610 Hajji Bftba in England. [JuNE, 



'' ( How is it, compared to Persia?' said the king. 



" ' As I am your sacrifice/ said I, ' there can be no comparison/ 



" f Have the Franks any poets?' 



" ' May I be your sacrifice/ said I, ' they have ; but to say that they 

 approach to either Hafiz or Saadi, may God forgive me for thinking so !' 



" ' But they have no nightingales/ said the king ; ( say that, I will believe 

 you/ 



" ' They have none/ said I ; ' but of dogs they have abundance/ 



" ' So they have poets !' said his majesty ; ' what else have they got ? It 

 is said that their women are good is that true ?' 



" ' Of that there is no doubt/ said I ; ' they would even be worthy, so 

 thinks your slave, of standing before the shah himself/ 



" f You do not say wrong,' said the king. c We want a Frank woman/ 

 Then turning to the vizier, he said, ' What else was it that we wanted from 

 that country ? Is it now in your recollection ?' 



" ' May I be your sacrifice, said the vizier ; ( your slave thinks it was a 

 spying-glass/ 



1 True, true/ answered the shah, recollecting himself; < it was a spying- 

 glass ; a miraculous spying-glass. Is it true,' said he to me, with some hesi- 

 tation, ' is it true that they make a spying-glass in that country which can 

 look over a mountain? , Is such a thing really made ?' 



" s Since your majesty says so/ said I, ' it must be so ; but, in truth, it was 

 not my good luck to meet with it. But, as I am your sacrifice, may it please 

 your majesty, I have seen things among the Franks equally astonishing ; and, 

 therefore, there is no reason that it should not exist/ 

 ' What things did you see ? Speak boldly/ 



" ' I have seen a ship/ said I, ' going against a fierce wind, with the same 

 velocity as a horse, and that by the vapour which arises from boiling water/ 



" ' Hajji/ said the king, after a stare and a thought, e say no lies here. 

 After all, we are a king. Although you are a traveller, and have been to the 

 Franks, yet a lie is a lie, come from whence it may/ 



" My tongue almost became constipated at this reproof; but taking courage, 

 I continued with vehemence : ' By the salt of the king, may my head be 

 struck off this moment I am your sacrifice as I live, I swear that such is 

 the case, and- if there be a Frank here, and he be a man, he will confirm my 

 words/ 



" ' Say it again/ answered the king, softened by my earnestness. { What 

 vapour could ever be strong enough to perform such a miracle ?' 



" I then explained what I knew of a steam-engine, and how it acted upon 

 the wheels of a ship. 



" ' But to produce steam enough for such a purpose/ said his majesty, 

 * they must have on board the father of all kettles, grandfkther, and great- 

 grandfather, to boot ; large enough to boil a camel, much less a sheep/ 



" ' Camels, your majesty !' exclaimed I, ' large enough to dress a string of 

 camels !' 



" ' Wonderful, wonderful !' exclaimed the shah, in deep thought ; ' well, 

 after this, there is no doubt that they can make a spying-glass that looks over 

 the mountain. Order some to be sent immediately/ said he to the vizier." 



The narrative of the Hajji interests the royal breast. He is clothed in 

 a dress of honour, and would be made a khan, but that it is thought 

 necessary to reserve that dignity to gratify the chief ambassador with on 

 his arrival. In the mean time, however, the Hajji lives in hope, for he is 

 privileged to stand before the king ; and who knows whether time may 

 not see the fulfilment of his wishes. In which trust he finally takes his 

 leave of his British readers : " Seeking protection at the skirts of their 

 coats, and hoping that their shadow may never be less !" Mr. Morier's 

 " shadow" is the longer ; and his face, (to use one of his own symbols) 

 we should say, is t( whitened " by this production. 



