The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan Part 46

?By the salt of your highness, by your death, and by the beard of the Shah, I am ready to go. No other word need be said,--I will go wherever you command, were it even to fetch the father of all the Franks from the inmost chambers of the world below.?

?Be it so,? said the vizier; ?and as the first step towards it, go at once to Mirza Firouz, flatter and a.s.sure him that he is the only man in Persia fit to be sent upon such an emba.s.sy, and persuade him of the advantages that will accrue to him. Honour, riches, the goodwill of the Shah, and my protection all will abound; and at his return, G.o.d best knows to what heights he may not ascend. Throw out hints that some other man, some rival, whom you may discover, has been talked of for the situation, and you will see how easily he will swallow the bait. Go, and Allah be with you!?

I left his presence scarcely knowing whether I soared in the heavens, or trod on the earth. ?What,? said I to myself, ?shall I then attain the summit of all earthly happiness,--shall my long past prognostics at length be fulfilled,--and shall I indeed enter my native place, clothed with the kalaat of honour, armed with the hand of power, and mounted upon the steed of splendour? Let those who once scorned Hajji Baba, the barber?s son, now beware, for they will have to deal with the Shah?s deputy. Let those crowns, which once submitted to my razor, now be prostrate, for he who can cut the head off is at hand. Ye that have deprived me of my inheritance tremble, for the power of making you restore it is mine.?

Indulging in such like feelings, I am aware that I strutted along the street with a swell and dignity of manner which must have surprised every one who saw me. I could think of nothing save my approaching honours; and my mind was riveted by the one idea of seeing myself mounted on a finely caparisoned horse, adorned by a gold chain round its neck, and a silver ta.s.sel under its throat, preceded by my led horses, and my running footmen, and greeted by a deputation from the governor of the city, to welcome my arrival in my native place.

However, I proceeded to the house of Mirza Firouz, whom I found prepared to converse on the subject of the emba.s.sy, because the English elchi had already made proposals to him to the same effect as those which the grand vizier intended to make. Although I had attached myself almost exclusively to the service of the prime minister, yet I persevered in my friendship with the intended amba.s.sador, who was glad to hear I was to accompany him. We talked long upon our future plans, as well as past adventures, and when, roaring with laughter, he asked whether I should now endeavour to regain possession of my faithless Shekerleb, I slipped away, not over-pleased to have that event of my life recalled to my recollection.

The next day, the Shah announced at the public audience his intention of sending Mirza Firouz to England as his representative, and the grand vizier ordered me to be in readiness to proceed to Ispahan, as soon as the proper firmans necessary to arm me with power should be prepared.

I will not tire the reader with a description of the numerous details of my preparatives for this expedition. He would sicken and I should blush at my vanity. It is sufficient to say that I travelled to Ispahan with all the parade of a man of consequence; and that I entered my native city with feelings that none but a Persian, bred and born in the cravings of ambition, can understand. I found myself at the summit of what, in my eyes, was perfect human bliss. Misfortune seemed to have taken its leave, and everything informed me that a new chapter in the book of my life was about to open. Hajji Baba, the barber?s son, entered his native place as Mirza Hajji Baba, the Shah?s deputy. Need I say more?

And here, gentle Reader! the humble translator of the Adventures of Hajji Baba presumes to address you, and profiting by the hint afforded him by the Persian story-tellers, stops his narrative, makes his bow, and says, ?Give me encouragement, and I will tell you more. You shall be informed how Hajji Baba accompanied a great amba.s.sador to England, of their adventures by sea and land, of all he saw, and all he remarked, and of what happened to him on his return to Persia.? But he begs to add, should he find, like Hajji?s friend the third dervish, he has not yet acquired the art of leading on the attention of the curious, he will never venture to appear again before the public until he has gained the necessary experience to ensure success. And so he very humbly takes his leave.

P.P.

THE END

FOOTNOTES.

[Footnote 1: It is perhaps almost needless to remind the reader, that the Mussulmans are divided into two inimical sects; viz. _suni_ and _shiah_; and that the Turks are of the former, and the Persians of the latter, persuasion. The Sunies hold, that Omar, Osman and Abubekr, were the lawful successors of Mohamed. The Shiahs a.s.sert that they were usurpers, and that Ali, his son-in-law, was the next in succession.]

[Footnote 2: This is the Persian pipe, made upon the principle of the Indian hookah.]

[Footnote 3: Officers whose duties are to find quarters for the pilgrims, establish the prices of provisions, make arrangements for their supply, regulate the hours of march, settle disputes, announce the time of prayer, etc.]

[Footnote 4: This takes place in the spring, when the sun enters Aries, and is called the No Ruz, or the new day. The festival is not of Mohamedan origin, and dates from very remote antiquity.]

[Footnote 5: By heel ropes is meant those fastenings which are used to secures horses in the East.]

[Footnote 6: The Turcomans, as well as the Turks, their descendants, are of the Suni persuasion: with them green is a sacred colour; but it is not so among the Shiahs.]

[Footnote 7: The word _Sultan_, which in Europe is generally used to designate the sovereign of Turkey, among the Tartars, Turcomans, etc., means captain or chief, and is given frequently to subalterns, as well as to those of higher rank.]

[Footnote 8: Banou implies a female head or chief; thus in the _Arabian Nights_, _Paribanou_, or more properly _Peribanou_ means the chief of the fairies. The King of Persia's princ.i.p.al wife is styled _Banou Harem_, chief of the harem.]

[Footnote 9: All cla.s.ses of Mohamedans shave the crown of the head. In Persia two patches of hair are left behind each ear by way of curls. In Turkey, a tuft is left on the very summit of the head.]

[Footnote 10: The Turks differ materially from the Persians in their tastes for women, the one admiring corpulency, whilst the latter show greater refinement, and esteem those forms which are mostly prized in Europe.]

[Footnote 11: The races that take place among the Turcomans and the Persians are intended to try the _bottom_, rather than the actual speed of their horses.]

[Footnote 12: The bread here alluded to is baked on small and convex iron plates, and when prepared is about the thickness of brown paper.]

[Footnote 13: Rustam is the fabulous hero of Persian history, so much celebrated in the _Shah Nameh_ as a paragon of strength and courage. His duel with Asfendiar, which lasted two whole days, is the theme of Persian romance.]

[Footnote 14: A parasang is equivalent to about three and a half geographical miles.]

[Footnote 15: A full-equipped horseman in the East generally carries with him an iron peg, to which is affixed a rope terminated by a noose, with which he pickets his horse wherever he may alight. The rope is b.u.t.toned to the fore-leg, whilst the peg is driven into the ground with a stone.]

[Footnote 16: A tomaun is the princ.i.p.al gold coin of Persia, worth about 14s.]

[Footnote 17: The dinar is the smallest denomination of money in Persia.]

[Footnote 18: Twenty-four grains make one miscal.]

[Footnote 19: The loves of these personages have been treated by various Oriental writers. Majnoun is looked upon as the model of a lover, and Leilah as the most beautiful and perfect of her s.e.x.]

[Footnote 20: In sketching the history of the poet Asker, the author has attempted to record part of the life of the late Fatteh Ali Khan, poet- laureate to the Shah, a most ingenious and amiable man, well known to the English who were at Tehran in the years 1812 and 1813.]

[Footnote 21: Seizing the skirt of a man in authority, or the heel ropes of his horses in the stable, are as great protection to a culprit in Persia as the precincts of a church are in Roman Catholic countries.]

[Footnote 22: It is no uncommon circ.u.mstance in Persia to find men of the lowest estate well versed in their poets. The Persians are eminently a poetical people.]

[Footnote 23: The luties are privileged buffoons, usually keeping monkeys, bears, and other animals.]

[Footnote 24: A ghauz is a small copper coin.]

[Footnote 25: A beard is held so sacred in the East, that every hair which grows upon a Mohamedan's chin is protected from molestation by a heavy fine.]

[Footnote 26: The mohteshib is an officer who perambulates the city, and examines weights and measures, and qualities of provisions.]

[Footnote 27: Twenty shahies make the groush, or piastre, which is worth about two shillings British.]

[Footnote 28: The felek is a long pole, with a noose in the middle, through which the feet of him who is to be bastinadoed are pa.s.sed, whilst its extremities are held up by two men for the two others who strike.]

[Footnote 29: Saadi, Hafiz, and the Koran, are the three books to which the Persians most willingly refer for this mode of divination. Its resemblance to that of the Sortes Virgilianoe must occur to every reader.]

[Footnote 30: A Persian letter is folded up like a lady's thread paper, and fastened in the middle by a slip of adhesive paper, which is moistened with the tongue, and then stamped with the seal of the writer.

Thus, letters are frequently opened and closed without detection.]

[Footnote 31: The stirrup, which is a sort of iron shovel, sharp at the edge, in Persia as well as in Turkey, is used by way of spur.]

[Footnote 32: The Persians have a particular aversion to horses which have white legs on one side, which they call _chup_; and they also very much undervalue a horse that has the _ableh_, which consists of white leprous marks on its nose, round the eyes, and under the tail.]

[Footnote 33: The chenar tree is a species of sycamore.]

[Footnote 34: This alludes to tapping in cases of dropsy,--an operation unknown among the Persians until our surgeons taught it them.]

[Footnote 35: Locman is the most celebrated of the Eastern sages, and is supposed by some to be the same as Aesop. The t.i.tle usually given to a doctor in Persia is Locman al zeman, the Locman of his day.]