Halil the Pedlar

of years, the struggle between the Shiites a

tes; Turkey, Arabia, Egypt, and the realm

ided is this: which of the four successors of the Prophet, Ali, Abu Bekr, Osmar, and Osman, was the true Caliph. The Shiites maintain that Ali alone was the true Caliph. The Sunnites, on the other hand, affirm that all four were true Ca

g else but these victories-victories which they had extra good reason to remember, inasmuch as the Janissaries, at every fresh announcement of these triumphs, all the more vigorously exercised their martial prowess on the peaceful inhabitants they were supposed to protect, and not only upon them, but likewise upon the still more pe

and swept clean, and nothing but hard stone from end to end. Here, on the contrary, nothing but green meets the eye. The bastions are planted with vines and olive-trees, pomegranate and cypress trees stand before the houses of the rich. The poorer folks who have no gardens plant flowers on their house-tops, or at any rate grow vines round their windows which in time run up the whole house, and from out of the midst of this perennial verdure arise the shining cupolas of eighty mosques. At the end of every thoroughfare, overgrown with luxuriant grass and thick-foliaged cypresses, only the turbaned tombstones show that here is the place

ht over the offal of the piazzas. Every true believer endeavours as soon as possible to get well behind bolts and bars, and would regard it as a sheer tempting of Providence to quit his threshold under any pretext whatsoever before the morning invocation of the muezzin. He especially who at such a time should venture to cross the piazza of the Etmeidan would have been judged very temerarious or very ill-informed, inasmuch as three of the gates of the barracks of the Jani

s on a wooden board, when two men encountered each o

ssible to distinguish his figure and features in the twilight, seemed to be a strong, well-built man, with a tolerably plump face, on which at that moment no small trace

e features, whose true character was very fairly reflected in his pair of flashing black eyes. His turban was dra

it. The former let the latter pass, by squeezing himself against the wall, and only

be not wrath with me, but tell

ped short, and fixing the interrogato

and you'll be th

knees of the questi

in my terror I have been drawing near to the very place I want to avoid. I prythee leave me not here all by myself. Every house is fast closed. Not one of the khans will let me in at this h

into it, as if he were taking counsel with himself whether the fish and onions he had just bought in the market-plac

along!" said he

d his hand, he could not than

t before you thank me," said the Turk; "you will fin

the Greek race. "My name is Janaki, and I am a butcher at Jassy. The kavasses have laid their hands upon my apprentice and all

Let us make haste, fo

y the splendid residence of the Greek Emperors, but now the quarter where the poorest and most sordid classes of the populace herd together. The streets here are so narrow t

hem, struck upon their ears. It was some drunken man evidently, but whoever the individual might be, he was certainly the possessor of a tremendous pa

s some good-humoured Janissary, eh?" stam

ving man would not think of ma

be as well t

esson from me: Never turn back from the path you have once taken,

earer to the bellowing gentleman, and be

leeves rolled up to his shoulders, and the disorderly appearance of his dolman and the crooked cock of his turban more than justified th

roared the Janissary with all his might, staggering from one side o

rrified whisper, "wouldn't it be as well if you were to take my stick, f

of the butcher as the latter

of it is well-studded with knobs, and that it is weighted with

if people will let

me along boldly, and when you pass

clinging fast to his guide's mantle, he was about to slip past the man of war, the Janissary suddenly barr

n thine ear! I have just bought me a yataghan. Stretch forth thy n

once began unfastening his neck-cloth, whimpering at the same time something about his

ctor interven

you lay a hand upon my guest. Know you not that he

flowers of the Prophet's garden, with Begtash's sons, the valiant Janissaries? Get out of my way while you are

ace, I say, and then g

ah! what business is it of thine if I choose to strike off the head of a

convince a drunken man by mere words, drew nearer t

he Janissary, fairly infuri

Go th

and thou art graspin

lso is

Pelivan-Halil

Halil P

was beside himself with r

pedlar! if thou dost not let me go immediately, I will cut off th

guest, I will fell thee to the

n with a stick? Strike away then, thou dog, thou dishonourable brute-beast, thou

ad, which he flung back defiantly as i

s that, and he brought down the leaded stick in his hand so heavily on t

ged him with the embrace of a boa-constrictor. But now it appeared that Patrona also was by no means a novice in the art of self-defence, for clutching with both hands the giant's throat, he squeezed it so tightly that in a few seconds the Janissary began to stagger to and fro, finally falling backwards to the groun

zig-zagging backwards and forwards through all kinds of garden

ggledy-piggledy, so inextricably, that the shortest way to everybody's house was through his neighbour's passage, hall, or courtyard, and inasmuch as the inmates of whole rows of these houses were in the habit of living together in the closest and most mysterious harmony, every house was so arranged that the inhabitants thereof

no extravagant display of furniture inside. A rush-mat in the middle of the room, a bench covered with a carpet in the corner, a few wooden plates and dishes, a jug on a wooden shelf, and a couple of very simple cooking-utensils in the fire-place-that was all. From the roof of the chamber hung an earthenware lamp, which Patrona kindled with

ere are in the onion tribe, far more, indeed, than in the pine-apple; and then the pure fresh water too-why the Koran from end to end is full of the praises of fresh pure water, and Halil knew all these passages by heart, and had no need to look in the holy book for them. And then, too, he had so many interesting tales to tell of travellers who had lost their way i

from his gorgeous and luxurious sofa, though the tables beside it were piled hi

s we belong to others, but the land of dreams is all our own. If your dreams be good dreams, you rejoice that they are good, and if they be evil dreams, you rejoice that the

r him the carpet and the fur cushion on which he was to sleep. Plainly these were the only cushion and carpet obtainable in t

given me your own carpet and pill

fir! I will bring forth my second carpet

gh his devotions with even greater conscientiousness than his ablutions, whereupon he produced a round trough, turned it upside down, la

escended to Halil, he gave him a piece of

and if you will permit me to remain beneath your roof thi

ebrated Turkish dish consisting of rice cooked with sheep's flesh, and brought him from the booths of the master-cooks and master-sugar-bakers, honey-cakes, dulchas, pistachios, sweet pepper-cakes filled with nuts and stewed in honey, and all

ad been perpetually shifting his position, and consequently suspecting that he was little used to so hard a couch, Halil took th

naki gave another gol

o write a letter to someone, and then with God's hel

culated his outlay to a penny in the presence of his guest. The kalem (pen) was so much, so much aga

eath the carpet, and then laying hold of his stick again, entreated Halil, with many thanks for his

e nearest thoroughfare. When now Janaki beheld the Bosphorus, and perceived that the road from

et, and beside it lies a purse of money which I meant to have sent along with the letter. Now, however, I cannot turn back for it. I pray you, therefore,

d to obey this fresh requ

to him to whom it bel

it will reach him as if yo

ompel him to whom the letter is

oucher in writing for it, and whenever you come back

you then, hon

em a

is absence, and thrusting them both into his satchel of reeds without even taking the trouble to look at them, hastened off to the bazaar with them, where there was an acquaintance of his, a

in order that he might give him full directions with

address of the letter, and fort

rt in the Carnival of the Giaours that you have all

on't fancy I can know the man t

him very well indeed this time yesterd

tter, which hitherto he had not regarded

eeds be a madman, and there is a purse

your name is writ

rse or the letter. Of a truth the man who co

e letter and read it, then you will k

find out what he has to do with a letter addre

at was written

Halil

also I am in pursuit of her, following clue after clue, in order that I may discover her whereabouts and, if possible, ransom her. You have been my benefactor. You fought the drunken Janissary for my sake, you shared your dwelling with me, you made me lie on your own bed while you slept on the ba

rateful

nak

ng through the letter. "Who else, I should like to know, wou

hered around them, and they laid their heads together and discussed among themselves for a long time the question which was the gr

had given him this sum of money. But search and search as he might he could find no trace of him. If he had

lowed from the giant's head, was still there in the middle of the lane, and on the wall of the house opposite both their names were written. In all probability the Janissary, when he picked himself up again, had di

as you who were undermost," and snatching up the fragment

s head was so confused by all manner of cogitations that when, towards nightfall, he began chaffering for fish in the Et

have to keep the money after all, and the ver

s once more towards that house where he had chalked up his name the day

not permit him to take the lower place or suffer him to recognise anybody as standing higher than himself. And as he, pursuing his way home, passed by the Tsiragan Palace, and there encountered riding past him the Padishah, Sultan Achmed III., accompanied by the Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Damad, the Kiaja Beg, the Kapudan Pasha, and the chief I

might have happened that Halil Pelivan, who went before the Sultan with a drawn broadsword, might have recognised him, and certainly nobody wo