and many conscientious Italian parents send their boys to Rome of their own accord for that purpose, to secure for them a better future than their homes can offer. And it’s not as dangerous as you say; you’re only trying to annoy me and you don’t love me at all.”
She broke into bitter weeping and declared herself the unhappiest of women, since no one appreciated her good intentions. And because I saw that she was sincerely mourning our poverty and her broken dreams I sat down beside her with my arm about her neck, to console her by recounting my success with Piri-reis. Wiping away her tears she stared at me in utter amazement.
“Michael Carvajal! You, who have knelt before Allah’s shadow on earth-can you have been so mad as to accept twelve aspers a day, and that for meekly serving a senile old creature like Piri-reis? Then you’re no longer responsible for your actions. If there’s a scrap of manhood in you, Michael, you’ll go at once to the Grand Vizier and complain of such unfair treatment.”
Deeply hurt, I replied, “Try to understand, Giulia, that my brains are my only fortune, and I shall be humbly thankful if by their help I can secure a comfortable income for us both without having to take risks. I never forced you to be my wife; you might have gone where you pleased. It’s not yet too late. If you’re as disillusioned as you’d have me believe, nothing need prevent us from going to the Cadi tomorrow. For a small sum he will dissolve our marriage, and you may use those different-colored eyes of yours to look about for a better man than I am.”
It was unkind of me to remind her of the blemish which, though to me it was her chief charm, made every sensible man avoid her after the first glance; and she was greatly cast down. She sobbed and protested that she loved me, though she could not think why she had attached herself to a man so devoid of any trace of ambition. We wept and kissed until Abu el-Kasim felt it was time for him to withdraw, and soon we were planning together in all harmony how best to live on an income of twelve aspers a day. Giulia had to confess that the sum was at least twice as much as could be earned in Christian countries by a fully trained and experienced mercenary with a large family. At length she laid her white arms about my neck and said tenderly, “Ah, Michael! I love you more than I can say, but at least let me dream of the fife we might have. By gazing into sand I can earn quantities of money as soon as my fame has spread in the city. Let me dream! I don’t care about the eunuch. Perhaps I can train our deaf- mute to carry things for me. I won’t ask you for anything more,
Michael, if only I may have one or two cats. The cats here have wonderfully bushy tails and a blue sheen to their coats; every fine lady has one, and the Prophet loved them. It’s only fair that I should have a cat or two, since you have your dog.”
She kissed me fervently and I was induced to consent. But a day or so later I was saddened to see how hurt my dog was, when two cats with bushy tails appeared and took possession of our two rooms. Rael thenceforward had to keep to the courtyard and hardly dared show himself in the kitchen, even for his meals. Giulia bought these prodigiously expensive creatures with the money that Piri-reis had given me, and even then remained in debt for part of the price.
One evening at dusk Andy arrived flushed with his potations, roaring German soldiers’ songs and bringing a greeting from Master Eimer in whose tavern he had been celebrating his successes at the arsenal. The commander of the Sultan’s artillery had been pleased to give Andy his hand to kiss, and to examine him as to Imperial armaments. He then appointed Andy foreman at the foundry with a wage of twelve aspers a day. Andy had met there a number of skilled Italians and Germans who worked either as free renegades or as slaves of the Sultan, and who all declared that they had learned much from the Turks and respected the artillery commander and his lieutenants. Andy was now to lodge at the arsenal and might not leave it without permission, because of the military secrets involved.
I was reassured to learn that Andy received the same pay as myself, for it showed that these rates were laid down by statute and that it would therefore be useless to complain of them. It was certainly mortifying to think that Andy, a single man and unable even to write his name, should receive as much as I did, but I was glad of his success and felt no resentment.
So began our life in Istanbul, and it continued thus throughout the winter-if winter it could be called. Snow fell very seldom and melted at once, though there was much wind and rain. Not long after our official reception, Torgut-reis received at the Grand Vizier’s hands a gold-mounted horsehair switch, to be delivered to Khaireddin as the outward symbol of his new dignity as beylerbey. Torgut took back also a letter from the Sultan and three kaftans of honor.
During my life with Giulia I believe I developed more and acquired a greater knowledge of life than in all my former years of wandering. Compared with her, my first wife Barbara had been a straightforward, unpretentious woman, albeit a witch-or at least infected with witchcraft to some degree. Barbara had been content for us to live like two little mice in our hole and earn a bare crust, so long as we could be together. But Giulia was not afraid of life, nor did peace and quiet appeal to her. Idleness made her ill, and to satisfy her craving for action she committed the wildest follies, convinced that all she did was well considered and undertaken with the most praiseworthy motives. Moreover she was never satisfied. No sooner were the cats in the house than she disliked their color. When without my permission she bought a costly necklace, she found she had no gown suitable to wear with it, and wanted to renew her wardrobe, or at least buy some slippers sewn with the same kind of stones as were in the chain. She was amazed when I attempted to reason with her, and she explained patiently, as to a child, “You see, Michael, the necklace by itself is useless. And it would be waste to lock it up and never wear it. I’m only considering how to display it to the best advantage.”
“Then why in the devil’s name did you buy the thing?” I roared, infuriated. She looked at me indulgently and with a shake of her golden locks replied, “It was a unique opportunity and I was so fortunate as to have your month’s salary in my purse. In Venice such a chain would cost three or four times as much; I should have been mad not to take it, especially as such things never lose their value and are an excellent investment.”
“Allah help me!” I groaned. “I’m no miser, but neither am I a galley slave to live for days on end on pea soup and crusts, and all because of your extravagance.”
Giulia raised her hands to heaven in a prayer for patience. Then she screamed, “Extravagance! When I think only of our future and place our money in valuables which neither moth nor rust doth corrupt! If you want better food, then in God’s name earn a better wage.”
“Allah! Allah!” said I. “I never spy upon you, Giulia, but I know you have many good things in your larder- expensive fruit juices, for instance, fruits preserved in honey, and sweet cakes from the pastry cook. That sort of food’s no good to a man, but I can’t endure your habit of inviting crowds of gossiping women to eat it and of prattling with them from morning till night, while your husband when he comes home after a hard day’s work must put up with pea soup and stone-hard crusts.”
Giulia flushed and cried tearfully, “I’ve never in my life known a more ungrateful man than you! Of course I must offer my neighbors as good cakes as I taste in their homes, if not better. It’s the only way to sustain your reputation among them. You don’t love me any more or you’d never treat me like this.”
Our quarrels most often ended by my humbly begging Giulia’s pardon and assuring her that she was the dearest and kindest and cleverest wife that ever a man had. I would also reproach myself for my bad behavior. But such phrases came ever more frequently from the lips only and not from the heart, and I stooped to utter them because my body craved for her and could not bear the abstinence that she would otherwise impose. An invisible rift widened between us and sometimes I would sicken of it all and join my dog in the courtyard under the cold winter sky, with his warmth as my only Comfort. At such lonely moments I felt once more a stranger in the world, and wondered for what strange pattern the great Weaver could use so patchy and brittle a thread as myself.
Giulia’s irritability arose partly from her ill success as a soothsayer, for although her neighbors politely clapped their hands and admired her powers she earned nothing. The capital abounded in so many fortunetellers, astrologers, and throwers of chicken bones, of all races and creeds, besides heiromancers who practiced divination by means of blood and entrails, that it was hard for a newcomer to compete with them. Though Abu el-Kasim diligently sang her praises in the bazaar, he was not a man to inspire confidence. We began to feel shut out again from this mysterious city, where success depended less on reasoned action than on chance.
I slipped imperceptibly into the Ottoman way of life and soon ceased to be regarded as a foreigner; with my gift for languages I combined the faculty of changing my skin, as it were, and assuming a new identity. Piri-reis’s old sea janissaries were friendly, while his clerks and cartographers grew accustomed to seeing me among them every day. Now and again I would be given a task suited to my talents-some errand to the Seraglio library, perhaps, where learned Mussulmans and Greeks were busy with the translation and copying of ancient manuscripts. But among these scholars I found no one to be my friend.
