The adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan/03

Chapter III — Into ‎what hands Hajji Baba falls, and the ‎fortune which his razors proved to ‎him‎
The distribution of their prisoners which had been made by ‎the Turcomans, turned out to be so far fortunate, that Osman ‎Aga and I fell into the hands of one master, the savage robber ‎whom I have before mentioned. He was called Aslan ‎Sultan, or Lion Chief, and proved to be the captain of a ‎considerable encampment, which we reached almost ‎immediately after descending from the mountains into the ‎plain. His tents were situated on the borders of a deep ravine, ‎at the bottom of which flowed a stream that took its rise in a ‎chain of neighbouring hills; and green pastures, teeming with ‎cattle, were spread around as far as the eye could reach. Our ‎other fellow sufferers were carried into a more distant part of ‎the country, and distributed among the different tribes of ‎Turcomans who inhabit this region.‎

At our appearance the whole encampment turned out to look ‎at us, whilst our conqueror was greeted with loud welcomes, ‎we were barked at and nearly devoured by a pack of large ‎sheep dogs, who had soon selected us out as strangers. My ‎master's green shawl had hitherto procured some degree of ‎respect; but the chief wife, or the Banou, as she was called, ‎was seized at first sight with a strong desire to possess it; so he ‎was with no other covering to his head than his padded caoûk, ‎or tiara, which contained his money. That too was longed for ‎by another wife, who said that it would just do to stuff the ‎pack-saddle which had galled her camel's back, and it was ‎taken from his head and thrown, among other lumber into a ‎corner of the tent. He did all he could to keep possession of ‎this last remnant of his fortune, but to no purpose; in lieu of it ‎he received an old sheep-skin cap, which had belonged to ‎some unfortunate man, who, like us, had been a prisoner, and ‎who had lately died of grief and wretchedness.‎

My master having been installed in the possession of the ‎dead man's cap, was soon appointed to fill his situation, which ‎was that of tending the camels, when they were sent to feed ‎upon the mountains, and, as he was fat and unwieldy, there ‎was no apprehension of his running away. As for me, I was ‎not permitted to leave the tents, but was, for the present, ‎employed in shaking the leather bags which contained the ‎curds from which butter was made.‎

In order to celebrate the success of the expedition, an ‎entertainment was given by the chief to the whole ‎encampment. A large cauldron, filled with rice, was boiled, ‎and two sheep were roasted whole. The men, consisting of our ‎chief's relations, who came from the surrounding tents, and ‎most of whom had been at the attack of our caravan, were ‎assembled in one tent, whilst the women were collected in ‎another. After the rice and the sheep had been served up to the ‎men, they were carried to the women, and when they had ‎done, the shepherds' boys were served, and, after they had ‎devoured their utmost, the bones and scrapings of dishes were ‎given to us and the dogs. But, when I was waiting with great ‎anxiety for our morsel, having scarcely tasted food since we ‎were taken, I was secretly beckoned to by one of the women, ‎who made me screen myself behind a tent, and setting down a ‎dish of rice, with a bit of sheep's tail in it, which was sent, she ‎said, by the chief's wife, who pitied my misfortune, and bade ‎me be of good courage, hurried away without waiting for my ‎acknowledgements.‎

The day was passed by the men in smoking, and relating ‎their adventures, and by the women in singing and beating the ‎tambourine, whilst my poor master and I were left to ponder ‎over our forlorn situation. The mark of favour which I had ‎just received had set my imagination to work, and led me to ‎consider my condition as not entirely desperate. But in vain I ‎endeavoured to cheer up the spirits of my companion; he did ‎not cease to bewail his hard fate. I brought to his mind that ‎constant refuge of every true Mussulman in grief, 'Allah ‎kerim!—God is merciful!' His answer was, 'Allah kerim, Allah ‎kerim, is all very well for you who had nothing to lose; but in ‎the meantime I am ruined for ever.' His greatest concern ‎seemed to be, the having failed to secure the profits which he ‎had expected to make on his lamb-skins, and he passed all his ‎time in calculating, to the utmost farthing, what had been his ‎losses on this occasion. However, we were soon to be parted. ‎He was sent off the next day to the mountains, in charge of a ‎string of fifty camels, with terrible threats from the chief that ‎his nose and ears should pay for the loss of any one of them, ‎and that if one died, its price should be added to the ransom ‎money which he hereafter expected to receive for him. As the ‎last testimony of my affection for him, I made him sit down on ‎a camel's pack-saddle, and, with some water from a ‎neighbouring spring, and a piece of soap, which, together with ‎my razors, I had saved from the wreck of our fortunes, shaved ‎him in the face of the whole camp. I very soon found that ‎this exhibition of my abilities and profession might be ‎productive of the greatest advantage to my future prospects. ‎Every fellow who had a head to scratch immediately found out ‎that he wanted shaving, and my reputation soon reached the ‎ears of the chief, who called me to him, and ordered me to ‎operate upon him without loss of time. I soon went to work ‎upon a large head that exhibited the marks of many a sword ‎cut, and which presented as rough a surface as that of the ‎sheep dogs aforementioned. He who had been accustomed to ‎have his hair clipped, perhaps, with the same instrument that ‎sheared his sheep, and who knew of no greater luxury than ‎that of being mutilated by some country barber, felt himself in ‎paradise under my hand. He freely expressed his satisfaction ‎and his approbation of my services, said, on feeling his head, ‎that I had shaved him two days' march under the skin, swore ‎that he never would accept of any ransom for me, be it what it ‎might, and that I should, henceforth, be entitled to the ‎appointment of his own body barber. I leave the gentle reader ‎to guess what were my feelings upon this occasion. Whilst I ‎stooped down and kissed the knee of this my new master, with ‎every appearance of gratitude and respect, I determined to ‎make use of the liberty which the confidence reposed in me ‎might afford, by running away on the very first favourable ‎opportunity. From being so often near the person of the chief, ‎I soon began to acquire great ascendancy over him; and ‎although I was still watched with care, yet I could already ‎devise plans, which appeared to me to be practicable, for ‎escaping from this hateful servitude into which I was thrown, ‎and I felt in a less degree than another would have done the ‎drudgery and wretchedness of my situation.‎