Mika Waltari - The Wanderer

He smelled strongly of wine, and may well have been kicked on the head by one of the horses. At any rate he picked me up and slung me far out of the archway and there was nothing for me to do but seek cover, for the Spaniards were shooting and slashing, the crowds were proclaiming the holy war, and the sheds which Abu el-Kasim had set alight were now blazing to the sky.

I ran this way and that like a distracted hen until Abu el-Kasim and Mustafa ben-Nakir seized my arms, shook me and asked why Selim ben-Hafs’s mamelukes had attacked the Spaniards. I answered frankly that I had not the remotest idea, but besought them to rescue Andy as the Spaniards were certain to hang him.

For the moment, however, the Spaniards seemed indisposed to hang anyone, having trouble enough in regaining the harbor. Many of them lay in their own blood, while down in the city the fleeing remainder were met by an armed mob. From the roofs showered stones, boiling water, and balks of timber. Selim’s mamelukes, however, imbued by now with a healthy respect for the murderous Spanish harquebuses, withdrew again into the kasbah, leaving pursuit to the townsfolk.

Dervishes and other holy men proclaimed through foaming lips that the gates of Paradise stood open to all who fell at the hands of Spaniards.

Abu el-Kasim was not greatly tempted, and Mustafa declared that we had more important things to think of than the houris of Paradise. When the uproar had somewhat subsided we summoned up courage to address the guards at the gate of the kasbah, blessing them in the name of Allah. I begged them to call my brother Andy, and when Abu had thrown some silver among them they did as we asked.

Shortly afterward Andy appeared in the gateway, his hands thrust into his sash with a swaggering air. He surveyed us in surprise, and said, “In the name of Allah! What are you standing out there for? Come and share in our joy!”

He had quite forgotten having seen me just a few moments before. We dared not accept his cordial invitation, and I said, “Andy, you can’t be drunk? Come out to us and we’ll hide you from Selim’s wrath.”

He looked at me blankly.

“Are you raving, Michael? Selim ben-Hafs is dead and I serve his son Mohammed ben-Hafs, blessed be the dear boy’s name.”

Abu el-Kasim uttered a loud cry, and demanded, “How is this possible?”

Andy avoided our eyes, and rubbing the palms of his hands together in embarrassment he replied, “Most people believe that he slipped in the bath and broke his neck. But the sad truth is that it was I who broke it for him. It was quite a mistake, and in self-defense-and perhaps I was a trifle fuddled.”

“Good God in heaven!” I gasped. “Have you slain Selim ben-Hafs, and so ruined all my excellent plans? I begin to wonder why the Creator gave you a head at all, unless it was just to keep your ears apart.”

Andy flared up, being still fiery with wine.

“Why bewail Selim’s fate? Mourn rather for the two other sultans who have reigned here this day, for if the truth must be told, Mohammed is Selim’s third successor.”

Just then four or five soldiers in felt caps ran up to tell Andy that the Aga was calling for him. Andy followed them unsteadily across the courtyard, leaving us under the protection of the sentries. Abu el- Kasim and I sat down in the shade with heavy hearts, but Mustafa ben-Nakir took out his Persian book and began to read poems, glancing complacently from time to time at his painted nails.

Presently we sprang to our feet, for from the Aga’s house came the sudden sound of screams and shots. I thought never to see Andy again, but I should have knov/n him better. He came staggering across the courtyard toward us with a troop of yelling soldiers at his heels. On his head was the Aga’s turban, adorned by a plume held in a jeweled socket. He sighed, “May Allah forgive my many sins. I must certainly be drunk. I was forced to slay the Aga, though I knew that assault upon a superior officer is the worst crime a soldier can commit. But he was plotting little Mohammed’s downfall, and if he had been successful no one would have remained to inherit Selim’s throne; so to avoid confusion I slew the Aga and took his turban. But help me now, Michael, and Abu my dear master, for I need a dromedary.”

I was now convinced that he had lost the last remnant of his wits, until it dawned upon Abu that Andy meant a dragoman, to interpret. But I exclaimed, “In the name of Allah! My brother is not answerable for his actions. Give him the powerful sleeping draught prepared for Selim, and when he has slept himself sober we can talk some sense into him.”

Just then an irate eunuch, attended by soldiers, approached from the inner court bearing the Sultan’s signet ring in his hand. After him came servants dragging a heavy iron chest. The soldiers shouted that they were bringing the Sultan’s money, to be shared out among his loyal troops. If it had been noisy before, the tumult now increased to that of some gigantic dogfight, and with my hands to my face I took refuge behind a buttress of the wall. Soldiers swarmed up on all sides, hacking at one another and trampling the weaker underfoot as they ran, until the eunuch, having vainly brandished the signet ring, threw himself over the chest and commended his soul to Allah’s protection.

Andy now bade us a confused farewell and fought his way through to the chest. He thrust the eunuch aside and commanded all the scribes to keep strict account, so that each and every man might receive his fair share. Strange to say, these savage fellows obeyed him promptly, and paraded in order of rank to await their turn. They felt honored when Andy cuffed them over the head and called them drunken swine. The trembling scribes sat on the ground with the regimental rolls before them; the eunuch threw out his arms despairingly, unlocked the chest, and withdrew. Andy peered into the chest and cried aghast, “Cursed be the name of Selim ben-Hafs, who swindles us even when dead! He perished not a moment too soon.”

The sergeants pressed forward and stared into the chest, and were in their turn astonished, for what they saw there was not enough to provide one gold coin for each man. But they soon recovered from their surprise and said, “We are poor men, but the city is rich. Let us hasten down and take what we can before the Spaniards get their claws into it.”

Andy scratched his head. “Who am I to gainsay you? A hundred heads must be better than one. Yet we should think twice before pillaging a city which the Sultan placed under our protection.”

Abu el-Kasim burst into tears, and said, “All things are preordained, and now is our last chance to save what can be saved. Go, Mustafa ben-Nakir, and reason with these men, while I and my slave Michael hasten home for the gold which was to be the comfort of my declining years. It will amount to four gold pieces for each man, and may enable them to possess their souls in patience until the Deliverer reaches the city.”

Mustafa walked forward to Andy with his usual dignity, while Abu and I hurried out of the gate and down into the city. We saw the last of the Spaniards rowing back to their fortress and a crowd of people standing on the quay, shouting and brandishing their weapons. But we had hardly reached our house when the guns of the fortress began to roar; a roundshot whistled through the air and knocked a hole in the house next to ours. Hastily we dug up the treasure hidden beneath the floor, stowed the money bags in a chest, and loaded this onto a stray donkey that fate had sent to our very door. The firing had terrified it, but reassured by the feel of its weighty burden it plodded readily up the steep street.

When we arrived with our load at the forecourt of the kasbah, we found the soldiers sitting on the ground and listening quietly to Mustafa ben-Nakir’s inspired description of the joys of Paradise. Now and then he read Persian poems to them from his book. Andy was dozing and nodding on the lid of the chest. Mustafa ben-Nakir sent us a reproachful glance as we arrived sweating and shouting with our donkey, disturbing his mellifluous recital. But Andy sprang up and greeted us with blessings.