauns, on our arrival at Bagdad; when, turning up my eyes, I perceived the conductor and a well-equipped Persian riding towards me.

The conductor pointed with his hand to me, and said to his companions, ?_hem een est_, this is even he!?

?By the beard of Ali!? thought I, ?my good fortune has turned its back upon me.?

I looked at the conductor?s companion, whom I instantly discovered to be the very Abdul Kerim, from whom I had extracted the one hundred tomauns, at the village of Seidabad, by means of the letter which I had written in the name of the deceased chief priest.

I was about giving myself up for lost, when the conductor relieved me a little, by saying, ?You are the last man who joined our caravan: perhaps you can tell us upon what part of the frontier Kelb Ali Khan, the robber, is said to be at present.?

I answered him in a great state of perturbation; but kept my eyes fixed upon Abdul all the while, who also began to stare at me with those penetrating eyes of his, which almost turned my heart inside out. He continued looking at me like one in doubt, whilst I endeavoured to skulk away; but at length appearing to recollect himself, he exclaimed, ?I have it, I have it! it is the very man; he it was who laughed at my beard and stole the hundred tomauns.? Then addressing himself to the bystanders, he said, ?If you want a thief, there is one. Seize him in the name of the Prophet!?

I began to expostulate, and to deny the accusation, and probably should have succeeded to convince those who surrounded us that I was wrongly accused, when, to my consternation, the promoter of matrimony came up, at once recognized me, and called me by my name. Then my whole history came to light. I was denounced as the murderer of the chief priest, and this event produced so general a bustle throughout the caravan, that fear of the robbers was for a while suspended, and every one came to gaze upon me.

I was seized, my hands were pinioned behind my back, I was about being dragged before the chief priest?s widow to be exhibited, when my good planet came to my help and showed its ascendant. Of a sudden a great cry was heard at a distance, and to my delight I beheld a body of cavaliers rushing down the slope of an adjacent hill. These were the very Curds so much dreaded. The consternation was universal, the whole caravan was thrown into confusion, and resistance was unavailing when both heart and hand were wanting. Those who were mounted ran away; the muleteers, anxious for the safety of their cattle, cut the ropes of their loads, which fell and were left spread on the plain to the mercy of the marauders. The camels were also disenc.u.mbered of their burdens, and coffins were to be seen in all parts of the road. I remarked that the one containing the chief priest had fallen into a rivulet, as if fate was not tired of drowning him. In short, the rout was universal and complete.

I soon was left to myself, and easily found means to disengage my bonds.

I perceived that the Curds had directed their attention princ.i.p.ally to the litter and its attendants, where they naturally expected to find prisoners of consequence; and it rejoiced me to observe, that those whom but a few minutes before I had looked upon as destined to be the perpetrators of my ruin, and very possibly of my death, were now themselves thrown into a dilemma nearly equally disastrous with the one from which I was now relieved.

In vain the widow?s attendants threatened, swore, and bade defiance; nothing would soften their wild and barbarous a.s.sailants, who, under some lawless pretext of fees to be paid, began a regular pillage of such parts of the caravan as had not fled their attack. I again had an opportunity of ascertaining that my good star was prevailing; for now, whilst those who possessed any article of dress which might give respectability to their appearance became the object of the robbers?

attention, I and my solitary mule had the satisfaction to find ourselves so totally unworthy of notice, that we proceeded without molestation on the original object of our journey. I owned no corpse--I was not called upon to pay duty upon a dead relation--I was free as air; and as soon as I once found myself released from the thousand miseries which had arisen all around me, and which, as if by magic, had been as quickly dispelled, I went on my way, exclaiming, _Barikallah, ai talleh mun!_ Well done, oh my good fortune!?

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hajji meets Osman Aga again. 34.jpg]

CHAPTER LXIV

He reaches Bagdad, meets his first master, and turns his views to commerce.

Leaving the mollah bashi?s widow, her slaves, and attendants in the hands of the Curds, I made the best of my way to my destination; and caring little to hold converse with any one, after what had so recently taken place, I shaped my course in such a manner as not to attract observation.

Many stragglers, flying from the Curds, were to be seen on the road; but as they all, more or less, had interest in the fate of the caravan, they did not proceed far, but hovered about the scene of action, in the hopes of reclaiming either their friends or their property. I alone seemed to be totally independent, and by the time I had travelled two or three parasangs from the danger, I had the road to myself. Everything that had befallen me was turned over and over again in my mind, and I came to this conclusion, that powerfully protected as I seemed to be by fate, I might again turn my steps towards the paths of ambition, and hope that my last failure in the pursuits of advancement was to be made up by realizing a speedy and ample fortune.

?Ninety-five tomauns in my girdle, and all the world before me,? said I, ?is no insignificant prospect. And if Nadan be but blown from a mortar, and the chief priest?s widow detained and ruined by the Curds, I do not see why I may not put my cap on one side as well as the best man in Persia.?

At length the walls and turrets of Bagdad appeared in view, and I entered the city a total stranger, and ignorant of its localities.

Caravanserais I knew that I should find at every turn, and indifferent whither I bent my steps, or where I alighted, I let my mule take the road it liked best. Well acquainted with every street, the animal took me to a large caravanserai, where it no doubt had long been accustomed to resort, and there stopping, gave several loud grunts as it entered the porch, in the expectation of meeting its companions of the caravan.

Although disappointed, yet I was more fortunate (if fortunate I could call myself), in seeing some of my countrymen in the square, and I soon found out that this was their usual rendezvous.

My person, I flattered myself, could attract no notice, go where I might: but I was sorry to find it otherwise. Upon alighting I was a.s.sailed by a thousand questions--the caravan was hourly expected, the merchants were eager for the reception of their goods, and I might possibly give them some intelligence respecting it. I made such answers as were necessary for the occasion; but resolved within myself very soon to quit so inquisitive a society, and bury myself in obscurity. I accordingly left my mule to its fate, reflecting that its owner would very soon arrive and take possession of it, and straightway settled myself in another part of the city.