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'Hajji,' said he, 'give me your ear. I have things of importance to impart, and as I look upon you as one exclusively mine, I am sure that you will listen to them with becoming attention.'
I was proceeding to make the necessary protestations of my entire devotedness, when he stopped me, and proceeded thus:—
'Well or ill, our business with the English ambassador is at length concluded, and the Shah has ceded to his wishes of sending an ambassador to England in return. Now, you know the Persians as well as I, how they detest leaving their own country, and the difficulty I shall find in selecting a man to devote himself to this service. I have one in my eye, whom I wish to send above every other; and as it is of the utmost importance to me that he should be removed for the present from Persia, and particularly from the presence of the Centre of the Universe, I require that you use your best endeavours to persuade his acceptance of the appointment.'
I immediately felt assured that he could mean no other than me, although I did not see what reason he could have for removing me from the presence of the king; and elated by so bright a prospect of sudden elevation to rank and honours, I sprung towards him, and seizing his hand with fervour to kiss, I exclaimed, 'The least of your slaves will always prove to be the most faithful of your servants: speak, and you will always find me ready, even to death.'
'That is well spoken,' said he, with great composure, 'and now listen to me. The man I allude to is Mirza Firouz' (here my countenance fell, and I drawled out in answer a long 'belli, yes'). 'The truth is, I have lately discovered that his influence with the Shah has been considerably upon the increase. He possesses such great volubility of speech, and such vast command of language,—he flatters so intensely, and lies so profoundly,—that the king is more amused by him than by any other man of his court. Who knows how far he may go? Besides, I am assured that secretly he is my most bitter enemy, whilst openly he affects to be my most devoted of servants; and although to this day I have never for a moment dreaded the hatred or the intrigues of any one, yet I cannot but own, that, in this instance, I am not without my fears. By sending him among the infidels, as the Shah's representative, I at once cut off the source of my uneasiness; and once let him be gone, I will so arrange matters, that even should he return successful from his mission (which, please God, he never may!) he shall never acquire the influence over the Shah which he is now attempting to establish.'
I agreed to all he said with hesitation; and was losing myself in the reflection how I could possibly turn this piece of confidence to my own advantage, when the vizier accosted me again, and said:—
'I have only let you into one part of my scheme: the second object is, that you, Hajji, should accompany the ambassador in the capacity of his first mirza, or chief secretary. You, who are my friend and confidant, who know all my wishes, and who have an intimate knowledge of all that has occurred since the arrival of the infidels, you are precisely the man to fill this situation, and you will render me the greatest of services by accepting my proposal.'
However delighted I might have been at the prospect of becoming the chief of an embassy, yet when I was offered the inferior appointment, my feelings were very different. I felt that in quitting the situation I now enjoyed, I should leave the high road to preferment, to get into one of its crooked lanes. Besides, I strongly participated in the national antipathy, the horror of leaving one's country, and particularly dreaded the idea of going to sea; and when I came to reflect that the country to which I was likely to be sent was unknown land,—a land situated in eternal darkness, beyond the regions of the sun, and whose inhabitants were an unclean and unbelieving race,—I drew back from the vizier's offer with the fear of one who had the gulf of perdition placed before him.
The answer I made to the prime minister was by a string of cold assents, such as constantly hang on every Persian's lips, whatever may be his real feelings. I said, 'By my eyes; I am your servant; my ear is in your hand; whatever you ordain I am bound to obey'; and then remained mute as a stone.
The vizier easily discovered what passed within me, and said, 'If you dislike my offer, you are your own master, and another may easily be found to accept it. I have your advantage in view as well as my own. In the first place, you should immediately proceed to Ispahan, as the Shah's deputy, to collect a considerable portion of the presents intended to be sent by our court to the King of England, and which must be levied upon the inhabitants of that city. You would then have an opportunity of enriching yourself.'
I did not let the vizier proceed further. The temptation of returning to my native place in such a character, clothed with such powers, was too great to be withstood, and in a very altered tone I immediately exclaimed, with great earnestness:—
'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 assure him that he is the only man in Persia fit to be sent upon such an embassy, 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, God 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 tassel 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 embassy, 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 ambassador, 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 ambassador 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 assert 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 principal wife is styled Banou Harem, chief of the harem.]
[Footnote 9: All classes 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 buttoned to the fore-leg, whilst the peg is driven into the ground with a stone.]
[Footnote 16: A tomaun is the principal 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 sex.]
[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 circumstance 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 passed, 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 title usually given to a doctor in Persia is Locman al zeman, the Locman of his day.]
[Footnote 36: Isauvi, a follower of Jesus.]
[Footnote 37: This is the most approved form of speech among well- educated Persians whenever any allusion to the mysteries of the harem is intended.]
[Footnote 38: A piastre is about two shillings.]
[Footnote 39: This dye is used throughout the whole of Asia, and produces a strong orange or auburn colour. The Persians dye the whole of their hands as far as the wrist with it, and also the soles of their feet. The Turks more commonly only tinge the nails; both use it for the hair.]
[Footnote 40: The Yezeedies are a tribe of the Curds, who are said to worship the devil.]
[Footnote 41: The Persians give the most magnificent names to their negro slaves. Thus Nur Jehan means "light of the world."]
[Footnote 42: Khanum is the title usually given to a Persian lady, and is equivalent to "madam."]
[Footnote 43: The priest is so called who invites the Mohamedans to prayers from the minaret, or from the roof of the mosque.]
[Footnote 44: This no doubt relates to certain mysterious and obscene customs which are said to be practised among the Yezeedies, at the village of Kerrund, in the Curdistan, and peculiar to the tribe of Nusiri, commonly called Chiragh Kush, or lamp extinguishers. Antiquarians pretend in them to trace a resemblance to the abominable worship of Venus, as practised by the Babylonians, and recorded in Herodotus, book i. sect. cxcix.]
[Footnote 45: The cherkajis (literally wheelers about) in Oriental armies are skirmishers, who are thrown out from the main body to engage in the fight, and are generally esteemed the most expert horsemen and the best soldiers.]
[Footnote 46: The point to which the Mohamedans turn in prayer.]
[Footnote 47: Light of the world. The Persians are apt to give high- sounding names to their slaves, and particularly to the guardians of their women.]
[Footnote 48: Aga is used in the sense of master.]
[Footnote 49: The surme is a collyrium.]
[Footnote 50: The sham is, in truth, the evening meal, and is served up at sunset.]
[Footnote 51: The ceremony of the pahendaz consists in spreading rich stuffs for the king to walk upon.]
[Footnote 52: This is an ancient Persian custom, and is supposed to secure good fortune—sweetness, and consequently sugar, being an emblem of felicity.]
[Footnote 53: The musnud, in Eastern acceptation, is, in fact, the throne; but on occasions such as the one here described the mode of making a musnud is to double up a thick carpet, by which means there is only room for one person to be seated upon it.]
[Footnote 54: Catherine II. is so styled by the Persians.]
[Footnote 55: Kizzil Bash, or Red Head, is a sort of nickname given from old times to the Persians.]
[Footnote 56: The inner, or women's apartment.]
[Footnote 57: Mumiai and pahzer are antidotes in which the Persians have great faith. Our bezoar is evidently a corruption of pahzer.]
[Footnote 58: This is a Persian idiom, and is intended to denote the fascinations of a brunette.]
[Footnote 59: The jika is an upright ornament worn in front of the crown, and is an insignia of royalty.]
[Footnote 60: Roast meat.]
[Footnote 61: So Hippocrates is called in Persia.]
[Footnote 62: The gate of the palace, where public business is transacted.]
[Footnote 63: Perhaps the description of this personage will bring to the recollection of those who were in Persia in the years 1813 and 1814 the character of the nasakchi bashi of that day.]
[Footnote 64: Luti here is used in the sense of polisson.]
[Footnote 65: Celebrated heroes in the Shah Nameh, a book which is believed, by the present Persians, to contain their ancient history.]
[Footnote 66: Strict Mussulmans hold silk unclean.]
[Footnote 67: In the direction of Mecca.]
[Footnote 68: The third month in the Arabic calendar.]
[Footnote 69: A ghez is not quite a yard.]
[Footnote 70: Shir bi pir—a lion without a saint, is a favourite Persian epithet, when applied to a desperado, a fellow without compassion.]
[Footnote 72: A maun is seven pounds and a half; a miscal, twenty-four grains.]
[Footnote 73: The Shah's great diamond, which he wears in one of his armlets, is called the koh nur, or the mountain of light.]
[Footnote 74: The camel tie is made by fastening the lower and upper limb of one of the forelegs together, which is done to prevent an unruly animal from straying from the pasture ground.]
[Footnote 75: It is supposed that the instruments here alluded to were hand-grenades.]
[Footnote 76: Hassan Khan Serdan, the governor of Erivan, was said to have attacked Armenian villages in the manner here described, by throwing grenades into the houses from the orifice at the top.]
[Footnote 77: This is a circumstance which is said to have really happened.]
[Footnote 78: I.e. Mecca, to which all Mohamedans turn in their prayers.]
[Footnote 79: Khon-khor, literally "blood-drinker"; so the Sultan of Roum, or Turkey, is styled in Persia.]
[Footnote 80: The kabob shops at Constantinople are eating-houses, where, at a moment's notice, a dish of roast meat, and small bits of meat done on skewers, are served up to whoever asks for them.]
[Footnote 81: So the Persians call Freemasons, about whom they are very inquisitive.]
[Footnote 82: Sheikh Attar and Jelaledin Rumi are the two great doctors of the Sufies.]
[Footnote 83: A mollah who is a schoolmaster is also styled ahkon.]
[Footnote 84: It is a popular belief that near the city of Kashan there exists a well of fabulous depth, at the bottom of which are found enchanted groves and gardens.]
[Footnote 85: A real is about two shillings—eight reals one tomaun.]
[Footnote 86: Peder sukhteh is the most common term of abuse in a Persian's mouth. It implies "one whose father is burning in eternal fires."
[Footnote 87: Quarantine, we presume, is meant here.]
[Footnote 88: The word rishweh, "bribery," is also used for "manure" in agriculture.]
Printed by R.& R. CLARK, Edinburgh
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