Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Basem; Or, The Blacksmith. An Oriental Apologue.
you speak , Hadg i Khalif ? " replied Basem . The Khalif calmly answered , " Yes ; " but Giafar , who stood near his master , said to Basem , in an angry tone , " You shred of bildars , answer the Emeer al Moumaneen speedily , and speak with more respect , or the sword will soon be lied to your neck . " Basem ' s confusion was now
app complete ; his joints trembled , his face became still yellower than before , and his tongue faltered . " Misfortune , " said he to himself , " will not leave me to visit some one else I By Ullah , O wretch that thou art , every thing may happen to you , life excepted , for this is the moment that must discover you , and the Khalif will infallibly order your head to be struck off : God only remains , and in him is
my only hope . " After a pause , during which the Khalif had recovered his gravity , " And so , " said he , " you are a bildar , the son of a bildar ? " " Yes , yes , Hadgi Khalif , " hastily replied Basem , " I am a bildar , the son of a bildar , and my mother was a bildar before me . " It was not in the power of the Khalif , nor of his vizir , nor of any of those " present , to refrain from laughing at this extravagant answer .
" You are then a bildar , the son of a bildar , and your allowance is twenty dinars , and five pounds of mutton ; and this is" your yearly appointment ? " " O yes , yes , Emeer al Moumaneen , " replied Basem , " and may the decrees of God be your protection ! " " This appointment , which descended from your grandfather and father , you now enjoy . It is well ; in the mean time do you select three bildars , to accompany you to the dungeon of blood , and immediately bring before me the four banditti , now confined there , who have already confessed their guilt . "
Here the vizir interposing , proposed that the waly ( the governor in whose custody the prisoners were ) should be ordered to produce them ; to which the Khalif gave his assent . In ayery short while , the waly ( governor ) made his appearance , with the four criminals , their arms pinioned , and their heads bare . They were banditti , who not only had robbed on the highway , but had added murder to robberyin defiance of the laws of GodWhen brought before the
, . Khalif , he asked them , " Whether they belonged to that gang which ' had been guilty of such atrocities ? " They answered , " We are , O Emeer al Moumaneen , abandoned by God , and instigated by the devil ; we have been associates in their crimes ; but we now appear in humility and repentance before the Emeer of the true believers . " " You are delinquents of that kind" said the Khalif" for whom
, , there is no remedy but the sword . " He then ordered the three bildars selected by Basem , each to seize one of the prisoners , to cut open his vest , and blindfold him , then to unsheath the sword ancl wait for further orders . The three bildars , first bending their bodies , replied , " We are ready arid obedient to God and you ; " and each in orderseizing a criminalplaced him at
, , a distance on the ground , according to custom , sitting on his knees and hams , his arms pinioned , and his eyes covered . The bildar , with , his sword drawn , stood a little behind the criminal , and said , "O Emeer al Moumaneen , have I your leave to strike ?" VOL . V . G
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Basem; Or, The Blacksmith. An Oriental Apologue.
you speak , Hadg i Khalif ? " replied Basem . The Khalif calmly answered , " Yes ; " but Giafar , who stood near his master , said to Basem , in an angry tone , " You shred of bildars , answer the Emeer al Moumaneen speedily , and speak with more respect , or the sword will soon be lied to your neck . " Basem ' s confusion was now
app complete ; his joints trembled , his face became still yellower than before , and his tongue faltered . " Misfortune , " said he to himself , " will not leave me to visit some one else I By Ullah , O wretch that thou art , every thing may happen to you , life excepted , for this is the moment that must discover you , and the Khalif will infallibly order your head to be struck off : God only remains , and in him is
my only hope . " After a pause , during which the Khalif had recovered his gravity , " And so , " said he , " you are a bildar , the son of a bildar ? " " Yes , yes , Hadgi Khalif , " hastily replied Basem , " I am a bildar , the son of a bildar , and my mother was a bildar before me . " It was not in the power of the Khalif , nor of his vizir , nor of any of those " present , to refrain from laughing at this extravagant answer .
" You are then a bildar , the son of a bildar , and your allowance is twenty dinars , and five pounds of mutton ; and this is" your yearly appointment ? " " O yes , yes , Emeer al Moumaneen , " replied Basem , " and may the decrees of God be your protection ! " " This appointment , which descended from your grandfather and father , you now enjoy . It is well ; in the mean time do you select three bildars , to accompany you to the dungeon of blood , and immediately bring before me the four banditti , now confined there , who have already confessed their guilt . "
Here the vizir interposing , proposed that the waly ( the governor in whose custody the prisoners were ) should be ordered to produce them ; to which the Khalif gave his assent . In ayery short while , the waly ( governor ) made his appearance , with the four criminals , their arms pinioned , and their heads bare . They were banditti , who not only had robbed on the highway , but had added murder to robberyin defiance of the laws of GodWhen brought before the
, . Khalif , he asked them , " Whether they belonged to that gang which ' had been guilty of such atrocities ? " They answered , " We are , O Emeer al Moumaneen , abandoned by God , and instigated by the devil ; we have been associates in their crimes ; but we now appear in humility and repentance before the Emeer of the true believers . " " You are delinquents of that kind" said the Khalif" for whom
, , there is no remedy but the sword . " He then ordered the three bildars selected by Basem , each to seize one of the prisoners , to cut open his vest , and blindfold him , then to unsheath the sword ancl wait for further orders . The three bildars , first bending their bodies , replied , " We are ready arid obedient to God and you ; " and each in orderseizing a criminalplaced him at
, , a distance on the ground , according to custom , sitting on his knees and hams , his arms pinioned , and his eyes covered . The bildar , with , his sword drawn , stood a little behind the criminal , and said , "O Emeer al Moumaneen , have I your leave to strike ?" VOL . V . G