Abu el-Kasim sent us away at once and locked the door, setting Andy to guard the outer gate. The learned Faqih remained until late that night, and when at last he departed as secretly as he had come, Abu el-Kasim sent Giulia to bed and summoned me.
“The plans are taking shape,” he said. “Have no fear, Michael el- Hakim; whatever happens the Faqih won’t betray us. True, he won’t risk burning his fingers by making out a
Thus Abu el-Kasim drew cautiously at first one thread and then another, knotting them together in a net in whose meshes Selim ben- Hafs would one day be entangled.
But the Faqih’s threats concerning circumcision had filled me with dread and I asked Abu el-Kasim whether Andy and I must indeed submit to so unpleasant an operation. He looked at us scornfully, and having rehearsed the many advantages to be gained by it he ended, “Why oppose it, when by such a trifle you may win the respect of all true believers? On that joyful day you may ride round the city on a white donkey and all devout believers will bring you presents and rejoice at your conversion.”
I replied crossly that I had not the least wish to ride round the city on a white donkey, to be made a public laughingstock, and reminded him that Andy’s progress as a wrestler would be seriously hindered if at this stage he were compelled to lie up with a slow-healing wound in his tenderest part. And I would never consider undergoing it without him, for we were brothers; we hoped to enter Paradise side by side and together enjoy the shade of its fruit trees.
Abu el-Kasim was not deceived by my pious words, and said, “Well! There’s a time for everything, and I shall eagerly await the day when, in accordance with the will of Allah, your brother justifies the high hopes I have of him.”
Nor did he have to wait long. Some days later he climbed on Andy’s shoulders and rode to the market place, and hardly had the wrestlers gathered in a ring with their arms about each other’s shoulders to determine the order of the bouts when a big black fellow appeared, attended by a party of soldiers. He threw out his chest and thumped it with his fists as he challenged, “Iskender, Iskender! Come here and have your ears torn off! After that I’ll attend to Antar, of whom I’ve heard so much.”
The wrestlers muttered uneasily among themselves, and warned Andy, saying, “That is Selim ben-Hafs’s master wrestler. Don’t anger him; let him win and take the money, for then perhaps he’ll leave us in peace and not hurt us. But if you win you’ll be summoned to wrestle before the Sultan, and although at first you may get the better of all his wrestlers, the day will come when you find yourself lying in the sand with a broken neck.”
Andy answered warmly, “Your faith seems weak; you forget that Allah has preordained all things. Go, Iskender, and let him beat you! Then I will tackle him and you shall behold such a match as you’ve never seen before. If it be the will of Allah, this shall be my last bout in the market place; after that I shall appear only before the Sultan and his court.”
At this, great excitement arose among the wrestlers’ patrons, and silver and gold pieces showered onto the cloth. The soldiers formed a circle and thrust back the onlookers, while the Sultan’s master wrestler, ugly and gleaming with oil, jumped up and down in the middle and roared his challenge. Iskender, adjuring him in the name of Allah to observe the rules of “good” wrestling, ran in at him, but it was not long before he was tossed into the air, and fell with a crash. He lay moaning for some time, feeling his arms and legs, but I think he was little harmed by the fall, and behaved thus to flatter his ferocious opponent. Two other men stepped forward and the master wrestler threw them without difficulty. But when he noticed that he was beginning to sweat and pant, he became suspicious and cried, “Where’s that Antar skulking? He’s the man I came for, and I shan’t stay all day for him. My bath awaits me.”
Ignoring the warnings of the rest Andy at once stepped forward. It was clear that the black man held him in great respect, for he circled watchfully about him for some time before suddenly charging in like a bull with his head lowered, meaning to butt Andy in the stomach and wind him. But Andy stepped nimbly aside and getting a mighty grip of the other’s waist flung him high in the air. Like the adept he was, however, he landed on his feet, but at once Andy struck them from under him and he came headlong to the ground with Andy uppermost. Andy took firm hold of the back of his neck and pressing his face to the ground, he cried, “Which of us is biting the dust?”
The other wrestlers uttered warning yells, for in his extremity the brutal black took to “hard” wrestling, and getting his arms round one of Andy’s legs he set his teeth in the calf muscles. If Andy had been able to maintain his grip he would certainly have broken the fellow’s neck, but now pain forced him to loosen it. Soon they were rolling over and over each other on the ground, and I have never in my life seen such a struggle. Now Andy’s head thrust up, now he was down again while the blackamoor jumped on his chest, and would have broken all his ribs but for Andy’s massive build. Bleeding and with torn ears they at last broke loose from each other, and Selim ben- Hafs’s champion had evidently had enough. He was breathless, and letting his arms fall to his sides he spat some blood from his mouth and tried to laugh as he said sourly, “You live up to your reputation, Antar, and know something of ‘hard’ wresding too; but I’ve no right to expose myself to danger in the absence of my master the Sultan. Nor did I fail to notice your underhand stratagem in tempting me to waste my strength before I started on you. So let us continue our match tomorrow, in the presence of the Sultan. I don’t doubt that he will richly reward whichever one of us survives.”
Casting an embarrassed glance around him he wiped the blood from his ears to gain time for recovery. But the crowd uttered wild cheers and their hatred of Selim ben-Hafs found vent in savage abuse of his wrestler.
Andy, breathing hard, yelled, “You bit me in the calf, you swine. Tomorrow my leg will be swollen and I shan’t be at all surprised if your poisonous teeth cause me to run about barking and foaming at the mouth and avoiding water. And it was for the sake of water that I became a follower of the Prophet. But you shall learn tomorrow that I too have teeth-and teeth that can crack marrow bones!”
When the black wresder had gone, followed by his guards, Abu el-Kasim burst out into wild lamentations as usual, and smote Andy over the head with his staff. For if Andy were beaten next day, what was Abu to do with a cripple? And if he won it would be worse, for then Selim ben-Hafs would buy him and Abu would have lost him for good.
But the other wrestlers snatched the stick from his hand and attended us in triumph to our house, where I washed and dressed Andy’s leg wound and anointed his bruises, a task to which I was already well- accustomed.
Seeing what good will the other wrestlers bore to Andy, Abu el- Kasim resigned himself to the will of Allah. A sheep was roasted in the forecourt and a cauldron of millet was set boiling, and when all was ready Abu filled several dishes with this good food and carried it to the wrestlers with his own hand.
After the meal, when at sunset the muezzin called the faithful to prayer, the wrestlers washed themselves, performed their devotions, and recited three or four-some of them even ten-verses from the Koran, for Andy’s success. “We have every confidence in Allah,” they said, “but it must be easier, even for him, to help a man who helps himself.” And so they stayed until late at night to teach Andy all they could about “hard” wresding. As I listened to them, and saw the tricks they demonstrated, the hair rose upon my head in horror.
Abu el-Kasim took me aside and said, “This is the will of Allah, and never will you get a better chance to learn your way about in Selim ben-Hafs’s kasbah. You may even be able to make useful acquaintances, and it’ll do no harm if I give you a few coins to knot into your girdle. If you should happen to drop one or two of them, don’t stoop to pick them up again; remember that miserly behavior is unbecoming in the mansions of the great.”
At about midnight, Abu drove out the wrestlers and we put Andy to sleep on the softest pillows in the house. He tossed and turned and sighed half the night, then with a curse he took his cloak, wrapped it round his head and curled himself up on the floor. Immediately his snores resounded through the house. Wc did not wake him for the morning prayer, and Abu prayed on his behalf. Later we took Andy to the baths and had him rubbed by a powerful masseur to drive the stiffness out of him. Next we shaved his head, oiled him with the slipperiest oil we had in the house, and strengthened his leather breeches at waist and knee, lest they be stripped off during the fight.
After the noon prayer all the wrestlers of the market assembled, and noisily carried Andy up the steep street to the kasbah, to spare his wounded leg. At first he resisted, but they forced him to lie in the litter which they took turns to carry on their shoulders. And so he resigned himself, and lay with one hand supporting his chin and the other waving greetings to the faithful, who showered him with blessings and urged him to tear the ears from Selim ben-Hafs’s master wrestler and not to spare even his more intimate parts.
The uproarious crowd followed us to the place of punishment outside the great gateway of the kasbah, but when they saw the guards parading in line and the remnants of executed persons impaled on the iron hooks, a
