The Arab's Pledge Part 12

Ayoub, only too glad to find a listener, brightened up as he slung his long bridle round his neck, and let his horse follow his own pace, that his hands might be free to accompany his tongue. "Gently, child," this was to his horse, who knew as well as his master, that he had work before him, and had no intention of fretting. "Inshallah, I have seen things, as you say. El Suerah! Yes, I have seen El Suerah. The Nazarenes call it Mogadore, after the sanctuary of the Saint Sidi Mogdul (his peace be on us!). Well, before I went to the merchant's house, I said to my head, 'If Ayoub does not dress himself like a Kad, or a Taleb, the infidel will despise him, and I shall appear small in their eyes:' so I put on a turban of white muslin, as big as that," holding his hands a foot and a half from each side of his head, "then I put on a green caftan and a hayk, perfumed with sandal-wood, and followed by a boy with a present of dates and oranges, I went to the merchant's house. As I was going to enter, out comes a black soldier, who was sitting in the gate.

"'Where are you going in peace?' said he, he did not see whom he was speaking to, for his eyes were one half closed with fat, and the other half with importance.

"'Going,' said I, 'to see the merchant,' and I advanced.

"'Tell me who you are,' said he, 'and I will inquire if you can be admitted.'

"This set me laughing. 'Did I come to see the Sultan?' said I; 'when I do, I don't expect to find such a gate-keeper, so take your head from whence you brought it, and find a place to pray in.' And I pushed him out of my path. But my slipper-counter barred the doorway again.

"'You are not in the woods,' says he, quite furious, 'people's houses are not to be entered by force here, as you will find when you eat the stick, for all your turban is as big as a Cuscusoo dish.'

"I was beginning to lose patience. 'I tell you what, O dog of evil race, if we were in the woods, you would defile your beard in the dust, when you presumed to approach my presence; as it is, if you don't save your breath, and stop your tongue from wagging, I shall be compelled to shorten it an inch.' And I was thinking seriously of doing so, when the merchant, attracted by the dispute, looked over the upper gallery to know what was the matter. 'Is this the way, O merchant,' said I, 'that you treat your guests? Behold I come to seek the shadow of your tents, when this evil-eyed slipper-hunter, who calls himself a Moslem, presumes to stop me at the gate; and if it is by your orders, it is no credit to your hospitality,' The merchant looked at me with a peculiar smile.

"'Welcome, O my friend!' said he, in the tongue of the Arab. 'I always tell this slave of the Sultan, to distinguish people; he knows not the difference between a cat and a lion; you must forgive him.'

"I said to myself, 'If the Moslem is a fool, the Christian is wise, and can see through a turban.' Then the merchant took me into a beautiful room, with windows of gla.s.s, and tables of precious wood covered with china and crystal; and round the walls were mirrors, and pictures of houris, and everything fit for a Sultan; and I said to myself, 'O Ayoub!

hast thou not found the palace of Alla ed Din?' After I had looked about a little, the merchant told me to sit, and brought me a small table, with a back made of cane, and a bar for the feet; with such a turban on, what could I do? I sat down on it, and found it was a just fit, neither too small, nor too large, and I was afraid to move for fear of falling, so I put my hands down under my hayk, and held on by the sides of the chair. I began to think I was a 'father of the ears,' pa.s.sing myself for what I was not, and I doubted but the infidel thought so too; but I forgive him for laughing at my beard, for the lesson he taught me, as I had told him I was one of the palace guards from Marocco.

"While I was thus perched, like a water-melon on a plate, the merchant brought out a handsome gun, inlaid with silver and ivory, and gave it me to look at. My Arab blood could never resist a horse or a gun; off my guard, I stretched out my hand to take it, lost my balance, and down I came. The merchant sprang forward and saved my fall.

"'You have more cushions than chairs in the palace,' said he, 'but sit down on the carpet, and here are cushions.'

"I took his advice and sat down, praying that the inventor of such seats might be condemned to sit on one on the top of the highest mosque in the town, until I took him down. Well, presently came in another young infidel, with blue eyes, and the two began chirruping away like squirrels, then they gave me tea flavoured with ambergris, cakes, and hallows. When I had eaten G.o.d's blessings until I was ashamed, they brought me a little black box; and when I had it in my hand, one of them touched a nail, and (may I be protected!) it began to speak, when I threw it on the carpet, and jumping up, shook my clothes, and invoked curses on Satan, while the two unbelievers were rolling with laughter. I was about to escape, when they got up and begged me to stop, telling me it was only done by art, and not by magic. Then they made it begin again, and lo! as I listened, it warbled beautiful music, a hundred times more sweet than the song of the Oom el ha.s.sn or Zurzur. I sat with my hands upraised and my mouth open, exclaiming 'Adjaib! Wonderful!

Wonderful! G.o.d is great!' Then it stopped, and behold, I was still in this world! 'O merchant! G.o.d increase your blessings,' said I; 'there is only one thing you Christians cannot do, for you can do everything else.'

"'What is that?' said he.

"'O merchant, you cannot prevent death!'

"'We do not wish it, O Sheik; if we do not die, we do not go to heaven.'

"This made me stare: the infidel to go to Jinnah! with the true believer?

"'Would it not be better,' said I, 'to enjoy G.o.d's blessings in this world as long as we can, in case of missing the road to the other?'

"'G.o.d is merciful,' said he; so not wishing to hurt his feelings, I thought of the pig, and said nothing."

Yusuf, however, thought it as well to put in a word for infidels in general. "Yes," said he, "O Sheik! G.o.d is merciful, and is it not written in the gloss of the great Saint Abd el Kader Jilelly, 'Behold three sit at the gate of Paradise, Sidna (our lord) Mohammed, Sidna Moosa, and Sidna Aisa, and when one cometh and it is asked of him, 'What art thou?' he answereth, 'I am a Moslem,' and behold Sidna Mohammed openeth the gate and saith, 'Enter.' And another cometh and saith, 'I am a Jew,' and Sidna Moosa openeth the gate and saith, 'Enter.' And another cometh and saith, 'I am a Christian,' and Sidna Aisa openeth the gate and saith, 'Enter.' And a fourth cometh and saith, 'I am a Renegade, I have changed my faith,' so no one openeth unto him, he is accursed!"

"Did our lord, Abd el Kader write that?" said Ayoub, "wonderful is the mercy of G.o.d; but no doubt, in his days, Christians did not eat pig. But where was I? I remember. Well, then, the young infidel with blue eyes took me by the sleeve, and said, 'Come with me, and I will show you _such_ a horse as you have not seen in the Sultan's stud;' what could I do? I followed him with alacrity, so we went down into the court-yard, and oh, what a horse! I would walk three days' journey on foot to see such another; his coat was mottled like the ripple of the stream, his neck like a rainbow, his mane, like a curtain of silk, reached to his knees, eyes and legs like the antelope, and broad breasted like a houri; what can I say? I sat down by the wall and blessed him. He was as quiet as a lamb, but when the Christian mounted him he became like a lion, his eye saw everything, his ear heard everything, his hoof disdained everything, and as he paced along, I could have thrown myself under his feet, and let him walk over me.

"'You are a judge of horses,' said the merchant, 'what do you think of him?'

"'May evil eyes be averted from him,' said I, 'he is perfect.'

"And when I got on the subject (although not given to talking) I ran on about shoulders and pasterns, fetlocks and hoofs, manes and tails, eyes, nostrils, and genealogies, enough to fill a book, till the merchant was astonished, and must have thought I was a delal.

"'You have seen horses, O Sheik!' said he, 'but you have not learnt that it is safer to ride a horse that kicks than one you don't know.'

"I saw I was fairly found out, and was obliged to give up the game.

"'I have learnt, O merchant!' said I, 'that the eagle cannot fly with the wings of the ostrich; and if I had not been fool enough to curl my moustachios in a Kad's skin, I should not have deserved to have the beard of my father's son laughed at; Sheik Ayoub Sebae is not ashamed of his tribe, but in truth these Moors always measure a man by the size of his turban, and I thought you would do the same. Allaw Ackbar! what can I say more?'

"'Although I am a merchant,' said he, 'I don't measure a man with a cloth cubit; come to-morrow in your own dress and I'll show you more, that you have not seen. It is a little at a time, that the sheep gets into the stew-pan.'

"I found that out in time, and by degrees I got accustomed to that dress, and a dozen others, so that none could tell that I had not been born in them.

"I'll tell you another time how I escaped from the town of Teradant with the Kad's horse. But to go back to the merchant, I went the next day dressed as I am now.

"'G.o.d be praised, Sheik Ayoub!' said he, 'now you are a true son of the Desert, we shall be better friends.' (The slipper-counter did not stop me this time.)

"He brought me to a sofa, and we ate and drank, and praised G.o.d; and were as if we had been brought up in the same tent."

"And the pig! you did not eat that?" said Yusuf, laughing.

"G.o.d forbid!" said Ayoub, spitting on the ground. "I took an oath of him before eating that there was none in the food; besides he had a Moslem for a cook, and you know he would not touch it. Afterwards, he took me on board his ship, and showed me wonderful things, clocks, and watches, and guns without flints that never missed; matches to light without fire, pictures and astrolabes, and all sorts of wonderful things, till I got giddy with the motion of the ship, and we landed in a boat; I used to go to his house every day, and when I had sold my ostrich-feathers and gum from Soudan, and my camels were rested, and I was about to depart, I thought he would have shed tears; he gave me presents of gunpowder, and a cloth dress of blue, and fine tea, and this pair of pistols; and then he rode on the way with me, two hours' journey. Then he said, 'G.o.d be with thee, oh, my brother! and bring thee to thy tents in peace. And now, I beseech thee, if peradventure any of my countrymen should be shipwrecked on the Desert, or fall into the hands of thy people, that thou wilt be kind to them, and befriend them for my sake.'

I promised by the bread and salt that was between us, and we parted, and both went on our way sorrowful. How often I remember him, and pray that his house may be prosperous, and that he may be enlightened!"

Here Ayoub rested his chin in his hand in a fit of abstraction, and to recover his breath.

"Poor fellow!" he muttered, "yes, G.o.d is great. The English are good, the English are to be trusted; are they not sons of Sultans, oh, why do they eat pig? But now I remember, my friend, the merchant told me he never ate pig, and his cook a Moslem, I don't believe he ever did eat pig, Al hamdo l'Illah, I am sure the friend of Sheik Ayoub never ate pig! Alla Illah!"

"Now tell me," said Yusuf, "where we halt to-night, for we appear to be going the road I came?"

"True," said Ayoub, "we stop at the wells where the Cafila was plundered. That was a clever foray of Ali el Bezz, he brought in a fine booty without any loss; I wish he were with us, for, excepting Sidi Hamed, there is not a better head, or a surer hand on an expedition, between this and El Yemen."

The sun was casting its level rays against the Eastern sky when they reached the rocks, the scene of the late attack. Here they all bivouacked under the spangled canopy; there were two or three tents for the chief and some of the sheiks; of these one was allotted to Yusuf and his escort. After the horses were watered and picketed, Ayoub was sent for to the chief's tent, and returned with an Arab, carrying jars of milk, b.u.t.ter, dates, barley-cakes, and dried ostrich flesh, in strips.

"The chief sends you this poor supper," said Ayoub; "I told him flesh was not lawful for you if you did not kill it; so here are two fowls, you kill them according to your custom, and they are lawful to us; my uncle's son here will cook them; we mount with the moon's rising."

The night was calm, and the fires were beginning to blaze around as the Arabs collected in groups to cook their evening meal. Beyond the hum of a mult.i.tude there was very little noise, and as Yusuf and his host sat by their fire, in front of their tent, Yusuf reminded him of his promise to recount his adventures in Teradant.

"Oh, Sheik!" he said, "your adventures are like the Thousand and One Nights, when a man has heard one, lo, he asks for another."

"Bismillah!" said Ayoub, nothing loth to recount his exploits. "As you say I have seen things; let me recollect, it was when I was employed with the men of my tribe plundering the caravans and traders that frequented the market of Teradant with produce and merchandise; for all who did not pay us toll were not spared; have we not a right to custom from goods pa.s.sing our territories as well as the Sultan? and those who did not pay for protection made no profit by their ventures. So, you see, I had friends in the town who protected me for a share of the booty, and who would not have been long on G.o.d's earth had they dared to betray us; thus, O friend, I was in the habit of entering the town in disguise to obtain intelligence of the movements of the merchants. One of our friends kept a kebab-shop, where the sons of the town collected of an evening to eat kebabs, and drink sherbet, and hear the news; he made his force-meat of sheep's heads, and these when clean boiled were piled up at the end of the room. I have seen there several thousands; we formed a recess behind these with boards, communicating with the back room by a small door; and here have I often been cooped up watching the guests, and hearing all their plans and the value of their goods when they little thought the sheep's skulls had eyes in them. Another was a grain-merchant, and there I have been buried in barley up to my neck, with a fanega measure with a hole in it over my head, and heard who was going with money to the douars to buy grain. And, behold, were they not astonished when Sheik Ayoub met them on the Sahel with the salutation of peace, and asked one for the twenty pieces of gold that were in his camel's saddle, and another for the three hundred ducats sewn up in the right sleeve of his djilabea?

"One day riding with some of my band, a few miles from the town, I met a horseman in a fine hayk, and green velvet coat.

"'Peace to you, O Abdallah,' said I, 'where is my lord going?'

"'To you, peace,' said he; 'I go to the douar to buy a sheep.'

"'Has my lord a pa.s.s from Sheik Ayoub?' said I.

"'Am I a trader to need a pa.s.s?' said he; 'I am a poor man.'

"'G.o.d is merciful, O Sheik!' said I; 'as you are a poor man I will only take your nose-bag.'