The Pacha of Many Tales

by Frederick Marryat

  VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SEVEN.

  "Keoda shefa midehed--God gives relief!" cried the pacha, as the divanclosed: and, certainly, during its continuance many had been relieved oftheir worldly goods, and one or two from all future worldly thoughts orwanderings.--"What have we to-day, Mustapha?"

  "May your highness's shadow never be less!" replied the vizier. "Havewe not the slave who offered to lay his story at your sublime feet, onthe same evening that we met those sons of Shitan--Ali and Hussan, whoreceived the punishment merited by their enormous crimes? Have we notalso the manuscript of the Spanish slave, now translated by my faithfulGreek; who tells me that the words are flowing with honey, and theirmusic is equal to that of the bulbul when singing to his favouriterose?"

  "And the Giaour who relates his voyages and travels," interrupted thepacha--"where is he? No kessehgou of our own race tells stories likeunto his."

  "The Giaour is on the waters, your highness. He is a very _rustam_ onboard of a ship, and brings wealth to the _hazneh_ of your sublimehighness. He consulted the astrologers, and the stars were propitious.To-morrow I expect he will return."

  "Well, then, we must content ourselves with what is offered. Let theslave approach, and we will listen to his story, since we cannot havethe wonderful tales of Huckaback."

  "Whose dog was Lokman, to be compared to your sublime highness inwisdom?" replied Mustapha. "What are the words of Hafiz--`Every momentthat you enjoy, count it gain. Who shall say what will be the event ofany thing?'"

  The slave, who had been detained by the orders of Mustapha, was orderedto appear. During his confinement, Mustapha had been informed by hispeople that he was "visited by Alla;" or in other words, that he was amadman. Nevertheless, Mustapha--who was afraid to release a man (orrather, a story) without the consent of the pacha, and could not sendfor the renegade to supply any defalcation--considered that, upon thewhole, it was better that he should be admitted to the presence of thepacha.

  "You asked me to hear your story," observed the pacha, "and I haveconsented,--not to please you, but to please myself, because I am fondof a good story: which I take it for granted yours will be, or you wouldnot have presumed to make the request. Now you may go on."

  "Pacha," replied the slave, who had seated himself in a corner, workinghis body backward and forward, "it is the misfortune of those who notaware--of the excitement which--as I before stated to your highnessexceeds in altitude the lofty and snow-covered peak of Hebrus--and,nevertheless, cannot be worth more than four or five paras--"

  "Holy Prophet! what is all this?" interrupted the pacha; "I cannotunderstand a word that you say. Do you laugh at our beard? Speak moreintelligibly. Remember!"

  "I remember it as if it were now," continued the maniac, "although yearshave rolled away. Never will it be effaced from my recollection whilethis heart, broken as it is, continues to beat, or this brain may bepermitted to burn. The sun had just disappeared behind the ruggedsummits of the mountain which sheltered my abode from the unkindnorth-east wind: the leaves of the vines that hung in festoons on thetrellis before my cottage, which, but a minute before, pierced by hisglorious rays, had appeared so brilliant and transparent, had nowassumed a browner shade, and, as far as the eye could reach, a thin bluevapour was descending the ravine: the distant sea had changed itsintense blue for a sombre grey, while the surf rolled sullenly to thebeach, as if in discontent that it could no longer reflect the coloursof the prism as before, when it seemed to dance, with joy under thebrilliant illumination of the god of day--"

  "Poof!" ejaculated the pacha, fanning himself.

  "My boat was on the beach; my eyes were fixed upon it, in happy vacancy,until the shades of night prevented my discerning the nets which werespread upon its gunnel. I turned round at the soft voice of my Etana,who was seated near me with her infant in her arms, and watching thelittle one's impatience, as it would demand a more rapid flow of milkfrom that snowy breast, and the fond smile of the delighted mother, asshe bent over the first dear pledge of our affection. I felt happy--almost too happy: I had all I wished--yes I had,"--and the maniac pausedand smote his forehead, "but it is past now."

  After a second or two he resumed--

  "For my part it has always been my opinion that when the wind backs tothe south-east, the fish repair to the deep water; and if you will becareful when you gather the grapes not to throw in the stalks, that thewine will, as I before stated to your highness, only increase theextreme difficulty of ascertaining how far a man could conscientiouslydemand, that is to say, in proportion to the degree of intellect, statedat different intervals, and extending down the crags of the wholeravine."

  "I cannot, positively, understand a word of all this!" exclaimed thepacha, with irritation; "can you, Mustapha?"

  "How is it possible for your slave to comprehend that which is concealedfrom the wisdom of your highness?"

  "Very true," replied the pacha.

  "Your highness will understand it all by-and-bye," observed the maniac;"but it will be necessary that you wait until I have finished the story,when it will all reel off like a skein of silk, which at present butappears to be ravelled."

  "Well then," replied the pacha, "I wish you would begin at the end ofyour story, and finish with the beginning. Now go on."

  "There is nought under Heaven so interesting--so graceful--so pleasingto contemplate as a young mother with her first-born at her breast. Thesoft lisps and caresses of childhood--the expanding graces of thebudding maiden--the blushing, smiling yet trembling bride, all lose inthe comparison with woman in her beauty, fulfilling her destiny onearth; her countenance radiating with those intense feelings of delight,which more than repay her for her previous hours of sorrow and ofanguish. But I'm afraid I tire your highness."

  "Wallah el Nebi!--by God and his Prophet, you do indeed. Is it all tobe like that?"

  "No! pacha. I wish to Heaven that it had been. Merciful God!--whydidst thou permit the blow? Was not I grateful?--Were not my eyessuffused with tears, springing from gratitude and love, at the verymoment when they rushed in--when their murdering weapons were pointed tomy breast--when the mother shrieked as they tore away the infant as auseless incumbrance and dashed it to the ground--when I caught it up,and the pistol of the savage Turk put an end to its existence? I see itnow, as I kissed the little ruby fountain which bubbled from its heart:I see her too, as they bore her away senseless in their arms. Pacha, inone short minute I was bereft of all--wife, child, home, liberty, andreason; and here I am, a madman and a slave!"

  The maniac paused: then starting upon his feet, he commenced in a loudvoice:--"But I know who they were--I know them all, and I know where sheis too: and now, pacha, you shall do me justice. This is he who stolemy wife; this is he who murdered my child; this is he who keeps her frommy arms: and thus I beard him in your presence;" and as he finished hisexclamations, he sprang upon the terrified Mustapha, seizing him by thebeard with one hand, while, with the other, he beat his turban about hishead.

  The guards rushed in, and rescued the vizier from the awkward positionin which he was placed by his own imprudence, in permitting the man toappear at the divan.

  The rage of the pacha was excessive; and the head of the maniac wouldhave been separated from his body, had it not been for the prudence ofMustapha, who was aware that the common people consider idiots andmadmen to be under the special protection of Heaven, and that such anact would be sufficient to create an insurrection. At his intercession,the man was taken away by the guards, and not released until he was aconsiderable distance from the palace.

  "Allah karim!--God is merciful!" exclaimed the pacha as soon as themaniac had been carried away. "I'm glad that he did not think it was mewho had his wife."

  "Allah forbid that your highness should have been so treated. He hasalmost ruined the beard of your slave," replied the vizier, adjustingthe folds of his turban.

  "Mustapha, make a memorandum never again to accept an offer. I'mconvinced that a volunteer
story is worth nothing."

  "Your highness speaks the truth--no man parts readily with what is worthretaining--gold is not kicked up with the sandal, nor diamonds to befound glittering in the rays of the sun. If we would obtain them, wemust search and labour in the dark mine.--Will your highness be pleasedto hear the manuscript which had been translated by the Greek slave?"

  "Be it so," replied the pacha, not in the very best of humours.

  The Greek made his appearance and made his salutation, and then read asfollows:--

  MANUSCRIPT OF THE MONK.

  Recording the Discovery of the Island of Madeira.

  Before I am summoned to that offended tribunal, to propitiate which Ihave passed so many years in penitence and prayer, let me record for thebenefit of others the history of one, who, yielding to fatal passion,embittered the remainder of his own days, and shortened those of theadored partner of his guilt. Let my confession be public, that warningmay be taken from my example; and may the sincerity with which Iacknowledge my offence, and the tears which I have shed, efface it fromthe accumulated records of the willfulness and disobedience of man!

  In a few days this attenuated frame will be mingled with the dust fromwhich it sprung, and scattered by the winds of heaven, or by the labourof future generations, as chance may dictate, will yield sustenance tothe thistle which wars against the fertility of nature, or the grainwhich is the support of our existence,--to the nightshade with itsdeadly fruit, or the creeping violet with its sweet perfume. The heartwhich has throbbed so tumultuously with the extreme of love, and whichhas been riven with the excess of woe, will shortly pant no more. Themind which has been borne down by the irresistible force of passion,--which has attempted to stem the torrent, but in vain, and, since therage of it has passed away, has been left like the once fertile valleywhich has been overflown, a waste of barrenness and desolation,--willshortly cease from its wearied action. In a few brief days I mustappear in the presence of an offended, yet merciful Saviour, who,offering every timing, weeps at the insanity of our rejection. Let thenthe confessions of Henrique serve as a beacon to those who are inclinedto yield to the first impulse; when, alarmed at the discovery of theirerrors, they will find that conviction has arrived too late, and that,like me, they will be irresistibly impelled against the struggles ofreason and of conscience.

  I am an Englishman by birth: my parents were called away before I wasfive years old; yet still I have a dreaming memory of my mother--a faintrecollection of one at whose knees I used, each night, to hold up mylittle hands in orison, and who blessed her child as she laid him torepose.

  But I lost those whose precepts might have been valuable to me inafter-life, and was left to the guardianship of one who thought that, inattending to my worldly interests, he fulfilled the whole duty which wasrequired of him. My education was not neglected, but there was no oneto advise me upon points of more serious importance. Naturally of afiery and impatient temper,--endued with a perseverance which was onlyincreased by the obstacles which presented themselves, I encouraged anyfeeling to be working in my mind in preference to repose, which washateful. To such excess did it arrive as I grew up, that difficulty anddanger, even pain and remorse, were preferable to that calm sunshine ofthe breast which others consider so enviable. I could exist but bystrong sensations: remove them, and I felt as does the habitual drunkardin the morning, until his nerves have been again stimulated by arepetition of his draughts. My pursuits were of the same tendency:constant variety and change of scene were what I coveted. I felt adesire "to be imprisoned in the viewless winds, and blown with restlessviolence about the pendent world." At night I was happy; for as soon assleep had sealed my eyes, I invariably dreamt that I had the power ofaerostation, and, in my imagination, cleaved through the air with thestrength of an eagle, soaring above my fellow-creatures, and lookingdown upon them and their ceaseless drudgery with contempt.

  To a mind thus constituted by nature, and unchecked by counsel, it isnot surprising that the darling wish and constant idea was to roam theworld; and the vast ocean, which offered to me the means of gratifyingmy passion, was an object of love and adoration. If I had not the wingsof the eagle with which fancy had supplied me in my dreams, still Icould fly before the wings of the wind, and, as in my aerial excursionswhen asleep, leave no track behind. As soon as I had arrived at the agewhich allowed me to take possession of my property, I sought the elementso congenial to my disposition. For some years I continued theprofession, and was fortunate in my speculations; but I cared little forgain; my delight was in roving from clime to clime, flying before thegale,--in looking with defiance at the vast mountainous seas whichthreatened to overwhelm me,--in the roaring of the wind,--in the madraging of the surf,--in the excitement of battle, even in thedestruction and disasters of the wreck.

  It may be a source of astonishment that I arrived at the age of thirtywithout ever feeling the sensation of love; but so it was. This mostpowerful of excitements, which was so to influence my future existence,had not yet been called into action: but it was roused at last, and likethe hurricane, swept every thing before it in ruin and desolation. Iwas at Cadiz, where I had arrived with a valuable cargo, when it wasproposed that I should witness the ceremony of taking the White Veil.As the young woman who professed was of a noble family, and thesolemnity was to be conducted with the greatest splendour, I consented.The magnificent decorations of the church, the harmony of the singing,the solemn pealing of the organ, the splendid robes of the priests incontrast with the sombre humility of the friars and nuns, the tossing ofthe censers, the ascending clouds of frankincense, and, above all, theextreme beauty of the fair devotee,--produced feelings of interest whichI had not imagined could have been raised from any description ofpageantry. When the ceremony was over, I quitted the church with newand powerful sensations, which at the time I could not preciselyanalyse. But when I lay down on my couch, I perceived that, althoughthe splendour of the rites were but faint in my recollection, the imageof the sweet girl kneeling before the altar was engraven on my heart. Ifelt an uneasiness, a restlessness, a vacuum in my bosom, which, likethat in the atmosphere, is the forerunner of the tempest. I could notsleep; but, tossing from one side to the other during the whole night,rose the next morning feverish and unrefreshed.

  Following, as usual, the impulse of my feelings, I repaired to herrelative, who had taken me to witness the ceremony, and persuaded him tointroduce me at the wicket of the convent.

  As she had yet one year of probation previous to her taking the finalvows, which were for ever to seclude her from the world, in seeing herthere was no difficulty. Her duteous resignation to the will of herparents, her serene and beautiful countenance, her angelic smile,--allcontributed to the increase of my passion; and, after an hour'sconversation, I left her with my heart in a state of tumult, of which itis not easy to express the idea. My visits were repeated again andagain. In a short time I declared my sentiments, and found that I waslistened to without offending. Before I quitted Cadiz which myengagements rendered imperative, I obtained from her a reciprocalacknowledgment. And as there were still nine months to pass awayprevious to her decision upon a monastic life, before that period hadelapsed I faithfully promised to return and claim her as my own. As weprofessed the same faith, and she had only been sacrificed that thepossessions of her brother might not be diminished by the fortune whichher marriage would require, I did not anticipate any objections from herparents. I required no dower, having more than sufficient to supply herwith every luxury. We parted: our hands trembled as we locked ourfingers through the grating; our tears fell, but could not be mingled;our lips quivered, but could not meet; our hearts were beating withexcess of love but I could not strain her in my embrace. "In threemonths more, Rosina!" exclaimed I, as I walked backward from thegrating, my eyes still fixed upon her. "Till then farewell, Henrique!Relying upon your faith and honour, I shall not hesitate to cherish yourdear image in my heart;" and, overcome by her feelings, Rosina burstinto
tears and hurried from my sight.

  I sailed with prosperous gales, and arrived safely at my own country.My ventures were disposed of, I realised a large sum of money, hadcompleted all my arrangements, and in a few days intended to return toCadiz to fulfil my engagement with Rosina. I was in the metropolisimpatiently waiting for the remainder of the freight, to be put on boardof the vessel in which I had taken my passage, when one evening as I wassauntering in the park, anticipating the bliss of rejoining the objectof my affection, I was rudely pushed aside by a personage richlyattired, who was escorting two of the ladies of the court. Fired at theinsult, and as usual acting upon the first impulse, I struck him in theface and drew my sword--forgetting at the time that I was in theprecincts of the palace. I was seized and imprisoned: my offence wascapital; my adversary a relation of the king's. I offered a large sumfor my release; but when they found out that I was wealthy, theyrejected as I increased my offers, until I was compelled to sacrificeone half of my worldly possessions to escape from the severity of theStar Chamber. But the loss of property was nothing; I had still morethan enough: it was the dreadful length of my confinement, during whichanxiety had swelled hours into days, and days into months of torture andsuspense. I had been incarcerated more than a year before I couldobtain my release. When in my imagination I conjured up Rosina--lamenting my infidelity, reproaching me in her solitude for my brokenvows, and (there was madness in the very thought) yielding in herresentment and her grief to the solicitations of her parents, and takingthe veil,--I was frantic; I tore my hair, beat the walls of my prison,raved for liberty, and offered to surrender up every shilling that Ipossessed.

  "By the beard of the Prophet this tires me," exclaimed the pacha."Murakhas, you are dismissed."

  The Greek slave bowed, and retired.

  END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.