Halil the Pedlar

p opium, although that was beginning to be one of the principal articles of luxury in the Turkish Empire. From the very look of him one could see that he did not sell

uths and chew and inhale it! Hence the ruin that was coming upon them and their posterity and the whole Moslem race. His neighbours let him talk on without contradiction, but they took good care to sell as much opium themselves as possible, because it brought in by far the largest profits. Surely, they argued among themselve

n fact. He would have liked to lead fleets upon the sea and armies marshalled in battle array. He would have liked to have built cities and fortresses. He would have liked to have raised up and cast down pashas, dispensed comman

lofty iron railings. This vacant space was a slave-market. Here the lowest class of slaves were freely offered for sale.

men, and whose eyes overflow with tears when their new masters address them. There was nothing of the sort in this place. This was but the depository of used up, chucked aside wares, of useless Jessir, such as dry and wrinkled old negresses, worn-out, venomous nurses, human refuse, so to speak, to whom it was a matter of the most profound indifference w

, the pedlar was sitting as usual before his booth in the bazaar when the public crier appeared in the sl

her age is seventeen years, she has all her teeth, her breath is pure, her skin is clean, her hair is thick, she can dance and sing, and do all manner of woman's handiwork. His shall she be who makes

of their booths. They knew well enough what was likely to happen to the man who presumed to buy an odalisk who had been expelled from the harem of the Sultan. Anyone daring to do such a thing might just as well chalk up the names o

n had not only retired into their shops but barred the doors behind them. "Much obliged to

p, and that was Halil Patrona. He alone had the

poor thing was trembling beneath the veil which covered her to the very heels.

he public crier; "don't leave her out in the pu

re to take her veil from off her head in the auction-yard, where the ordinary slaves are wont to b

girl committed that she sho

odalisk, I proclaim what she can do, to what use she can be put. I neither belittle her nor do I exalt her. I advise nobody to buy her and I advise nobody not to buy her. Allah is free t

emain outside Paradise if by so doing I might gaze upon those lips for ever. And what a pale face! Well does she deserve the name of Gül-Bejáze! Her cheeks do indeed resemble white roses! And one can see dewdrops upon them, as is the

quite carried away

else, for nobody else would dare to buy her. Besides, I'll give you for her a su

e maid anew; "you have seen her, anyho

ier (it held the exact amount to a penny), and took t

his shop, and taking the odalisk by the hand led h

her the girl nev

irl sit down by the hearth, and then a

it is all our own. You will find no ornaments or frankincense in my house, but you can go in and out of it a

bazaar, leaving the girl alone in the hous

ld, and had supper all ready for him. She placed Halil's dish on the

e him on the cushion, piled up the pilaf before her, and invited her with kind and encouraging words to fall to. The odalisk obeyed

ys I have e

x days! Horrible! And who was it, pray, t

doing, for I

ok his he

esire death! And do you

can tell you

there face to face with the girl, whose dark eyelashes cast shadows upon her pale cheeks, and regarded her melancholy, irr

sitting down by the side of this beautiful maid it really began to beat furiously. Ah! how truly sang

him that all this loveliness was his own; that he was the master, the possessor of this girl, at whose command she would fall upon his bosom, envelop him with the pavilion, dark as night, of her flowing tresses, and

ore, and hardly knew how to address her. His own tongue was not wont to employ t

!" he murmu

ur commands

s Halil-ca

await your

ng. Sit down beside me here

side him. She was qu

even now, Halil had not the re

e girl to talk and tell him her history, and the cause of her melancholy, then perhaps it would have been easier

how was it that the Sultan had yo

her long black lashes it was as though he gazed into a night lit up by two bla

l learn to know, H

sight of so much beauty, he seized the girl's hand and pressed it to his lips. How cold that hand was! All the more reason for wa

reast, those provocativ

drew her to his breast, as he pressed her to him, the girl mur

sed M

ntenance to see if it had not grown redder beneath his embrace-behold! it was whiter than ever. All trace of l

and on her fair bosom-but he could not hear the beating of the heart. The girl had lost al

extinguishing the burning flame of passion. All tremulously he re

ot hurt you, I w

e restored it to its place and, awe-struck, he con

s also opened once more, her lips resumed their former deep red hue, her eyes their enchanting rad

g and re-arranging the scattered dishes and platters. Only after a few moments

a man embraces me I become as dead, and remain so until he lets me go again, and his lips grow cold up