All Men are Ghosts

l his water-skin. The day was hot beyond endurance; the drinkers had been clamorous and trade had been

e pool where the skins were filled. Resting his back against the cool side of the tree, the setting sun being behind him, he drew forth h

nfidel Greek, with boxes of chocolate in the window; he saw himself inside making his choice among innumerabl

ot that he had slept nor the moment when he awaked. Fluctuating images rose and wavered and vanished; and then, as though

nless on a low rock less than a stone-cast distant, and close to the river's brim; and he seemed to be watching the still flow of

had purchased that morning from a Jew as a present for Zobeida; and as he had looked at the image, still thinking of Zobeida, he wished that God had bestowed upon him a countenance of nobler

he, "for I am a man of no account.

dippest, think on the hour of thy death, when the All-merciful will dip into the river of thy life, and thou shalt sleep for the twinkling of an eye, and know

st," said Abdulla, "for I

e the petals of a rose; and as the fragrance of one petal penetrates and intermingles with the fragrance of all the rest, so is the vision of the world thou seest now blended with the vision of that which was and of that which is to come. And I tell thee, O thou seller of water, that between this world and its next fellow the difference is so faint tha

that thou sayest concerning the dipping of the water-skin. There thy thought is as the echo of mine own. But k

water of the flowing river, think on the hour of thy death,

to him a thing of naught; for he was young and Zobeida was fair. Nevertheless, when he had lifted the full skin from the river, and saw that his taking left no mark, an old thought came b

his back and turned to the palm

the year he came and went three or four times a day. Now he pondered the words of

his reverie. A man driving a string of donkeys thrust him against the wall, cursing him as he passed.

ght of Zobeida, of the Cadi, of the contract of marriage, of the sweetmeats he would purchase on the morrow, of the shop of the Greek. But again his reverie was broke

s holding forth a wooden bowl, and in front of him a water-seller is in the act of opening his water-skin. Abdulla watches the filling of the bowl, and sees the man put forth his hand to take the coin the boy is offering. The man touches the coin

memory was unbroken. He had finished his last round for the day; scarce a cup of water remained in the skin, and as he flung the flaccid thing over his shoulder he began to recall, one by one, the names and faces of his customers, forty in all, reflecting with satisfaction

h people, and as he passed down one of them a ve

ore athirst, for the fever is burning them. Give them, I pray thee,

to cool the tongue of a soul in hell. Nevertheless, what I have I will gi

ressed the corners between the palms of his hands. Then, di

he water-skin. And now, by the permission of God, the heat has dried up the remnant of the water and cracked the skin, thus completing the work of the Deviser of Mischief. A

il," said the woman. "Bethink thee of them who

el, more beautiful than the full moon seen beyond the summits of waving palms, is at this hour hungering for the sweetmeats of the infidel, even as the children of thy body are thirsting for water; and within this bag is the money which, by the favour of Allah, would have purchased abundance of all that she desireth. But ere to-morrow's sun has risen from the edge of the desert, four coins out of every five will be claimed as damag

l moon beyond the waving palms there are not a few. Thy description, therefore, availeth not for the identification of thy beloved. Describe her more narrowly, I beseech t

ry built by the Waters of Silence in a king's garden; her eyes are as lighted lamps in the house of the Enchanter; the flowing of her hair is a troop of wild horses purs

the breast. Hear even now the wailing that is within! Lo, a worker of spells has sent destruction among us, and the sickness is sore in the habitations of the poor. Press, then, thy skin once more, if peradventure Allah may have left there one drop of water, that the mou

ed round the speakers, and so thick was the press that Abdulla had much

will make room that I may pass my hands craftily over the skin. Thereafter I will add a goodly curse on the worker of spells, and at the last thou an

e breadth from side to side. Instantly the crowd backs, and Abdulla and the woman, separated from one another, are swept along as driftwood by the torrent. Arrived in the open space into which the street d

th before him, he gazed intently at the small hole, about the size of an olive-stone, which had resulted from the donkey-driver's assault. As he thus gazed, the incident which had so abruptly terminated a few minutes before seemed to retreat in

a large shop with plate-glass windows, behind which were boxes of chocolate arranged in rows. A mirror-at least it s

t back the memory of his misfortunes, and, i

st so soon as the skin is filled with water, and I will then swear by God and the Prophet that the skin was patched when I borrowed it. A

own face and figure in the mirror at the back of the shop front. He noted, with a start, the unwonted dignity of the

sweetmeats of the infidel are needed not. Moreover, it becometh not one thus favoured to deal crookedly with the followers of the Prophet. Is Abdulla a man of violence, as the driver of the donkey; or a man of no bowels, as the lender of the skin? Is he an accursed Greek or a more accursed Armenian that he should play the cheat with his neighbour, inserting a cunning patch, which will assuredly produce leakage and make the rent worse than before? God forbid! Abdulla is a man of

of the mirror. What was his astonishment on discovering that there was no mirror at all,

thief, rushed out to apprehend him. He was to

firmament of violet-black, the great st

ced window immediately beneath the roof. It was the appointed hour. Presently a handker

ee thy countenance as if it were noonday. Wherefore hast thou anointed thyself with radiance, and made thyself to shine like the

all knowledge, and opened the dark things that are hidden in the secret parts of the earth. All day have I conversed

to let down a basket that he may place therein the thing for which my soul is an hungered, even the sweetmeats of the infidel, which I would then draw up again with a cord of silk

sagacious. I perceive thou art possessed by a demon, and surmise that the Whetter of Appetite is leading thee in the path of d

on have entangled thee in the way, and thou hast bestowed on another that which, when thy heart was upright, thou designedst for me. Co

from the flames of the nethermost pit. Know that he to whom thou speakest is of them that walk in the light; and what have these to do with

s. And the chief of them all is a thing of two natures, cunningly blended, whereof one nature appertaineth to the outer shell, and the other to the inner substance. The outer shell tasteth bitter, and the colour is of the second degree of blackness, like unto the skin of the Ethiopian eunuch. The inner substance is sweeter than the honeycomb, and white as the wool of Helbon, inters

ancients and thou shalt have it. Ask for the revelation of things hidden, and it shall be accorded thee. But the delicacies of the Fr

here is none more utterly contemptible than thou. In the dignity of thy carriage thou appearest unto me as a thing abhorre

a day, perceiving one athirst in the byways, Abdulla gave him freely three drops of water from the dregs of his water-skin, thereby earning the favour of Allah (whose name he exalted!) and the promise of Paradise. But going forth in the way he met a man having the Evil Eye; and lo, it straightway entered into the heart of Abdulla to fill his water-skin with the sweetmeats of the infidel, that he might find favour in the eyes of a frivolous woman-

banged-to the latt

t on which he slept was tossed into a heap, and the empty water-skin, which served him for a pillow, had been thro

cidents were clear, others were perplexingly dim. Moreover, the incidents that were clear seemed to change places with those that were dim, so that the line between his dreams and his waking experiences was now in one place and now in another. He could

beginning to doubt of his own identity. In vain did he repeat the Seven Exorcisms, the Four Prayers, the Tecbir, the Adan, and the Two Professions of Faith, calling on

was calling him by name. Checking his cries, he listened. The voice came ne

partaken of the intoxicating drug? Has the Evil Eye enco

sel in my perplexity. The sound of thy voice is to me like running waters to him that perisheth of thirst. Know that

I saw it, and knew that things hidden from the foundation of the earth would be revealed unto thee. Lo, the mark is on thy foreh

no secret that I can divulge. Only a dream of the night season has troubled me, and even now it seemeth to mingle with the things t

ns that bewilder thee are made by the river of Time. What thou seest is the passing of that which was into that which is, and of that which is into that

la; and he ran down the steps

or, Selim the courier calle

Selim, "hast thou taken to thyself a

Selim, that I am a man sore troubled with dreams in the night season, so that a spirit of amazement

m. "Nevertheless, I heard thee speaking s

s of the house to comfort me," said Abd

han twenty years have passed since thy mother entered int

pport against the wall of his house, spreading out h

ss and the light, between the shadow and the substance? But I swear to thee, by the beard of the Prophet, that she with whom I spake was the mother who bore me

eath at the hand of the infidel and be received into Paradise. For know that tho

hwith to the Interpreter of Dreams, and thereafter I will repo

on his way to the I

w above him, on the other side of the street, the lattice of Zobeida. "Verily,"

d the sound of hands beaten against the wall. As soon as Abdu

hy enemy passeth even now beneath the window. Come forth, then, and the sight of him shall be as a fire in thy bones, inspiring thy tongue to the invention of disastrous epithe

of wrath. Her hair was dishevelled, her cheeks were soiled with ashes and tears, her eyes were

e Emperor of liars and the Sultan of rogues. Ma

"impose upon thyself, I beseech the

with amazing rapidity, and finally broke forth into the tramp of marching feet, the rumbling of wheels, and the booming of

the house of the Interpreter of Dreams. Coming down the street was a regiment of Turkish infantry, with

eats-dog and the son of a dog." Then a wind passed over his face, and it seemed to him that he had been thinking foolishly. "Well for me," he replied, "that I went not round by the ho

ker after the manner of the Franks. Abdulla stretched forth his hand, and was about to raise the knocker

d the officer. "Thy name was called two days ag

at I forget all things and know not the day from the night. Lo, even

ain," said the officer. "Leave then thy dreaming and hold thy peace; or, by

as marching in step with a squad of reserv

tepped out from the edge of the crowd, and, taking th

the

es were crowded with shouting soldiery, and many, unable to find room wit

tume forced his way along the

e water-seller of Dam

am

y speak with thee. And hast

ended from the roof. "I will purchase thy release from the Pasha. Nay, the ma

hould I do this?

who hath a power upon thee which may aid in opening up the things that have been hidden from the foundation of the earth. And the probers of secrets h

reat bewilderment, and the spirit of forgetfulness hath overpowered me. But withal I am a common man, of whom Allah hath created mi

ther, "and I dwell in the house built in the European fashion, w

e?" said

from the panting locomotive drowned the next w

of Intelligence is leading astray. I have but dreams to tell thee; and if thou wa

thing more wonderful than aught else the Creator hath appointed, and there is none among the s

nce, for the train was moving out of the station, an

st time he had been under fire. Dead bodies, horridly mangled, lay around, and a straggling throng of wounded men, some silent, some unmanned by agony, and

sed officer, passing where he was, paused in front of him, and drawing a sm

la, and thou wilt see

the very face which had confronted him no

roar of laughter as Abdulla looked

it; and even now contrivest within thyself how thou mayest steal away and not be seen. But know thou that I who speak to thee will suffer not thy cowardice. I will force thee presently to carry thy trembling limbs to yonder line, whence come these whom thou seest in their pain. Thither will I take thee, and I will hold thee fast in a place where death cometh to four of every five. Not a step backward shalt t

traces that bound it to the gun were already taut, and the whip-hand of the driver was aloft in air. The word is given, the whi

ment to moment by the flashes of exploding shrapnel, hung over the ridge, and a blazing house immediately behind the position shed a copper-coloured glare over

he had done his duty untouched by shot, shell, or bayonet. He had continued the service of his gun till the last round of ammunition was expended; and when a cry arose among the survivors that they s

or behind it, and unaware that the defence was totally annihilated, the enemy had hardly slackened his fire. Scores of shrapnel were bursting overhead, and the singing of the rifle bullets was like the hum of bees in swarming time. As the shells exploded and the pitiless missiles came thrashing down, Abdulla not

azing on the scene around him as a spectacle to be studied; and he watched the shells bursting overhead with no more concern than he would have felt for a passing flight of birds. He was aware of his utter loneliness, and now

cessantly assailed with every kind of shock, had ended in a feeling, amounting almost to conviction, that the event

emes, clothed at all times in the garments of modesty and reserve, which neither strives nor cries nor lifts up its voice in the streets. But when the gods are drunk and the heavens in uproar, and the thing called "fac

the very moment when each nerve in his body was strung to utmost tension, and the sense organs in full commission, and fact in its most brutal form thundering on the gat

f I am wakened already? And what if this be hell? If so, is it so much worse than earth? But please Allah that I stand not thus for all eternity, waiting for the dream to pass. Ah! I was hit that time"-and he put his hand to the region of his heart. "A mere graze. Perhaps the next

n a shrapnel burst over the heap, and Selim, who had been lying face downward on the top, flung himself round in the last agony. A

n, and which had hitherto been covered up by the dead. At the sight of it, a sudden inspiration fell like a thunderbolt upon Abdulla's dream. The sense of immobility was gone. "By Allah, thou art alive and awake!"

ht he seized the cartridge and ca

one glance he took in the whole scene in all its extent and detail-the long ridge under the copper-coloured light, the carpet of moaning or silent forms, the dead body of Selim, the dismantled guns

seen from the wrong end of the telescope, drew inwards from its edges with incredible rapidity until it occupied no mor

felt his fingers clo

ast surprise that the thing he held in his hand was the

nocker, and its fall sounded in the street of Damascus at the very instant that the boom of the

eless, as he continued to look at the houses and the passers-by, a suspicion crossed his mind that he had been in this place before. "Perhaps I have dreamed of such a place," h

ed, his tongue began to stammer, and he heard himself speaking of he knew not what. "Hast thou life in th

ed," said the man. "May Allah pre

ame clear. A moment later he stood in t

nterpreter, "and what is t

taken hence when I was an infant of five years. I am come to Damascus for

are of two kinds: dreams of the worlds that were, and dreams

that was," s

ousand who will believe thee if thou teachest of a world that is to be, there is scarce one who wil

t worlds without end lie enfolded one within the other like the petals of a rose; and the next world after differs from the next world before no more than a full water-skin differs from itself when two drops of water

hat was before of more account t

y knowledge was of this rather than of that. But know that I am a dreamer

e thy d

curreth both in the day and the night. Seventy times seven have I seen a fraye

that thou art not at the end of thy story. For, verily, thou hast not travelled from the cities

le, and the doctrine that is dimly apprehended becomes clear. Now, being in the city of Paris, I conversed with one of the French who had visited the holy places of his religion, where he had meditated in solitude and seen visions and dreamed dreams; and I told him that I had a doctrine newly born, half grown.

eter rose from his seat an

hou that there is a virtue in places and a power in localities. And here the power still lingers which the world lost when mankind took t

nderstand,"

d again the Interpreter pac

sentence meaneth more than the long explanation. Nevertheless, I would fain hear the rest of

, looking upon him, saw that his face was like unto mine own, but marred by his toil and his poverty. And the man sat himself down, leaning against a palm-tree on the side away from the sun, and slept. Then I arose and stood before

, and the remnant of the water flowed forth. But, passing a certain street, a woman called to him to give her little ones to drink. And I, being hard by, and seeming to know the woman, whispered to the m

window and meditating a thing that was dishonest. And the man looking through the window saw m

eviled me. I understood not the things that she spake, and having answered the woman I departed. Then I bethought me that she

he city. And the spirit of fear was upon him; his countenance was blanched and his body all aquake; and I, ashamed that one who bore my own semblance should stand disgraced among his fellows, rebuked him for h

skin is mended and full of water. Go forth, therefore, and give to them that are athirst.' Whereupon it seemed to me that the half-thought became a whole, and the doctrine that was dimly apprehended g

as thou didst minister to that other in the

I not tell thee that as yet I have n

the world that was; and he that dreameth of the one world dreameth also in due season of the other. But hearken now while I put thee to

," said

of his condition, as who should say, 'Lo, I am now a disembodied spirit, having just passed through the art

never shall it be seen in any world save by such as follow there the Loyal Path whereby it is found in this. And he who

then, that thou and I are in

rror which deemeth that the number of the worlds is but two, and that death, therefore, cometh once only to a man, when he passeth from the first to the second. Of death, as of life, the kinds are innumerable; and of these, that which destroyeth the body at the end is only one, and perhaps

already, will still be asking whether Paradise awaits them. And if the enlightened go thus astray, how much dee

houted forth from the very flames of the Pit. For how shall a man know when he is now dead and come to Judgment? Doth he live in his dying, and, taking note of his last breath, say withi

tation at the place of passage and set as watchmen at the intermingling of the worlds. These pass to and fro over the bridges, gathering tidings from forg

ther interpretati

. "The full interpreta

the brass knocker

The Hole in t