Part 43 (2/2)

?Then they have certain houses full of madmen, whoIf one set says white, the other cries black; and they throwa co a whole reign

In short, nothing can be settled in the state, be it only whether a rebellious aga is to have his head cut off and his property confiscated, or soled Then what are we to believe? Allah, the Aliveth wisdom, and to others folly! Let us bless Him and our Prophet, that we are not born to eat the lish infidels, but can smoke our pipes in quiet on the shores of our own peaceful Bosphorus!?

?Strange, strange things you tell me,? said I, ?and had I not heard the s to theoverned by old women Do you know that fact??

?I shall not be surprised to hear of anything they do,? answered he, ?so overned by infidel old women, that has never yet reached our ears Perhaps it is so God knows,? continued he, s?

After a pause, ?Now,? said I, ?have I learnt all, or are there more unbelievers? By your beard, tell ht that the world was so composed??

He reflected for soot to mention two or three nations; but, in truth, they are not worthy of notice There are Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian infidels, who eat their swine, and worshi+p their i even ast the Franks The first is known to us by their _patakas_ (dollars); the second sends us some Jews; and the third imports different sorts of dervishes, who pay considerable su churches, and for the privilege of ringing bells I must also mention the _papa_ (pope), the Caliph of the Franks, who lives in Italia, and does not cease his endeavours to make converts to his faith; but we are reater proportion than they, notwithstanding all the previous pain which man must suffer before he is accepted for a true believer

?One more question I must ask,? said I, ?and then I ai duniah, the New World; for I have heard so many contradictory reports that round, or how??

?We have not had s with it,? said the Katib, ?and, therefore, know not et there by shi+p, because shi+ps belonging to the New World have actually been seen here They are all infidels, h; ?all infidels, asof Allah, they will all grill in the sa that upon this subject the Katib was deficient, I ceased questioning; and our conversation having now lasted a long ti forour pipes We then separated, with ain

CHAPTER LXXVI

Hajji Baba writes the history of Europe and with his ambassador returns to Persia

I returned to my ambassador full of the information I had acquired, and all-joyous at the success which had attended hted at the memoir I had drawn up fro as we remained at Constantinople daily sent ht ourselves sufficiently in force to be able to draw up a general History of Europe, which the Centre of the Universe in his instructions to the ambassador had ordered him to present on his return

Most assiduously did I applythis precious h draft, which was submitted to the correction of my chief, and when he had seasoned its contents to the palate of the King of Kings, softening down those parts whichto those not sufficiently strong, he delivered it over to a clerk, who in a fair hand transcribed the whole, until a very handsome volume was produced It was duly bound, orna, and then the aht be fit to be placed in the hands of the Shah

Mirza Firouz having now, as he conceived, accomplished the objects of his mission, prepared to return, and announced his intention not only of taking overnment as soon as we should reach Tehran; ?for,? said he, ?a person so well acquainted with the interests of the Franks will be of great use in treating with the infidel ambassadors now in Persia?

He could not have devised a plan better suited to my wishes; for afterto theht upon Shekerleb e Much time had now elapsed since my affair with the chief priest of Tehran The o been blown from the mouth of a mortar, and the hom I left in the hands of the Curds, had never returned to Persia Therefore, I concluded I ued thus: should I even be recognized, still ould venture to molest me, powerfully protected as I should be by men in office? The chief executioner had recovered possession of his horse and furniture, when the unfortunate Nadan had been seized; and there was every reason to suppose that Abdul Kerim had shared the fate of his mistress, the chief priest?s , for he had no more been heard of; so I did not fear that he would call upon me to refund the hundred to to Tehran? Nothing that I could foresee; and if once it were known that I was a servant of the Shah, even being a thousand tiht put my cap on one side and walk all over the empire with impunity

Fortified by these reflections, I made my preparations with alacrity to accompany the ambassador But previous to our departure, I deter my countrymen in the caravanserai, where with a better chance of success I now ive myself those airs of importance which had succeeded so ill attaken some trouble to make it well understood that I was attached to the eer dreaded their contempt; and such is the respect that one invested with that character is sure to inspire, that on this occasion I had no reason to complain of any want of attention Every word addressed to me was now prefaced with, By your favour, By your condescension, May your kindness never be less; and compliments which never ended, interlarded all the fine discourses I heard To hear them, nobody could have ever supposed that I was the sahed to scorn: on the contrary, one ignorant of the circue upon whom the issues of life and death depended But when I took ed, and every word he spoke showed that his affection for the son of the barber of Ispahan was the feeling which ever actuated his conduct towards me ?Go, my son,? said he, as he parted from me, ?whether you be a prisoner with the Turcoa, or a Persian mirza; be you what you may I shall always put up my prayers for your prosperity, andmade his visits of ceremony, and taken his leave of the Turkish authorities, the ae company of his own country on the road to Persia, and then received their dis took place in it worthy of notice from the day of our departure until our arrival in Persia At Erivan we heard the news of the day, though but iovernment, ere initiated into the various questions which then agitated the country and the court The principal one was the rivalry between the French and English ambassadors; the object of the for to keep away the latter, who had not yet reached the foot of the throne

Various were the anecdotes related of the exertions made by them to attain their ends, and the whole of Persia was thrown into astonish infidels come so far from their own countries, at so much trouble and expense, to quarrel in the face of a whole nation of true believers, ere sure to despise, to deride, and to take the his deht forward the power of his own sovereign, his greatness and preponderance over all the states of Europe, and did not cease to extol the i into the field

To this he was answered, ?That may be very true; but what is that to us? Whole empires intervene, and, therefore, what affinity can there be between France and Persia?

?But,? said the Frenchlish, and ish to have an open road through your territories?

?What is that to us?? again said the Shah: ?you may want India, but we are in no way anxious to entertain your troops?

?But ill conquer Georgia for you, put you in possession of Teflis, and secure you from further molestation from the Russians?

?That is another case,? said the Shah; ?when once we see the effects of your interference, and hear that there are no more Russians on this side the Caucasus, ill treat with you: until then we can allow no passage through our territories, nor break with our old friends the English!+?

On the other hand, the English said, ?The French can have no other object in co to Persia than to molest us; we require that you send them away?