On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (4)
-
¦ I October 30, 1852.] THE LEAflEH. 104y
-
^nrifnlta.
-
We should do our utmost to encourage the...
-
BiB?ffl£Bk6 99 A W£^&BBM&. ¦" X. January...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Village Life In Egypt. [Second Akticie.]...
will make their beards grow as long as that of the Prophet . This will lie a better means of making a fortune than selling fowls and diving into wells / « Hak Hak thanked his benefactor , and departing with the case returned to his illace , where he announced what he had for sale before the whole assembled population . To his surprise they all burst out laughing , and made fun of him . He returned desponding to his adopted mother ' s house , and the world was black before his face ; but presently the Sheikh sent privately to buy a small packet ; and then the barber ; and then the tobacco-seller ; and then the coffee-house keeper ; all in private . In fact , before the evening , the whole of his merchandise was sold , and every man in Kafr Hemmir went to bed with his chin steeped in the cosmetic , each believing that both his beard and his wisdom would have doubled in length next morning . " 1 wish I could reproduce the pantomime by which the morning-scene was de scribed ; the snorings , the grunts , the yawns , the impatience for the dawn : for it appears all the patients had been ordered to keep their jaws carefully wrapped ud until day-light . At length , the wished-for moment arrived .
A . _ ¦»¦» -m ¦* ¦ ¦< .. *¦ i-r » it ill . 1 1 " 1 _!?___ . 1 « Then they all up-rose , and hastily taking off the cloths , which had nearly stifled them , found that their beards came off likewise ! They clapped their hands to their chins , and felt them to be as smooth as their knees ; they jogged their wives , and were greeted by screams of laughter ; they ran out into the streets , and learned the truth , that the whole population had been rendered beardless by the ointment which the Caireen wag had given to Hak Hak . As all were equally unfortunate all laughed ; but they resolved to punish the unlucky hunchback . He was called before the Sheikh , where the elders of the village were assembled ; and when he saw the circle of smooth faces , could not help giggling .
"' He laugheth because he hath defiled our beards , ' exclaimed the conclave . ' It is necessary to put him to death . We are all friends here ; let us thrust him into a bag , carry him to the river , and throw him in , so that no more maybe heard of him . ' " This idea was unanimously accepted , and Hak Hak , in spite of his struggles , was carried away in a sack , across an ass ' s back , towards the river . About noon his guards stopped to rest , and lying down , fell asleep , leaving the hunchback still in his sack . ! N " ow it happened that an old man , bent nearly two-double , came driving by an immense flock of sheep ; and seeing these people asleep , and a sack standing up in the middle , was moved by curiosity to draw near it . " Hak Hak had managed to open it a little , and to look out with one eye ; which observing , the old shepherd marvelled , saying— 'A bag with an eye did I never see before / " He demanded , in a low voice , what was the meaning of this . The eye became a mouth , and
replied'" lam the unfortunate Hak Hak , whom these people are taking by force to marry the Sultan ' s daughter . ' " ' What , ' said the old man , who had married thirty-three wives in the course of his life , ' and dost thou repine at such good fortune ?' "' So much , that I would give all I possess to find a substitute / " ' Would not I do perfectly well V quoth the shepherd . ' I am not very old ; I have two teeth left , and one of my eyes is good enough : but they would not take me in exchange / ¦ , "' Oh yes , wallah , they would ; if you call yourself Hak Hak : it appeareth that the name is fortunate , and I have been chosen only on this account . Untie the bag , and let me out . '
" The shepherd , whose hands trembled from age and excitement , liberated Hak Hak , made him a present of his flock , and bade him tie the bag very tightly , lest the change should be discovered . The hunchback did as he was desired , and hastened to retire with his sheep . Meanwhile , the villagers waking up , threw their prisoner again upon the ass , and proceeding on their journey , plunged the poor old man into the river , just as lie was dreaming with delight of his first interview with the Sultan ' s daughter , how he would smile and look pleasant , and how she would bid him be of good cheer . " This was thought a particularly amusing incident . There is little respect for human life in the East ; and the hunchback was considered to have done a very clever thing . The great point of tho joke was , that just as the poor old shepherd opened his mouth to address his imaginary bride it was filled with cold water ; and the Tuutawi represented with horrible contortions , deemed highly comic , the somewhat tardy disenchantment of the drowning num .
"Next morning , Hak Hak quietly returned to his village with his dork of sheep , to the great surprise ; ind fear of the beardless people . They thought lie must have made u complaint against them , and went up to ask his pardon and congratulate him on his escape . " ' Ah , villains ! ah , dogs ! ah , pigs ! ' he exclaimed : ' why did you not throw me mto the river where the camels were grazing , or the horses , or the buffaloes ? I nhould then have been a rich man . ' "This hint was sufficient ; the beardless held a consultation , and it was resolved that every family should put one of its members into a sack , and throw him in , that he mi ght bring up as much wealth as link . 11 ak . They started oil" that very * ' » . V , and drowned all the fine young men of the village ; but Availed a whole week without seeing them come back . So they began io be much alarmed , and went to Uhs hunchback to ask bis advice .
M y good friends , ' Kui < l he , ' you muni , have thrown them in anion ^ the canicly , « nd they want , cords to tie I hem . ' /^ % Upon this they spent all their money in buying cords , and . citsl ; them into the j 'ver , lmt another week and a month passed , and nl . last they understood thijt they '"' d been tricked . , So they roue against Jlak I Ink , determining to put him to 1 l ! » th ; but he escaped from their bands , and set . out : i second time for ( , ' airo . " ' <¦ came to puss that there reigned at this epoch in Mgypt a king named Mo"" nnied , whose life ; wore on in such happiness that be became tired of it , mid felt iir ''' " llUl " Wt - M , " ' heavily on his hands . One < lay , in bis gloom , ho mud to bis M' / cor- — ' * i .
"'() VVV / ocr , 1 desire to bear an-empty Haying ( JcUmil j ' arrali ); find inn a man ' <> W'H say an empty saying to inn to-morrow , or I will cut oil" thy bead . ' The Wczeel- endeavoured to expostulate , but it was to no purpose ; and he | -nt bonus wondering what lolly bad seized the king . He passed all that day in im '"' n . se ; and gtifting up next morning , rode forth on Inn niiilo to ponder on what l <; Hhould do to save bis life . Now it happened that on that very morning the ^ unchbaek , "iilc Hak , arrived in Cairo , and was neon by the We / . eer reposing by ' '" Way » idi ) . lid was n droll-looking fellow , whom nobody could pass by unnoticed ; I !? . l 0 Wezcor thought to himself ^ perhaps thin deformity may bo of nervine to inc . ' Jll «» he cried aloud'' O traveller , wilt thou gain u hundred pieces of gold I "
" Hak Hak replied , — "' The woman who stole my clothes offered one piece of gold : it is evident , O Greybeard , that thou desirest to steal my skin / But the Wezeer explained to him , and he was satisfied . " They went together to the audience-chamber ; and the Wezeer going in , found tlie king sitting sullenly looking on the ground . He dared not speak , but waited patiently for the decree of fate . Meanwhile Hak Hak hid himself behind the door , and showing himself now and then , began beckoning to the king ; and when he had attracted his attention , made signs that he wanted to speak to him in private .
The king was amused by his droll gestures and grimaces , but did not move ; upon which Hak Hnk threatened him with his fist , and again began beckoning . At last the King Mohammed rose from his divan , and went out , followed by the Wezeer . Hak Hak did not wait , but walked before , still making signs with his hand , shaking hiS'head , and rolling his eyes , and walking with his long strides on tiptoe , and wagging his hump from side to side . Thus they proceeded , until they came to the centre of the Kara Meydan , when Hak Hak stopped , and beckoned to King Mohammed to stoop down , that he might whisper in his ear . The king at first was afraid lest he might bite him ; but at last complied , whereupon the
hunchback said , in a husky voice ,- ^ - " ' O king , hast thou ever been to Damascus ?' " No , ' was the reply . " ' No more have I , O king , ' quoth Hak Hak . " For a moment the royal one looked puzzled , and then exclaimed , — " ' Seize this insolent monster , and put him to death / " Bsft the Wezeer interfered , and explained that this was the empty saying he had wished to hear ; whereupon the king laughed till they were obliged to support him lest he should fall in the dust , and he ordered Hak Hak to relate his history ; and when he had heard it , he first caused him to be scourged , and then appointed him Sheikh of Kafr Hemmir . So the hunchback returned to his -village , and torinented his enemies ; but at last he became a mild man , and was beloved instead of being hated .
¦ I October 30, 1852.] The Leafleh. 104y
¦ I October 30 , 1852 . ] THE LEAflEH . 104 y
^Nrifnlta.
^ nrifnlta .
We Should Do Our Utmost To Encourage The...
We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itself . —Goethe .
Bib?Ffl£Bk6 99 A W£^&Bbm&. ¦" X. January...
BiB ? ffl £ Bk 6 99 A W £ ^& BBM & . ¦ " X . January 28 , 1852 . ct ^ U'LE NA mia , —I have passed so strange a day and night , that my IKK neat * stiu ^ * * y with i unaccustomed haunts . Verily com-§ K £ | merce has its romance as well as the craggiest vale of Switzerland . JjSsll I write to you because it is necessary for me to turn my thought as much as possible to objects which are real , and not distorted , which are generous and beautiful , and not mortally depraved .
I was about to set out yesterday morning for Weraeth , to fulfil my promise to poor Fanny Chctham ; Margaret had come down stairs to breakfast for the first time— " to fill her eyes with me , " she said , " before my desolating absence of five days ; " Yseult was making breakfast , the children helping her to tend on the fair cripple ; Edwardes was in admirable humour , explaining to us the latest views as to the reparative process in fractures , and dashing through his exposition in his own clear , concise , masterly way ; with an eye to my time , when in . came Sarah Selby , as if by accident , but with a restless eye , that soon led me after her out of the room . With an urgency of entreaty that admitted of no refusal , she desired me to put oil ' my journey , and to follow her to Johnson ' s , where she would explain to me all . Johnson was ruined—openly bankrupt ; and she feared " the worst . " The English tradesman who has eome to the end of bis ledger , often agrees with Brutus in thinking that there is only one dignified retreat
from discomfiture . What I could do I did not sen ;; but the more I protested against any capacity for help in the particular kind of trouble , the more she insisted ; as if I were to he the natural saviour of men in a condition of insolvency . At last I yielded , merely because she asked ; since it is the man ' s place , if a woman asks that which is not impossible , to grant it . While I went , she returned to the breakfast-room , " to prevent their noticing my absence , " she . said . I afterwards discovered , however , that the anxiety to be secret terminated in its natural result , the . full discovery of thr whole tiling to he concealed . Arriving at Johnson's , I found ii chaotic state of allairs , which revealed
the downfall of" the ruling power . The shop , indeed , was open as usual and business was going forward ; but there was 1 know not what air of indiscipline in the men , which indicated the absence of the master mind . Proceeding to tin ; private part of the house , I met one of the servants , who wore a distracted air , regardless of the quiet decorum hitherto domesticated behind the seem ; of business . Kvcry door almost seemed to stand
open , as if already despair lmd thrown aside the attempt to keep up appearances . In the dravving-rooni was Mrs . Johnson , still at her duty , and still busy in some domestic employment , ever resigned to what might happen ; too much crushed already , many times over , to be more crushed , and upheld by the unextinguishubic pride of utlcr humility . She received me with her own quiet manner , and almost an ostentation of equanimity ; ami led me at once , as if she knew for what I hud come , through the back drawing-room into a third room behind all .
Johnson wns sitting before the fire , his whole attitude denoting that ho had come ; to the end of his ideas . No balance standing in bis ledger , lie lmd forfeited liiw right to be in the world ; he lmd no status , us the Scotch
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 30, 1852, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30101852/page/19/
-