Part 14 (2/2)
As soon as she was gone I sat down on the saave ht ?So,? said I totwo kernels in one almond? Well, if such be the world, then what I have been taken up with for these two last htas the sun andthin, and burning like charcoal, and_kabob_[60] of our hearts But ?tis clear that hed at The Shah caotten in an instant, and Zeenab took upon herself the airs of royalty?
I passed a feverish night, and rose early in the , full of new projects In order to reflect more at my ease, I determined to take a ithout the city walls, but just as I had stepped from the house, I met Zeenab mounted on a horse, finely caparisoned, conducted by one of the royal eunuchs, and escorted by servantsway for her to pass
I expected, that at the sight of me she would have lifted up the flap of her veil; but no, she did not even move from her perpendicular on the saddle, and I walked on, more determined than ever to drive her fro ate of the city, I followed her, and was led on ireat square, which is situated iate, I found it filled with cavalry, passing muster, or the _soum_, as it is called, before the Shah in person, as seated in the upper room over the porch I lost Zeenab and her conductor in the croere peruards
The current ofon before me The troops now under examination consisted of a body of cavalry under the command of Namerd Khan, the chief executioner, as present, dressed in cloth of gold, with the ena in the sun, and er The revieas quite new to azed upon the horses and the horsemen, the spears and thethe Turcoed in active life The troops to be revieere stationed on one side of the square The secretary at ith his six scribes were placed in the isters: two criers were also present, the one ith a loud voice, called out the na _hazir_ (present) as soon as he had passed muster Whenever a name was called, a cavalier, completely equipped, dashed from the condensed body, and crossed the square at the full speed of his horse,a low obeisance as he passed the Shah; and this ceremony was performed by each man until the whole were reviewed Many and various were the appearance of the horse like Rustams, whilst others, who had perhaps borrowed a beast for the occasion, went hobbling through as if the day of battle had already taken place I recognizedthe anied his horse forwards, when, by some fatal accident, the beast fell just as they were about passing the high pole which is erected in the reat violence against the foot of it He was ih the crowd So to the Shah?s physician, invited e of hinorance, I did not hesitate to put on the airs of a doctor I found the unfortunate round, apparently without life Those who surrounded hi water down his throat, ?in the na a pipe up his nose in order to awaken hi his body and limbs, to promote circulation As soon as I appeared, these different operations were suspended, and, rooreat sole uplifted faces seemed to solicit a decision, I declared, with emphasis, that he had been struck by fate, and that life and death were norestling with each other who should have hi prepared my hearers for the worst, I ordered, as a preliminary to other remedies, that the patient should be well shaken, in order to discover if life was in him or no No prescription was ever better administered, for the crowd almost shook hi again, when a cry was heard in the crowd, _Rah bedeh_, give way: _Ser hisab_, heads, heads! and the Frank doctor (of whose skill I have before given so been sent by his a seen the patient, he cried out, ?Take blood instantly! you must not lose a moment?
I, who now felt nity of the Persian faculty, and give proofs of my superior wisdom, said, ?Take blood! what doctrine is this? Do not you know that death is cold, and that blood is hot, and that the first principle of the art is to apply warm remedies to cold diseases? Pocrat,[61] who is the father of all doctors, has thus ordained, and surely you cannot say that he eats his own soil If you take blood froo tell the world that I say so?
?As for that,? said the Frank, who had now examined it, ?we may save ourselves any further trouble: it is dead already, and hot and cold are now all one? Upon this he took his leave, and left me and my Pocrat with our noses in the air
?Then death,? said I, ?has had the best of it; the wisdo, when opposed to the decrees of God We doctors can no more contend with destiny, than the waters of an aqueduct can overcome those of a river?
A Mollah, as present, ordered his feet to be turned towards the Kebleh, his two great toes to be tied together, a handkerchief wrapped under his chin, and fastened over his head, and then all the bystanders after him repeated aloud the profession of the true faith By this tiun the usual laht, and the dead body conveyed to his family
Upon inquiry I found that the deceased had been a _nasakchi_, ie one of the officers attached to the chief executioner, who has one hundred and fifty such under his co the Shah in his e of state prisoners, and, in short, acting as police officers throughout the country It ireeable and how convenient it would be to step into the dead man?s shoes, and howsuch an office thanover inthis situation, I recollected that the chief executioner was a great friend of Mirza Ahations to him; for, but a few days since, he had persuaded the doctor to swear to the Shah, that wine, which is strictly prohibited at court, was absolutely necessary for his health, and that in consequence he had received a dispensation froe in which he indulged to the greatest excess I therefore determined to interest the mirza in my favour, and if possible, to turn the waters of bitterness, which the fountain of fate had been pouring into the cup of the deceased, into streams of sweet sherbet for myself
CHAPTER xxxII
Hajji is appointed to a situation under government--He becomes an executioner
I watched an opportunity before the doctor set out the nextfor the _Der-Khoneh_,[62] to speak uponfor me the place of the deceased nasakchi fro immediately; for as the Shah would leave the capital for his camp at Sultanieh, in the course of a few days, and as the doctor would be called upon to accompany him, it was plain, if he did not in some manner provide for me, I should be left upon his hands
The doctor, as still calculating the expenses of his entertain a systeid econoer-on, and without hesitation he proreed between us, that he would forthwith call upon the chief executioner, and appointed ?s _selam_ (levee) was over
As soon, therefore, as the mid-day prayer had been announced from the mosque, I went to the palace, and took my station without the room which is appropriated for the use of the head executioner, and which is situated with its largeiate
Several persons were collected there He hi his prayers in a corner, and apparently co on between my friend the poet laureate and the under- to the for a considerable portion of the marvellous in his narrative, when the chief executioner, froh est,_?--?that?s a lie--have patience, and I will tell you hoas,? and then went on with his holy invocations
As soon as they were over, and alan his story, relating the fact with infinitely eration than theby a round assertion, that the Frank had bled the poor ht hi the chief executioner?s narration, Mirza Ah as asserted of the two doctors, he confirer circu to me, and said, ?This is he ould have saved the nasakchi?s life, if he had not been prevented? Upon this, the eyes of all present were turned upon me, and I was called upon to relate the whole circu my version coincide as nearly as possible hat had been already related; but giving all the merit of the science which I had displayed to the tuition of the chief physician Mirza Ahmak, elated by my praise, was full of zeal to serve me, and he then introducedto undertake the office of the deceased nasakchi
?How!? said the head of the nasakchies, ?a doctor become an executioner!
how can that be??
?There is no harh the corner of his eye)--?they are both in the same line--the one does his business with more certainty than the other, that?s true; but after all, it signifies little whether a radually by a pill, or at once by a stroke of the scie of others by you, poets are in the same line too; for they ree withthan the doctor?s (as you were pleased to say), or the nasakchi?s?
?That?s all very well,? exclaimed the chief executioner; ?you may kill in any manner you choose, provided you leave --let me have my thrust with the lance, andunpowder, and I leave the scent of the rose to you, Mr Poet--giveof the nightingale We all have our weaknesses--these are mine?