Nevertheless as I spoke I trembled, and my heart was not in my words. Heaven seemed farther from me than ever in my life before, and I would have exchanged my place in it for a moldy crust, so long as I might be allowed to eat it. I wept still more bitterly, and cried aloud, like the holy father of the church, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” It should be accounted to me for merit that I spoke in Latin, and thus did nothing to weaken Andy’s simple faith. This was the most anguished prayer that ever rose from my heart, but God in His heaven gave no ear to it. Instead, the frightful Negro clambered over the side, dripping wet, with the scimitar between his teeth. Once firmly on the deck he bellowed like an angry bull, and with rolling eyes charged straight at Andy and would have slain him, had not the pirate captain given a sharp order. His men hastened obediently to Andy’s defense and the Negro was forced to halt, quivering with impotent rage. To give vent to this he raised his sword to cut off
The cry sounded so convincing that the headsman was astonished, and lowered his blade. I saw nothing funny in this, but the wicked freebooters burst out laughing again while their captain came forward to me smiling, and addressed me in Arabic. I could only shake my head, but my dog was more intelligent, and hurried respectfully forward, wagged his tail, rose and stood unfalteringly on his hind legs, and looked from the captain to me and back again repeatedly. The haughty man bent down, lifted the dog into his arms and began to scratch him in friendly fashion behind the ears.
His men still tittered, but gravely their captain silenced them with the words,
I asked, “What is a Moslem?”
He answered, “A Moslem is one who submits to the will of God.”
I said, “And should not I submit to the will of God?”
He regarded me mildly. “If you will take the turban and be converted to the true faith Allah is indeed compassionate and I will not have you slain, though as a prisoner of war you will become my slave according to the Law of the Prophet, blessed be his name.”
At this I could only repeat, “Blessed be his name,” so deep was the relief I felt when I knew I might still draw breath under the open sky, and eat my bread. But Brother Jehan gripped me by the back of the neck, and overwhelming me with frightful curses he struck me and cried, “Viper! Worse than viper if you forsake the Christian faith to save your miserable life. Renegade! Devil’s spawn! You will
This, and more that was much worse, did that malevolent monk pour out over me, until Captain Torgut-for it was indeed Torgut- reis-had had enough. He nodded. The Negro raised his sword exultantly and at one stroke swept off Brother Jehan’s head so that it rolled upon the deck, its mouth yet wide with curses. I could not see in this a very pious death, though no doubt by virtue of his faith he won the glorious martyrs’ crown. Be this as it may, I felt profound relief at the sudden cessation of his shrieks, for his atrocious imprecations had set me quaking from head to foot.
When once the merciless Negro had resumed his task, he worked off his fury on the humble pilgrims so rapidly that one head had hardly thudded on the deck before the next was flying to join- it. But Captain Torgut took no interest in this melancholy business, and turned his back, still holding my dog in his arms. I followed closely at his heels, but Andy, with a shake of his head, asked, “Have you truly resolved to follow the Prophet, Michael? Have you had time to give the matter serious thought?”
But I would not allow Andy to be my preceptor, and I had had enough unpleasantness from Brother Jehan. So I replied coldly, “In my Father’s house are many mansions. Even the holy aposde Peter denied his Lord three times before the cock crew. Don’t set yourself up for a better man than he was, but humbly accept our common destiny and take the turban.”
But Andy crossed himself devoutly and said, “Far be it from me to deny my good Christian faith and swear allegiance to the false prophet. Or at least not like you, with my eyes shut. Let me first see what we’re letting ourselves in for.”
His obstinacy annoyed me, but I had no time to argue further, for Captain Torgut turned to me while his men were carrying off the plunder, and once more addressed me in Italian.
“To guide even one unbeliever into the right path would be an act pleasing to God and meritorious to myself. I will therefore answer patiently any questions you may put to me, for I am the Imam aboard my own vessel.”
I bowed deeply, putting my hand to my forehead as I had seen his men do, and said, “Before you I stand naked as the day I was born. My own country has long been lost to me, and now that I have lost also my possessions and my Christian faith there is nothing I can call my own. Treat me therefore as a newborn child in matters of religion, and I will do my best to grasp and receive the new faith.”
He said, “You speak wisely and sincerely, and may the almighty God account it to you for merit. But you should clearly understand that the Law of the Prophet permits no one to be converted by force or cunning. Do you therefore freely renounce all idolatry and confess that Allah is the one God and that Mohammed is his Prophet?”
I was astounded at his words, and exclaimed, “I don’t understand you, for being a Christian I am no idolater.”
This greatly incensed him, and he said, “Woe unto you Jews and Christians who received the Scriptures but continued in your unbelief, corrupting the teachings of Abraham and Jesus, and so departing from the one God! We Moslems acknowledge Abraham, and Jesus who was a holy man, and Mary his mother. But we do not worship them as gods, because the omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal God is one and indivisible. Christians therefore sin grievously when they worship images in their churches, for of God no likeness can be made. Further, it is an abominable error-nay, blasphemy-to say that God has a son. Christians see their deity in a threefold form, as a drunken man sees double. But this is not to be wondered at, for Christian priests drink wine at the sacrifice, whereas the Prophet’s law forbids the use of wine.”
When Andy heard this he started, stared wide-eyed at Captain Torgut, and said, “Perhaps this is a sign, for my worst misdeeds and sins have ever been the result of immoderate wine drinking. I can doubt no longer that God in His inscrutable wisdom has marked me out for slavery among the followers of the Prophet, so that I need never again fall a victim to my besetting sin. I won’t quibble over the Trinity, for the matter has always been beyond my feeble understanding, but if Moslems acknowledge the merciful and gracious God, and if your Prophet can really induce you to drink only water, then indeed your faith is worth considering.”
Captain Torgut was overjoyed and cried, “Will you too freely take the turban and submit to the will of God?”
Andy crossed himself and answered, “Kill or cure! If it is a great sin, may God forgive me because of my dull wits. Why shouldn’t I accept the same fate as my brother Michael, who is more learned than I?”
Captain Torgut said, “Allah is gracious and merciful if we walk in his ways. He will open for you the gates of Paradise with its rippling water brooks. He will give you rare fruits to eat, and virgins await you there. But only God is patient, and I have other things to do than convert my slaves. Repeat quickly what I say and so profess yourselves Moslems.”
We repeated after him as well as we could the Arabic words, “Allah is Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet,” after which he recited the first sura of the Koran and explained that no agreement between Moslems was binding without it.
While we were wrestling with the difficult Arabic words, the Negro gathered up the lopped-off heads and put them into a leather sack with some handfuls of coarse salt. Then Captain Torgut said to us, “Wind the turban about your heads, and from now on you are under Allah’s protection, though you will not be true Moslems until you have learned Arabic and are familiar with the teachings of the Koran. Circumcision is also a custom pleasing to God, which every true Moslem willingly complies with.”
Andy said hastily, “Not a word has been said about this until now, and the step I’ve taken fills me with misgivings.”
But I silenced him for fear of vexing the haughty captain, and whispered, “A wise man chooses the lesser of two evils. However unpleasant circumcision may be, it is at least preferable to beheading. Remember that all holy
