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Article A VISIT TO TETUAN FORTY YEARS AGO. ← Page 6 of 6
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A Visit To Tetuan Forty Years Ago.
plenty of agreeable " souvenirs , " as our hearts then were light and our cares , thank God , were few . Some Aveeks after our return , when our visit to Tetuan Avas well-nigh forgotten , the civil JOAV Avhom I mentioned before appeared at Gibraltar , and unfolded his dire griefs aud intolerable wrongs to one whose kind heart was ahvays open to the injured or the sorrowing . And UOAV his story came out . I am ashamed to say , when first most of us heard of it , we could not help laughing at the clever rascality of the old Pasha . We
had thought him very magnificent , indeed ; but it appeared now that all the grand dinner , and the grander present , came from the Jews , and not from " Hash , Hash ! " He had been sent for , poor Solomon said , by thtkPasha , the day before oiir arrival , to the palace , and when there the old Moor thus addressed him , —¦ "Friend Solomon—my good friend English great man from Gibraltar come to morrow ; I want dinner for him—like Gibraltar dinner ; you knoAV , Solomon . You provide it . "
Solomon hesitated—what JBAV Avould not?—as nothing Avas said about payment . " Well , friend Solomon , remember—if no dinner , bastinado I " " And what could a poor Jew do , Excellenza ? " "On the morning of your arrival , " continued Solomon , "Pasha send for my brother Judah . ' Friend Judah , ' he says , 'I want present for my good friend English
great man from Gibraltar : two oxen , twelve sheep , plenty of fowls , eggs , bread , and grapes . You must have them clown at beach this evening , Judah . ' " As nothing was said about payment , Judah also naturally hesitated . " Well , friend Judah , if no oxen , no sheep , no grapes , no bread , no fowls , no eggs —remember , bastinado ! " "Ah ! " said poor Solomon , "but that is not all yet . I did supply dinner , and Judah did supply present ; and when I went next day to take my plates and knives and forks , the Pasha said , ' I like them , friend Solomon ; but if you choose to pay for them , well ; if not , I keep them ! ' And what could a poor JCAV do , Senor Gobernador ? "
I rather suspect that our friend , Mr . Solomon , made out a good grievance for himself , ancl returned to Tetuan a richer man than he left it : probably ere long , however , to be squeezed again—poor felloAv . Some years afterwards I met the real and original "Judah . " The poor Solomon had " slept Avith his fathers , " and Judah still remembered with deep gratitude the kind interference of the kindest of men on a memorable occasion which I have described
above . I have often thought since of this Moorish Pasha . And though I saw , too , Africa aftenvards more than once , this stay ahvays put me in mind of all Africa ' s scenes , truly read : outward show—inward corruption ; fairness vfitbout—falseness Avithin . We hear people talking of enlightened Mohammedans ! For my part , I believe in nothing of the kind . Some , indeed , have received the " veneer" of European civilization , or have been touched up Avith a little " French polish ; " but at the most you have but
superadded the vices of Europe to the desires of the savage—the sharpening of intellect to the grossest materialism . My story is done . I have lingered too long already , I fear ; but if I have afforded amusement to any of my readers , I am indeed content , and shaEhope to encounter them again—somewhere or other , at home or abroad—in the " pleasant pages" of Brother Kenning ' s Magazine .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Visit To Tetuan Forty Years Ago.
plenty of agreeable " souvenirs , " as our hearts then were light and our cares , thank God , were few . Some Aveeks after our return , when our visit to Tetuan Avas well-nigh forgotten , the civil JOAV Avhom I mentioned before appeared at Gibraltar , and unfolded his dire griefs aud intolerable wrongs to one whose kind heart was ahvays open to the injured or the sorrowing . And UOAV his story came out . I am ashamed to say , when first most of us heard of it , we could not help laughing at the clever rascality of the old Pasha . We
had thought him very magnificent , indeed ; but it appeared now that all the grand dinner , and the grander present , came from the Jews , and not from " Hash , Hash ! " He had been sent for , poor Solomon said , by thtkPasha , the day before oiir arrival , to the palace , and when there the old Moor thus addressed him , —¦ "Friend Solomon—my good friend English great man from Gibraltar come to morrow ; I want dinner for him—like Gibraltar dinner ; you knoAV , Solomon . You provide it . "
Solomon hesitated—what JBAV Avould not?—as nothing Avas said about payment . " Well , friend Solomon , remember—if no dinner , bastinado I " " And what could a poor Jew do , Excellenza ? " "On the morning of your arrival , " continued Solomon , "Pasha send for my brother Judah . ' Friend Judah , ' he says , 'I want present for my good friend English
great man from Gibraltar : two oxen , twelve sheep , plenty of fowls , eggs , bread , and grapes . You must have them clown at beach this evening , Judah . ' " As nothing was said about payment , Judah also naturally hesitated . " Well , friend Judah , if no oxen , no sheep , no grapes , no bread , no fowls , no eggs —remember , bastinado ! " "Ah ! " said poor Solomon , "but that is not all yet . I did supply dinner , and Judah did supply present ; and when I went next day to take my plates and knives and forks , the Pasha said , ' I like them , friend Solomon ; but if you choose to pay for them , well ; if not , I keep them ! ' And what could a poor JCAV do , Senor Gobernador ? "
I rather suspect that our friend , Mr . Solomon , made out a good grievance for himself , ancl returned to Tetuan a richer man than he left it : probably ere long , however , to be squeezed again—poor felloAv . Some years afterwards I met the real and original "Judah . " The poor Solomon had " slept Avith his fathers , " and Judah still remembered with deep gratitude the kind interference of the kindest of men on a memorable occasion which I have described
above . I have often thought since of this Moorish Pasha . And though I saw , too , Africa aftenvards more than once , this stay ahvays put me in mind of all Africa ' s scenes , truly read : outward show—inward corruption ; fairness vfitbout—falseness Avithin . We hear people talking of enlightened Mohammedans ! For my part , I believe in nothing of the kind . Some , indeed , have received the " veneer" of European civilization , or have been touched up Avith a little " French polish ; " but at the most you have but
superadded the vices of Europe to the desires of the savage—the sharpening of intellect to the grossest materialism . My story is done . I have lingered too long already , I fear ; but if I have afforded amusement to any of my readers , I am indeed content , and shaEhope to encounter them again—somewhere or other , at home or abroad—in the " pleasant pages" of Brother Kenning ' s Magazine .