Eothen | Page 3

and silence follows you still.
Again and again you meet turbans, and faces of men, but they have
nothing for you--no welcome--no wonder--no wrath--no scorn--they
look upon you as we do upon a December's fall of snow-- as a
"seasonable," unaccountable, uncomfortable work of God, that may
have been sent for some good purpose, to be revealed hereafter.
Some people had come down to meet us with an invitation from the
Pasha, and we wound our way up to the castle. At the gates there were
groups of soldiers, some smoking, and some lying flat like corpses
upon the cool stones. We went through courts, ascended steps, passed
along a corridor, and walked into an airy, whitewashed room, with an
European clock at one end of it, and Moostapha Pasha at the other; the
fine, old, bearded potentate looked very like Jove--like Jove, too, in the
midst of his clouds, for the silvery fumes of the narghile {2} hung
lightly circling round him.
The Pasha received us with the smooth, kind, gentle manner that
belongs to well-bred Osmanlees; then he lightly clapped his hands, and

instantly the sound filled all the lower end of the room with slaves; a
syllable dropped from his lips which bowed all heads, and conjured
away the attendants like ghosts (their coming and their going was thus
swift and quiet, because their feet were bare, and they passed through
no door, but only by the yielding folds of a purder). Soon the
coffee-bearers appeared, every man carrying separately his tiny cup in a
small metal stand; and presently to each of us there came a pipe-bearer,
who first rested the bowl of the tchibouque at a measured distance on
the floor, and then, on this axis, wheeled round the long cheery stick,
and gracefully presented it on half-bended knee; already the
well-kindled fire was glowing secure in the bowl, and so, when I
pressed the amber up to mine, there was no coyness to conquer; the
willing fume came up, and answered my slightest sigh, and followed
softly every breath inspired, till it touched me with some faint sense
and understanding of Asiatic contentment.
Asiatic contentment! Yet scarcely, perhaps, one hour before I had been
wanting my bill, and ringing for waiters, in a shrill and busy hotel.
In the Ottoman dominions there is scarcely any hereditary influence
except that which belongs to the family of the Sultan, and wealth, too,
is a highly volatile blessing, not easily transmitted to the descendant of
the owner. From these causes it results that the people standing in the
place of nobles and gentry are official personages, and though many
(indeed the greater number) of these potentates are humbly born and
bred, you will seldom, I think, find them wanting in that polished
smoothness of manner, and those well- undulating tones which belong
to the best Osmanlees. The truth is, that most of the men in authority
have risen from their humble station by the arts of the courtier, and they
preserve in their high estate those gentle powers of fascination to which
they owe their success. Yet unless you can contrive to learn a little of
the language, you will be rather bored by your visits of ceremony; the
intervention of the interpreter, or dragoman as he is called, is fatal to
the spirit of conversation. I think I should mislead you if I were to
attempt to give the substance of any particular conversation with
Orientals. A traveller may write and say that "the Pasha of So-and-so
was particularly interested in the vast progress which has been made in
the application of steam, and appeared to understand the structure of
our machinery--that he remarked upon the gigantic results of our

manufacturing industry-- showed that he possessed considerable
knowledge of our Indian affairs, and of the constitution of the
Company, and expressed a lively admiration of the many sterling
qualities for which the people of England are distinguished." But the
heap of commonplaces thus quietly attributed to the Pasha will have
been founded perhaps on some such talking as this:-
Pasha.--The Englishman is welcome; most blessed among hours is this,
the hour of his coming.
Dragoman (to the traveller).--The Pasha pays you his compliments.
Traveller.--Give him my best compliments in return, and say I'm
delighted to have the honour of seeing him.
Dragoman (to the Pasha).--His lordship, this Englishman, Lord of
London, Scorner of Ireland, Suppressor of France, has quitted his
governments, and left his enemies to breathe for a moment, and has
crossed the broad waters in strict disguise, with a small but eternally
faithful retinue of followers, in order that he might look upon the bright
countenance of the Pasha among Pashas--the Pasha of the everlasting
Pashalik of Karagholookoldour.
Traveller (to his dragoman).--What on earth have you