The Wanderer

been on the previous evening. But Fatima is a frail old thing, and being wearied by the continual water carrying she invited me to come that evening straight to the Sultan’s bathroom. With a bundle of firewood on my back I passed straight through the Gateway of Bliss, and the eunuchs readily showed me the way. I spent an agreeable night in that warm place, and lacked neither food nor drink. When day dawned, the understanding lady raised her hands to heaven and said, ‘Allah is great. I have a good and trustworthy woman friend who won’t believe what I say of you. Allow me, therefore, my dear Antar-’ these were her very words-’allow me therefore to bring this skeptical woman with me to the bath.’ “

“Andy!” I exclaimed, much shaken. “You shock me unspeakably. To comfort one lonely and open-handed woman is one thing, but to lure another into your shamelessness is another. You go too far.”

“Exactly what I said,” agreed Andy hastily. “But this devout woman recited so many verses from the Koran and expounded them so fully that my head was in a whirl; moreover she was a woman of education, and I could hardly set myself up to know more than she did.”

“Great Allah!” exclaimed Abu el-Kasim. But Andy continued, the back of his neck growing ever redder, “The lady appeared that evening with her friend; and I didn’t regret it, for this woman was if possible even more luscious than Amina. And I think that neither of them was dissatisfied with me. The other lady also, with equal delicacy, put a gold piece in my purse each time I washed. But-” and here Andy groaned-”how could I guess on the following night no fewer than three woman would preen themselves before me, each lovelier and more blooming than the other! It was hard not to offend any of them, and favor one at the expense of the rest. But when on the night after that, four came, I was annoyed, and told them that there was a limit to everything.”

“And you were quite right,” assented Abu el-Kasim in alarm. “The pitcher can go once too often to the well, and I feel really anxious on your account.”

Andy swallowed another cupful of wine and continued, “In the morning Amina said, ‘You have four devoted wives, Antar, and you’ve neglected none of them, but have observed the injunctions of the Koran concerning behavior to a woman. But my moon is waning, and I wish no one to have pleasure of you in my absence. I shall love you to my last hour. Eat and drink diligently that you may be at the height of your powers when next I summon you.’“

I was struck dumb by his story and could not utter a word. Abu el-Kasim finished counting the money and locked it up carefully in his strongbox. At last I stammered in the greatest agitation, “Is this the thanks I get for having tried to set you a good example all these years? Never could I have believed that the poetic art could cause so much harm, for all this began with a scrap of verse that according to Abu was not even good. Now I understand why the Prophet, blessed be his name, laid his curse upon poets.”

I was so angry with Andy that I could have struck him-most of all because he had won the favor of four distinguished ladies and, as a reward for his sin, a bag of gold-while I knew not a single friendly disposed woman who desired my company, even for nothing. But Andy was unmoved. He rose and left us, his baggy trousers flapping in the spring breeze. Abu el-Kasim gazed after him and said with a shake of his monkey head, “His foolishness and audacity may be very useful to us, but I daren’t whisper any of our plans to him, for those women would have it out of him in no time. Michael el-Hakim, the time is nearly ripe, the spring winds are blowing, and the Deliverer comes from the sea. So let’s leave ointments and eye black and think of graver matters. We will capture the city of Algiers with our bare hands as we promised Sinan the Jew.”

Next day Abu el-Kasim summoned some of the wealthiest merchants, entertained them on a princely scale, and let Giulia gaze into the sand for them. When they had heard her these respectable men tore their beards and said, “If it were true! If the holy banner of the Prophet should really rise from the sea to free us from the greed of

Selim ben-Hafs! But his soldiers have keen swords, and his executioners stout ropes at their disposal.”

Abu el-Kasim tore his own beard and said, “I’m a merchant like yourselves and make many journeys. At such times I hear much that remains unknown to the rich and mighty. Last autumn it was already said that the great Khaireddin was fitting out his fleet to recapture Algiers for the High Porte before the figs were ripe. I’m anxious on your account, as you’re wealthier than myself, and have more to lose. For if the great Khaireddin should meet with opposition, the last state will be worse than the first. Personally I fail to understand why anyone should risk his business and his property for these infernal Hafsids.”

The merchants said hopefully, “Let us send him secret word that we won’t oppose his coming, but greet him with palm branches, if only he will drive out Selim’s people and bow the tyrant’s head to the dust.”

But Abu el-Kasim shook his head with a worried air and said, “I hear he wishes to ride in through open gates and be met by you carrying Selim ben-Hafs’s head on a golden platter. And further, you’re to proclaim him in the mosque as governor of Algiers and so atone for your former treachery. On these conditions he promises to drive out the Spaniards and destroy their fortress at the harbor mouth. And he will certainly reward those who proclaim him governor.”

The merchants raised their hands in deprecation and cried with one voice, “Alas, this is wild and dangerous talk. How are we, with our bare hands, to vanquish Selim ben-Hafs and his thousand stern soldiers, with their cannon and their swords?”

Abu el-Kasim answered, “I saw in a dream ten wily men who between them collected ten thousand gold pieces and placed them in the hands of a trustworthy friend. Hassan, the officer commanding at the eastern gate, shut his eyes; camels brought arms into the city, hidden in the grain baskets, and the merchants concealed these weapons in their warehouses. I saw also ten bold men, each of whom chose and spoke to ten other bold men, and these in their turn did the same. They remained undiscovered, for each man knew only the nine others in his group, and his chief. In my dream this happened very quickly. I saw arms hidden in the sand of the seashore and a great fleet lay off the coast awaiting the signal to anchor and land its forces on either side of the city, so that they might march in through the open gates.

In this strange dream of mine it was all as simple as cracking an egg. But no man is answerable for his dreams.”

By this time many of the merchants were holding their hands over their ears so as not to hear such dangerous talk. Others were dubious, but the oldest among them stroked his beard and said, “Were a fatwa to be issued, the duty of every true Moslem would be to rise against Selim ben-Hafs and crush him. We should merely proclaim the fatwa at some suitable moment, and distribute the weapons. The Faqih has the fullest knowledge of the Koran and the sacred tradition. Selim ben- Hafs betrayed the faith when he allied himself with the Spaniards. As soon as the Faqih has prepared his fatwa he can set forth on a pilgrimage; should the enterprise fail, Khaireddin would certainly secure his old age. I’m willing to speak to the Faqih; being an old man and tired of life I have little to lose. The only question remaining is where to find a trustworthy man to hold the ten thousand gold pieces.”

“He sits before you,” said Abu el-Kasim, with simple dignity. But the eldest merchant paid no attention. He stroked his beard and said, “The man must be entirely trustworthy, for if he’s discovered and is asked whence this money came, we shall deny everything and swear on the Koran that he’s a liar. It will be no sin if we have a fatwa to appeal to. But if all goes well we can present ourselves before Khaireddin and say, ‘Behold, we did this thing; do not forget us.’ There remains only the problem-where to find the right man?”

Abu el-Kasim swore by Allah, the Koran, and his own beard that he was working in the cause of freedom and demanded nothing for himself. Having no other proposal the merchants found themselves compelled to trust him. At dusk one evening an iron chest appeared in our courtyard. In it lay ten leather bags within each of which were ten smaller ones, containing one hundred gold coins apiece. With some difficulty we carried this chest indoors. Abu el- Kasim locked the door and closed the shutters, and when Giulia had retired for the night he carefully counted the money. I had never seen so much gold in a single’heap before, and I said, “Abu, my dear master, let us quickly put the money back in the bags, hire a sturdy camel, and leave the city while there’s yet time.”

But Abu el-Kasim sighed, “Lead me not into temptation, Michael el-Hakim. Khaireddin’s weapons are ready, but it will take much to induce the rapacious Hassan to look the other way when they’re brought to the city. There are also Selim’s troops to be bribed. We can be thankful if even half this sum remains for us.”

All went smoothly. At the caravansary strangers with lean faces and burning eyes appeared, fumbling for the swords they did not carry. Poor tradesmen and artisans quaked and spent sleepless nights when in compliance with the fatwa they concealed weapons in their warehouses and granaries. But the Faqih set forth upon a long pilgrimage, and the eldest sons of the merchants kept him company; for so it was ordained in a marvelous dream that he had had.