by Mika Waltari
“Who are you, Giulia, and what do you want of me?”
Startled she drew back, saying, “What ails you, Michael? You’re quite pale. Your turban’s on one side and you’re staring like a madman. If you’ve heard some foolish tale about me, don’t believe it. I would rather you came straight to me than lent your ear to unfounded slander.”
“No, no, Giulia. What could anyone say against you? It’s just that I cannot understand myself or discover what it is I want. Who am I, Giulia, and who are you?”
She wrung her hands and burst into tears.
“Ah, Michael! Have I not warned you a thousand times not to drink so much? Your head won’t stand it. How can you have the heart to frighten me so! Tell me at once what has happened and what the Grand Vizier had to say.”
At her urgent whisper I awoke from the strange trance. The walls of the room returned, the table was solid beneath my hand; Giulia too was a creature of flesh and blood and I could see that she was very angry. But I looked upon her as upon a stranger and in a clearer light than formerly. I saw deep lines about her eyes and a look of malign cunning hardening at her mouth. Heavy ornaments clinked at her wrist and throat and the necklaces had made red marks on the lifeless white of her bosom. I felt no longing to gaze into her eyes and there seek peace and oblivion, as I had been wont to do.
With a sensation of pain I looked away and said, “Nothing ails me, Giulia. I’m only tired after a somewhat exacting conversation with the Grand Vizier. But he trusts me and I think will give me much of Master Gritti’s former work. He expressed no opinion about the war, but he has not forbidden me to counsel peace. The cup of success is full to the brim, but why-ah, why is it so bitter?”
Hardly had I said this than I began shivering in every limb and realized that I was gravely ill. Giulia at first fancied that I had been poisoned in the Grand Vizier’s palace, but having recovered from the first shock she put me to bed and administered sudorifics. I had succumbed to the fever so prevalent in Istanbul; indeed it was a wonder I had escaped it so long. It was not dangerous, but was characterized by a very severe headache.
When Grand Vizier Ibrahim learned of my disorder he showed me the greatest kindness, sending me his own physician and causing an astrological table of diet and medicines to be drawn up for my use. He also visited me in person, thereby giving rise to much whispering in the palace. The result was that during the course of my sickness I received a number of presents of the kind that pass constantly from hand co hand in the Seraglio.
Giulia was overjoyed and talked unceasingly of these gifts and their givers, and of the presents that it was my duty to offer in return. The most sensible plan would have been to pass the same things on, since this was in no way contrary to accepted custom. But Giulia was incapable of letting anything out of her hands once she had firm hold of it, however ugly or useless it might be. Thus my illness proved very costly because of all the presents I must buy, while in the Seraglio speculation grew as to what could have become of all the great bronze urns, Nubians in armor, and other strange objects that had drifted about the Seraglio for years.
When at last I began to recover, Giulia showed herself kinder and more considerate than she had been for a long time, and taking my hand one day she said, “Michael, how is it that you talk to me less openly than you used top Has your heart been turned against me by some malicious rumor? You know what a nest of gossip the Seraglio is, and my close friendship with Sultana Khurrem has aroused such jealousy that it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the most terrible things were told of me. Believe none of it, my dear Michael. You know me better than anyone-you know how openhearted I am.”
Her needless suspicions saddened me and I answered kindly, “There’s no reason for my gloomy mood. It’s all part of my sickness and will soon pass. Forgive me, and try to be patient with me as always.”
In this I was not quite frank, having seen that to be loyal to Ibrahim I must behave with reserve toward Giulia. I was sure that she would pass on to Sultana Khurrem all that I told her, and thenceforth I was very circumspect. Hitherto my candor had been excessive, a fact that was to be of great advantage now, since Giulia had come to believe me incapable of concealment.
Mindful of the Grand Vizier’s advice I now began inviting poets and eloquent dervishes to my house-ragged fellows who cared little how they earned their bread so long as they might live untrammeled among like-minded companions. Though Mussulmans, they were much addicted to wine drinking, and were glad enough to accept my invitation. I fancy they even conceived a certain liking for me, for I was content as a rule to listen silently to their talk and their poems.
As I came to know them better I was astonished at their daring, for they did not hesitate to compose biting epigrams on the Grand Vizier’s vanity, the haughty silence of the Sultan, and the various errors of which other noted men were guilty. They even wrote ambiguous verses about the laws of the Koran. The Persian art of versifying they held to be supreme and many of them were diligent in translating Persian poems into the Turkish language. They trimmed and polished their works as a jeweler polishes stones, and when they hit on some new or startling piece of imagery they rejoiced as if they had found a treasure. Yet I could not take their skilled game as seriously as they did. To them the composition of a poem seemed as admirable and important as the conquest of a kingdom or a voyage into the unknown world; they even claimed that in the golden pages of history the names of bards would outlive those of eminent generals and learned interpreters of the Koran.
Their chief merit was never to be wearisome. Caring little for this world’s goods they could sprinkle their ragged cloaks with the gold dust of fantasy, and though ever willing to compose eulogies to order for the rich and powerful, yet the pleasure of the work was of greater value to them than rich reward, and if they hit upon some happy witticism at their patron’s expense they would rather forfeit his fee than omit the jest.
The friendship of these curiously free men came to me at a fortunate moment, for I was still unduly complacent over my position, my house, my riches, and my worldly success. It was good for me to hear their acid comments on jeweled girdles, plumed turbans, and silver-mounted saddles. A bright flower or a scarlet fish swimming through crystal water was for them as breath taking a sight as any diamond. When I attempted to explain that diamonds had other merits besides beauty, the poet Baki, who neglected both ablution and prayer, drew the corner of his mantle over his dusty feet and said, “Man possesses nothing. In the end it is rather things that possess man. The only true value of a diamond is the beauty hidden within it, and beautiful things can enslave as easily as ugly ones. Wiser therefore to love a tulip-cheeked girl from a distance, for to possess her may be to become her slave and lose one’s freedom, and loss of freedom is a slow death.”
Giulia could not understand what pleasure I could take in the company of these disreputable men, from among whom I very carefully chose a few whom I could count on as my friends. She spent many of her days and nights at the Seraglio and I was not inquisitive. Unknown to her I was preparing for the hour when the Sultan and the Grand Vizier would visit my house in disguise to pass the evening in the company of poets and wits, as they had been wont to do in Master Gritti’s house.
Sometime after this the Sultan was assailed by one of his heavy fits of melancholy, and the Grand Vizier sent me an agreed signal. Late the same evening there came a sound of knocking at my gate and two slightly inebriated men, their faces hidden under a fold of their kaftans, stepped inside declaiming verses to the porter. They were of course attended by a number of guards, but these together with two deaf-mutes remained outside the house. No greater proof of Ibrahim’s confidence could have been given me. I led my visitors into the house, where they sat down somewhat apart to sip wine and listen to a learned dervish who was just then reading aloud his translation of a Persian poem.
But the others were too shrewd to be taken in by the newcomers and soon perceived that these were no ordinary gu
ests. It would have been insulting if they had not, for Ibrahim rightly considered himself the finest-looking man in the Ottoman Empire, while Sultan Suleiman was equally assured that his own demeanor betrayed him for the nobleman he was, despite the mask he held before his face. But my guests had sense enough to feign ignorance. At his request they addressed the Sultan as Muhub the poet, and pressed him eagerly to read aloud his verses. He demurred for some time, but at length drew out a roll of paper covered with beautiful script and read from it in a musical voice. His hands shook as he did so, for he believed himself unrecognized and knew that he was in the presence of the foremost experts in the city. It was evident that he feared their candid criticism. So far as I could judge his work had no other fault than a slight verbosity, a slight monotony, and a slight touch of the commonplace, at least in comparison with Baki’s allusive, whimsical style.
His hearers expressed courteous appreciation, but no more, their self- respect as poets not permitting them to fawn even on the Sultan where their art was concerned. They raised their goblets to Muhub and praised him until a frank smile of delight overspread the Sultan’s pallid face. But Baki, the young and unabashed, added, “With a liberal hand Muhub the poet has cast pearls and gold before us, and to listen now to anything inferior would be most unbecoming. But if anyone of us can play an instrument we might in that manner venture to compete further with the incomparable Muhub.”
I fancy that all he meant by this flowery speech was that he could bear no more of the Sultan’s stilted poems and hoped that Ibrahim would pick up his famous violin. It was not to be expected, however, that Suleiman should catch the fine irony of Baki’s remark. He eagerly assented and begged Ibrahim to play. None of us had reason to regret it, for when Ibrahim, having first drunk a little wine, filled the room with his marvelous music, all the passion, joy, and longing of our fleeting lives sang to us in every cadence, until I trembled and could not restrain my tears. Even Baki wept aloud.
I need speak no more of that night. It passed away in a sedate and seemly manner, and when the guests became unduly drunk the Grand Vizier took his violin again to quieten them with his playing. No one fell asleep but Muxad-tseleb, who indeed understood little of music. The rest of us were in the gayest possible mood, and when the stars began to pale we carried Murad-tseleb out and dropped him into the fishpond to sober him, Baki holding his head above water by the beard. The keeper of the fish, roused by the shouts and splashings, dashed from his hut in only his loincloth, to throw stones and curse us with the wild curses of his homeland, until we took to our heels and lost our slippers in the flower beds. Muhub the poet even lost his turban, and laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks.
But now in the gray light of dawn the mutes grew uneasy at their lord’s long absence and knocked upon the door. At the sight of these two dark-skinned giants we turned suddenly very sober, as if under a cold shower. Still breathless from the chase and soiled with earth from the flower beds, Muhub the poet scrambled into his carrying chair, and with great difficulty dragged the Grand Vizier in beside him.
Sultan Suleiman visited my home about a dozen times, and met there not only poets and wise dervishes but also French and Spanish sea captains and well-informed adventurers, most of whom had not the slightest idea who he was. In the presence of foreigners and unbelievers he remained silently in the shadows and was content to listen carefully to what they had to say, putting in a question from time to time about life and conditions in European countries.
Thus it was that I came to know Sultan Suleiman, called by Christians the Magnificent, though his own people named him merely the Lawgiver. No one is a prophet in his own country. And the better I knew him, the less he charmed me; the melancholy that held him prisoner made him wearisome company. With all his faults Ibrahim remained a man among men, whereas the Sultan withdrew himself into his secret solitude, seemingly as remote from his fellow creatures as heaven is from earth.
Perhaps it was this that caused him suffering and overwhelmed him at times with that restless, gnawing fear. Because of the suspicions of his father he had lived for much of his youth in the shadow of a lurking death, when every night he lay tensely awaiting the coming of the mutes. It seemed to me that this unnaturally passionate friendship for the Grand Vizier had something in it of compulsion, as if by showering favors upon Ibrahim and investing him with limitless power he sought to convince himself that there was at least one man in the world whom he could trust.
The longer I think about Sultan Suleiman the more clearly do I perceive how little I know of his inner nature and thoughts. As lawgiver he made life easier and pleasanter for his subjects than it had formerly been-certainly better than it was in Christendom. His own slaves were the exception, for although they were free to essay the steep ladder to power they never knew whether a horsehair switch or a silken noose awaited them at the top.
My own position as the Grand Vizier’s confidant was singular. As a rule I would visit him after dark, entering the palace by a side door or through the servants’ entrance. Yet it was common knowledge in the Seraglio that petitions and reports could be most rapidly conveyed to the Grand Vizier through me. It was a mystery to everyone therefore how my wife Giulia could come and go in the harem as freely as if she lived there, how she could enjoy the Sultana’s favor, foretell the future for her and her ladies, make purchases for them in the bazaar, and-no doubt for a handsome consideration-obtain audiences with the Sultana for certain wealthy Greek and Jewish women.
Little wonder that the strangest stories about me began circulating in the Seraglio and the foreign quarter. Sometimes my influence was exaggerated, sometimes I was said to be harmless because I frequented poets and learned dervishes. When I began to receive Christian adventurers in my house my fame spread to the West and even as far as the Imperial Court. The Christians who visited me came either on secret missions, or to investigate the chances of entering the Sultan’s service, or again to establish profitable business connections in Istanbul. More than once 1 was able to do these men substantial services, and it was told of me that although I accepted presents the information I gave was strictly accurate.
It was of course natural for me to accept presents from both friends and enemies, as did every influential man in the Seraglio, for without offering them no suppliant could ever dream of gaining an audience. It was by no means an official’s salary that determined his position or the regard in which he was held, and the presents that his appointment brought him constituted by far the greater part of his regular income. The Grand Vizier himself accepted gifts, even from King Ferdinand’s envoys, these presentations being openly made and regarded merely as a courteous acknowledgment of his high station.
Because of my special duties I received many presents in secret, though for my own sake I rendered an accurate account of these to the Grand Vizier. This the givers had no notion of, and because I was apparently so easy to bribe I earned a bad reputation among Christians, who fancied that their gifts were the price of the favors done them. But thanks to Ibrahim’s liberality my conscience remained clear and I never succumbed to the temptation of deceiving him.
I may mention that the Christians threw their money about very foolishly in seeking to steer Ottoman politics in a direction favorable to themselves, and in return were often kept dangling with empty words and fair promises. Not until they were on their way home would it dawn on them to what extent the wool had been pulled over their eyes. Official ambassadors were as a rule royally received. Throughout their stay in Istanbul they were attended by a brilliant suite and a special guard of janissaries; houses and servants were assigned to them and as much as twenty ducats daily allowed them for subsistence, and they were frequently received in audience by the Grand Vizier, who was a master of procrastination.
At long last the envoys would be ushered into the golden-colonnaded chamber of the Divan, though not until they had first been dazzled by a display in the janissaries’ courtyard. Here elephants with gilded
tusks were to be seen, and the magnificent procession of the viziers and their retinue. Dazed and bewildered by these splendors they found themselves bowing before the Sultan-a sultan seated upon a pearl- incrusted throne. With every breath the thousand jewels of his golden robe winked and flashed, and the ambassadors soon perceived how highly they were honored in being permitted to kiss that jeweled hand and listen to the meaningless compliments with which Suleiman was pleased to greet them. Throughout their stay in Istanbul they had felt entangled in the meshes of an invisible net; at best all they received was a signed letter from the Sultan to take home with them, and they had soon to confess that the document was worth no more than the embroidered purse in which it lay.
Such was the treatment meted out to official negotiators, and matters were no better when the Grand Vizier consented to come to my house and there, over a cup of wine, interview some Spanish nobleman or Italian adventurer who at the Emperor’s behest sought a private audience. Through such agents Charles V sought to feel the Grand Vizier’s pulse on the question of the partition of the world. By boasting of his influence with the Sultan, Ibrahim would lead his opponent on to reveal his true motives and aims. Yet however warmly he appeared to approve the proposals he was careful never to commit himself. The Sultan himself made no pronouncements, and where this subject was concerned would have nothing whatever to do with foreign spokesmen. Nevertheless he was always intensely interested to discover through the Grand Vizier how far the Emperor was willing to compromise.
I believe that both Sultan and Grand Vizier sincerely wished for peace at this time, yet all the fumbling conferences came to nothing because neither side would trust the other. It was in principle impossible for the Sultan, as Ruler of the Faithful, to consider a lasting peace with unbelievers, since the Koran expressly forbade such a policy. And for his part the Emperor, like the cynical statesman he was, would naturally take the first opportunity of uniting the Christian countries against the Sultan regardless of fair promises and secret treaties, because he rightly saw in the Ottoman Empire a constant menace to imperial power and to Christendom itself.
