Murad the Unlucky and Other Tales

M >> Maria Edgeworth >> Murad the Unlucky and Other Tales


"I own that this rash security appeared to me, at first, surprising, but
it soon ceased to strike me with wonder, and it even tended to confirm my
favourite opinion, that some were born to good and some to evil fortune.
I became almost as careless as my companions, from following the same
course of reasoning. 'It is not,' thought I, 'in the power of human
prudence to avert the stroke of destiny. I shall perhaps die to-morrow;
let me therefore enjoy to-day.'

"I now made it my study every day to procure as much amusement as
possible. My poverty, as you will imagine, restricted me from indulgence
and excess, but I soon found means to spend what did not actually belong
to me. There were certain Jews who were followers of the camp, and who,
calculating on the probability of victory for our troops, advanced money
to the soldiers, for which they engaged to pay these usurers exorbitant
interest. The Jew to whom I applied traded with me also, upon the belief
that my brother Saladin, with whose character and circumstances he was
acquainted, would pay my debts if I should fall. With the money I raised
from the Jew I continually bought coffee and opium, of which I grew
immoderately fond. In the delirium it created I forgot all my
misfortunes, all fear of the future.

"One day, when I had raised my spirits by an unusual quantity of opium, I
was strolling through the camp, sometimes singing, sometimes dancing,
like a madman, and repeating that I was not now Murad the Unlucky. Whilst
these words were on my lips, a friendly spectator, who was in possession
of his sober senses, caught me by the arm, and attempted to drag me from
the place where I was exposing myself. 'Do you not see,' said he, 'those
soldiers, who are firing at a mark? I saw one of them, just now,
deliberately taking aim at your turban; and observe, he is now reloading
his piece.' My ill luck prevailed even at this instant--the only instant
in my life when I defied its power. I struggled with my adviser,
repeating, 'I am not the wretch you take me for; I am not Murad the
Unlucky.' He fled from the danger himself; I remained, and in a few
seconds afterwards a ball reached me, and I fell senseless on the sand.

"The ball was cut out of my body by an awkward surgeon, who gave me ten
times more pain than was necessary. He was particularly hurried at this
time, because the army had just received orders to march in a few hours,
and all was confusion in the camp. My wound was excessively painful, and
the fear of being left behind with those who were deemed incurable added
to my torments. Perhaps, if I had kept myself quiet, I might have
escaped some of the evils I afterwards endured; but, as I have repeatedly
told you, gentlemen, it was my ill fortune never to be able to judge what
was best to be done till the time for prudence was past.

"During the day, when my fever was at the height, and when my orders were
to keep my bed, contrary to my natural habits of indolence, I rose a
hundred times, and went out of my tent in the very heat of the day, to
satisfy my curiosity as to the number of the tests which had not been
struck, and of the soldiers who had not yet marched. The orders to march
were tardily obeyed, and many hours elapsed before our encampment was
raised. Had I submitted to my surgeon's orders, I might have been in a
state to accompany the most dilatory of the stragglers; I could have
borne, perhaps, the slow motion of a litter, on which some of the sick
were transported; but in the evening, when the surgeon came to dress my
wounds, he found me in such a situation that it was scarcely possible to
remove me.

"He desired a party of soldiers, who were left to bring up the rear, to
call for me the next morning. They did so; but they wanted to put me
upon the mule which I recollected, by a white streak on its back, to be
the cursed animal that had kicked me whilst I was looking for the ring. I
could not be prevailed upon to go upon this unlucky animal. I tried to
persuade the soldiers to carry me, and they took me a little way; but,
soon growing weary of their burden, they laid me down on the sand,
pretending that they were going to fill a skin with water at a spring
they had discovered, and bade me lie still, and wait for their return.

"I waited and waited, longing for the water to moisten my parched lips;
but no water came--no soldiers returned; and there I lay, for several
hours, expecting every moment to breathe my last. I made no effort to
move, for I was now convinced my hour was come, and that it was the will
of Mahomet that I should perish in this miserable manner, and lie
unburied like a dog: 'a death,' thought I, 'worthy of Murad the Unlucky.'

"My forebodings were not this time just; a detachment of English soldiers
passed near the place where I lay: my groans were heard by them, and they
humanely came to my assistance. They carried me with them, dressed my
wound, and treated me with the utmost tenderness. Christians though they
were, I must acknowledge that I had reason to love them better than any
of the followers of Mahomet, my good brother only excepted.

"Under their care I recovered; but scarcely had I regained my strength
before I fell into new disasters. It was hot weather, and my thirst was
excessive. I went out with a party, in hopes of finding a spring of
water. The English soldiers began to dig for a well, in a place pointed
out to them by one of their men of science. I was not inclined to such
hard labour, but preferred sauntering on in search of a spring. I saw at
a distance something that looked like a pool of water; and I pointed it
out to my companions. Their man of science warned me by his interpreter
not to trust to this deceitful appearance; for that such were common in
this country, and that, when I came close to the spot, I should find no
water there. He added, that it was at a greater distance than I
imagined; and that I should, in all probability, be lost in the desert if
I attempted to follow this phantom.

"I was so unfortunate as not to attend to his advice: I set out in
pursuit of this accursed delusion, which assuredly was the work of evil
spirits, who clouded my reason, and allured me into their dominion. I
went on, hour after hour, in expectation continually of reaching the
object of my wishes; but it fled faster than I pursued, and I discovered
at last that the Englishman, who had doubtless gained his information
from the people of the country, was right; and that the shining
appearance which I had taken for water was a mere deception.

"I was now exhausted with fatigue: I looked back in vain after the
companions I had left; I could see neither men, animals, nor any trace of
vegetation in the sandy desert. I had no resource but, weary as I was,
to measure back my footsteps, which were imprinted in the sand.

"I slowly and sorrowfully traced them as my guides in this unknown land.
Instead of yielding to my indolent inclinations, I ought, however, to
have made the best of my way back, before the evening breeze sprang up. I
felt the breeze rising, and, unconscious of my danger, I rejoiced, and
opened my bosom to meet it; but what was my dismay when I saw that the
wind swept before it all trace of my footsteps in the sand. I knew not
which way to proceed; I was struck with despair, tore my garments, threw
off my turban, and cried aloud; but neither human voice nor echo answered
me. The silence was dreadful. I had tasted no food for many hours, and
I now became sick and faint. I recollected that I had put a supply of
opium into the folds of my turban; but, alas! when I took my turban up, I
found that the opium had fallen out. I searched for it in vain on the
sand, where I had thrown the turban.

"I stretched myself out upon the ground, and yielded without further
struggle to my evil destiny. What I suffered from thirst, hunger, and
heat cannot be described. At last I fell into a sort of trance, during
which images of various kinds seemed to flit before my eyes. How long I
remained in this state I know not: but I remember that I was brought to
my senses by a loud shout, which came from persons belonging to a caravan
returning from Mecca. This was a shout of joy for their safe arrival at
a certain spring, well known to them in this part of the desert.

"The spring was not a hundred yards from the spot where I lay; yet, such
had been the fate of Murad the Unlucky, that he missed the reality,
whilst he had been hours in pursuit of the phantom. Feeble and
spiritless as I was, I sent forth as loud a cry as I could, in hopes of
obtaining assistance; and I endeavoured to crawl to the place from which
the voices appeared to come. The caravan rested for a considerable time
whilst the slaves filled the skins with water, and whilst the camels took
in their supply. I worked myself on towards them; yet, notwithstanding
my efforts, I was persuaded that, according to my usual ill-fortune, I
should never be able to make them hear my voice. I saw them mount their
camels! I took off my turban, unrolled it, and waved it in the air. My
signal was seen! The caravan came towards me!

"I had scarcely strength to speak; a slave gave me some water, and, after
I had drunk, I explained to them who I was, and how I came into this
situation.

"Whilst I was speaking, one of the travellers observed the purse which
hung to my girdle: it was the same the merchant for whom I recovered the
ring had given to me; I had carefully preserved it, because the initials
of my benefactor's name and a passage from the Koran were worked upon it.
When he give it to me, he said that perhaps we should meet again in some
other part of the world, and he should recognise me by this token. The
person who now took notice of the purse was his brother; and when I
related to him how I had obtained it, he had the goodness to take me
under his protection. He was a merchant, who was now going with the
caravan to Grand Cairo: he offered to take me with him, and I willingly
accepted the proposal, promising to serve him as faithfully as any of his
slaves. The caravan proceeded, and I was carried with it."



CHAPTER II


"The merchant, who was become my master, treated me with great kindness;
but on hearing me relate the whole series of my unfortunate adventures,
he exacted a promise from me that I would do nothing without first
consulting him. 'Since you are so unlucky, Murad,' said he, 'that you
always choose for the worst when you choose for yourself, you should
trust entirely to the judgment of a wiser or a more fortunate friend.'

"I fared well in the service of this merchant, who was a man of a mild
disposition, and who was so rich that he could afford to be generous to
all his dependants. It was my business to see his camels loaded and
unloaded at proper places, to count his bales of merchandise, and to take
care that they were not mixed with those of his companions. This I
carefully did till the day we arrived at Alexandria; when, unluckily, I
neglected to count the bales, taking it for granted that they were all
right, as I had found them so the preceding day. However, when we were
to go on board the vessel that was to take us to Cairo, I perceived that
three bales of cotton were missing.

"I ran to inform my master, who, though a good deal provoked at my
negligence, did not reproach me as I deserved. The public crier was
immediately sent round the city, to offer a reward for the recovery of
the merchandise; and it was restored by one of the merchants' slaves with
whom we had travelled. The vessel was now under sail; my master and I
and the bales of cotton were obliged to follow in a boat; and when we
were taken on board, the captain declared he was so loaded, that he could
not tell where to stow the bales of cotton. After much difficulty, he
consented to let them remain upon deck; and I promised my master to watch
them night and day.

"We had a prosperous voyage, and were actually in sight of shore, which
the captain said we could not fail to reach early the next morning. I
stayed, as usual, this night upon deck, and solaced myself by smoking my
pipe. Ever since I had indulged in this practice at the camp at El
Arish, I could not exist without opium and tobacco. I suppose that my
reason was this night a little clouded with the dose I took; but towards
midnight I was sobered by terror. I started up from the deck on which I
had stretched myself; my turban was in flames--the bale of cotton on
which I had rested was all on fire. I awakened two sailors, who were
fast asleep on deck. The consternation became general, and the confusion
increased the danger. The captain and my master were the most active,
and suffered the most, in extinguishing the flames--my master was
terribly scorched.

"For my part, I was not suffered to do anything; the captain ordered that
I should be bound to the mast; and when at last the flames were
extinguished, the passengers, with one accord, besought him to keep me
bound hand and foot, lest I should be the cause of some new disaster. All
that had happened was, indeed, occasioned by my ill-luck. I had laid my
pipe down, when I was falling asleep, upon the bale of cotton that was
beside me. The fire from my pipe fell out and set the cotton in flames.
Such was the mixture of rage and terror with which I had inspired the
whole crew, that I am sure they would have set me ashore on a desert
island rather than have had me on board for a week longer. Even my
humane master, I could perceive, was secretly impatient to get rid of
Murad the Unlucky and his evil fortune.

"You may believe that I was heartily glad when we landed, and when I was
unbound. My master put a purse containing fifty sequins into my hand,
and bade me farewell. 'Use this money prudently, Murad, if you can,'
said he, 'and perhaps your fortune may change.' Of this I had little
hopes, but determined to lay out my money as prudently as possible.

"As I was walking through the streets of Grand Cairo, considering how I
should lay out my fifty sequins to the greatest advantage, I was stopped
by one who called me by my name, and asked me if I could pretend to have
forgotten his face. I looked steadily at him, and recollected to my
sorrow that he was the Jew Rachub, from whom I had borrowed certain sums
of money at the camp at El Arish. What brought him to Grand Cairo,
except it was my evil destiny, I cannot tell. He would not quit me; he
would take no excuses; he said he knew that I had deserted twice, once
from the Turkish and once from the English army; that I was not entitled
to any pay; and that he could not imagine it possible that my brother
Saladin would own me or pay my debts.

"I replied, for I was vexed by the insolence of this Jewish dog, that I
was not, as he imagined, a beggar: that I had the means of paying him my
just debt, but that I hoped he would not extort from me all that
exorbitant interest which none but a Jew could exact. He smiled, and
answered that if a Turk loved opium better than money this was no fault
of his; that he had supplied me with what I loved best in the world, and
that I ought not to complain when he expected I should return the favour.

"I will not weary you, gentlemen, with all the arguments that passed
between me and Rachub. At last we compromised matters; he would take
nothing less than the whole debt: but he let me have at a very cheap rate
a chest of second-hand clothes, by which he assured me I might make my
fortune. He brought them to Grand Cairo, he said, for the purpose of
selling them to slave merchants, who, at this time of the year, were in
want of them to supply their slaves; but he was in haste to get home to
his wife and family at Constantinople, and, therefore, he was willing to
make over to a friend the profits of this speculation. I should have
distrusted Rachub's professions of friendship, and especially of
disinterestedness, but he took me with him to the khan where his goods
were, and unlocked the chest of clothes to show them to me. They were of
the richest and finest materials, and had been but little worn. I could
not doubt the evidence of my senses; the bargain was concluded, and the
Jew sent porters to my inn with the chest.

"The next day I repaired to the public market-place; and, when my
business was known, I had choice of customers before night--my chest was
empty, and my purse was full. The profit I made upon the sale of these
clothes was so considerable, that I could not help feeling astonishment
at Rachub's having brought himself so readily to relinquish them.

"A few days after I had disposed of the contents of my chest, a Damascene
merchant, who had bought two suits of apparel from me, told me, with a
very melancholy face, that both the female slaves who had put on these
clothes were sick. I could not conceive that the clothes were the cause
of their sickness; but soon afterwards, as I was crossing the market, I
was attacked by at least a dozen merchants, who made similar complaints.
They insisted upon knowing how I came by the garments, and demanded
whether I had worn any of them myself. This day I had, for the first
time, indulged myself with wearing a pair of yellow slippers, the only
finery I had reserved for myself out of all the tempting goods. Convinced
by my wearing these slippers that I could have had no insidious designs,
since I shared the danger, whatever it might be, the merchants were a
little pacified; but what was my terror and remorse the next day, when
one of them came to inform me that plague-boils had broken out under the
arms of all the slaves who had worn this pestilential apparel! On
looking carefully into the chest, we found the word 'Smyrna' written, and
half effaced, upon the lid. Now, the plague had for some time raged at
Smyrna; and, as the merchants suspected, these clothes had certainly
belonged to persons who had died of that distemper. This was the reason
why the Jew was willing to sell them to me so cheap; and it was for this
reason that he would not stay at Grand Cairo himself to reap the profits
of his speculation. Indeed, if I had paid attention to it at the proper
time, a slight circumstance might have revealed the truth to me. Whilst
I was bargaining with the Jew, before he opened the chest, he swallowed a
large dram of brandy, and stuffed his nostrils with sponge dipped in
vinegar; he told me, he did to prevent his perceiving the smell of musk,
which always threw him into convulsions.

"The horror I felt when I discovered that I had spread the infection of
the plague, and that I had probably caught it myself, overpowered my
senses--a cold dew spread over all my limbs, and I fell upon the lid of
the fatal chest in a swoon. It is said that fear disposes people to take
the infection; however this may be, I sickened that evening, and soon was
in a raging fever. It was worse for me whenever the delirium left me,
and I could reflect upon the miseries my ill-fortune had occasioned. In
my first lucid interval I looked round, and saw that I had been removed
from the khan to a wretched hut. An old woman, who was smoking her pipe
in the farthest corner of my room, informed me that I had been sent out
of the town of Grand Cairo by order of the cadi, to whom the merchants
had made their complaint. The fatal chest was burnt, and the house in
which I had lodged razed to the ground. 'And if it had not been for me,'
continued the old woman, 'you would have been dead probably at this
instant; but I have made a vow to our great Prophet that I would never
neglect an opportunity of doing a good action; therefore, when you were
deserted by all the world, I took care of you. Here, too, is your purse,
which I saved from the rabble--and, what is more difficult, from the
officers of justice. I will account to you for every part that I have
expended; and will, moreover, tell you the reason of my making such an
extraordinary vow.'

"As I believed that this benevolent old woman took great pleasure in
talking, I made an inclination of my head to thank her for her promised
history, and she proceeded; but I must confess I did not listen with all
the attention her narrative doubtless deserved. Even curiosity, the
strongest passion of us Turks, was dead within me. I have no
recollection of the old woman's story. It is as much as I can do to
finish my own.

"The weather became excessively hot; it was affirmed by some of the
physicians that this heat would prove fatal to their patients; but,
contrary to the prognostics of the physicians, it stopped the progress of
the plague. I recovered, and found my purse much lightened by my
illness. I divided the remainder of my money with my humane nurse, and
sent her out into the city to inquire how matters were going on.

"She brought me word that the fury of the plague had much abated, but
that she had met several funerals, and that she had heard many of the
merchants cursing the folly of Murad the Unlucky, who, as they said, had
brought all this calamity upon the inhabitants of Cairo. Even fools,
they say, learn by experience. I took care to burn the bed on which I
had lain and the clothes I had worn; I concealed my real name, which I
knew would inspire detestation, and gained admittance, with a crowd of
other poor wretches, into a lazaretto, where I performed quarantine and
offered up prayers daily for the sick.

"When I thought it was impossible I could spread the infection, I took my
passage home. I was eager to get away from Grand Cairo, where I knew I
was an object of execration. I had a strange fancy haunting my mind; I
imagined that all my misfortunes, since I left Constantinople, had arisen
from my neglect of the talisman upon the beautiful china vase. I dreamed
three times, when I was recovering from the plague, that a genius
appeared to me, and said, in a reproachful tone, 'Murad, where is the
vase that was entrusted to thy care?'

"This dream operated strongly upon my imagination. As soon as we arrived
at Constantinople, which we did, to my great surprise, without meeting
with any untoward accidents, I went in search of my brother Saladin to
inquire for my vase. He no longer lived in the house in which I left
him, and I began to be apprehensive that he was dead, but a porter,
hearing my inquiries, exclaimed, 'Who is there in Constantinople that is
ignorant of the dwelling of Saladin the Lucky? Come with me, and I will
show it to you.'

"The mansion to which he conducted me looked so magnificent that I was
almost afraid to enter lest there should be some mistake. But whilst I
was hesitating the doors opened, and I heard my brother Saladin's voice.
He saw me almost at the same instant that I fixed my eyes upon him, and
immediately sprang forward to embrace me. He was the same good brother
as ever, and I rejoiced in his prosperity with all my heart. 'Brother
Saladin,' said I, 'can you now doubt that some men are born to be
fortunate and others to be unfortunate? How often you used to dispute
this point with me!'

"'Let us not dispute it now in the public street,' said he, smiling; 'but
come in and refresh yourself, and we will consider the question
afterwards at leisure.'

"'No, my dear brother,' said I, drawing back, 'you are too good: Murad
the Unlucky shall not enter your house, lest he should draw down
misfortunes upon you and yours. I come only to ask for my vase.'

"'It is safe,' cried he; 'come in, and you shall see it: but I will not
give it up till I have you in my house. I have none of these
superstitious fears: pardon me the expression, but I have none of these
superstitious fears.'

"I yielded, entered his house, and was astonished at all I saw. My
brother did not triumph in his prosperity; but, on the contrary, seemed
intent only upon making me forget my misfortunes: he listened to the
account of them with kindness, and obliged me by the recital of his
history: which was, I must acknowledge, far less wonderful than my own.
He seemed, by his own account, to have grown rich in the common course of
things; or rather, by his own prudence. I allowed for his prejudices,
and, unwilling to dispute farther with him, said, 'You must remain of
your opinion, brother, and I of mine; you are Saladin the Lucky, and I
Murad the Unlucky; and so we shall remain to the end of our lives.'

"I had not been in his house four days when an accident happened, which
showed how much I was in the right. The favourite of the sultan, to whom
he had formerly sold his china vase, though her charms were now somewhat
faded by time, still retained her power and her taste for magnificence.
She commissioned my brother to bespeak for her, at Venice, the most
splendid looking-glass that money could purchase. The mirror, after many
delays and disappointments, at length arrived at my brother's house. He
unpacked it, and sent to let the lady know it was in perfect safety. It
was late in the evening, and she ordered it should remain where it was
that night, and that it should be brought to the seraglio the next
morning. It stood in a sort of ante-chamber to the room in which I
slept; and with it were left some packages, containing glass chandeliers
for an unfinished saloon in my brother's house. Saladin charged all his
domestics to be vigilant this night, because he had money to a great
amount by him, and there had been frequent robberies in our
neighbourhood. Hearing these orders, I resolved to be in readiness at a
moment's warning. I laid my scimitar beside me upon a cushion, and left
my door half open, that I might hear the slightest noise in the
ante-chamber or the great staircase. About midnight I was suddenly
awakened by a noise in the ante-chamber. I started up, seized my
scimitar, and the instant I got to the door, saw, by the light of the
lamp which was burning in the room, a man standing opposite to me, with a
drawn sword in his hand. I rushed forward, demanding what he wanted, and
received no answer; but seeing him aim at me with his scimitar, I gave
him, as I thought, a deadly blow. At this instant I heard a great crash;
and the fragments of the looking-glass, which I had shivered, fell at my
feet. At the same moment something black brushed by my shoulder: I
pursued it, stumbled over the packages of glass, and rolled over them
down the stairs.