His Gait Is Stealthy,
Like A Cat's, And He Has A Villanous Grin.
This worthy never prays, and
can neither read nor write; but he knows a chapter or two of the Koran,
recites audibly a long Ratib or task, morning and evening [12], whence,
together with his store of hashed Hadis (tradition), he derives the title
of Widad or hedge-priest.
His tongue, primed with the satirical sayings of
Abn Zayd el Helali, and Humayd ibn Mansur [13], is the terror of men upon
whom repartee imposes. His father was a wealthy shipowner in his day; but,
cursed with Abdy and another son, the old man has lost all his property,
his children have deserted him, and he now depends entirely upon the
charity of the Zayla chief. The "End of Time" has squandered considerable
sums in travelling far and wide from Harar to Cutch, he has managed
everywhere to perpetrate some peculiar villany. He is a pleasant
companion, and piques himself upon that power of quotation which in the
East makes a polite man. If we be disposed to hurry, he insinuates that
"Patience is of Heaven, Haste of Hell." When roughly addressed, he
remarks,--
"There are cures for the hurts of lead and steel,
But the wounds of the tongue--they never heal!"
If a grain of rice adhere to our beards, he says, smilingly, "the gazelle
is in the garden;" to which we reply "we will hunt her with the five."
[14] Despite these merits, I hesitated to engage him, till assured by the
governor of Zayla that he was to be looked upon as a son, and, moreover,
that he would bear with him one of those state secrets to an influential
chief which in this country are never committed to paper.
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