He Is A Beardless Youth, Of About Eighteen, Chocolate-Brown, With High
Features, And A Bold Profile; His Bony And
Decided Meccan cast of face
is lit up by the peculiar Egyptian eye, which seems to descend from
generation to
Generation.[FN#13] His figure is short and broad, with a
tendency to be obese, the result of a strong stomach and the power of
sleeping at discretion. He can read a little, write his name, and is
uncommonly clever at a bargain. Meccah had taught him to speak
excellent Arabic, to understand the literary dialect, to be eloquent in
abuse, and to be profound at Prayer and Pilgrimage. Constantinople had
given him a taste for Anacreontic singing, and female society of the
questionable kind, a love of strong waters,-the hypocrite looked
positively scandalised when I first suggested the subject,-and an
off-hand latitudinarian mode of dealing with serious subjects in
general. I found him to be the youngest son of a widow, whose doting
fondness had moulded his disposition; he was selfish and affectionate,
as spoiled children usually are, volatile, easily offended and as
easily pacified (the Oriental), coveting other men's goods, and profuse
of his own (the Arab), with a matchless intrepidity of countenance (the
traveller), brazen lunged, not more than half brave, exceedingly
astute, with an acute sense of honour, especially where his
[p.125]relations were concerned (the individual). I have seen him in a
fit of fury because some one cursed his father; and he and I nearly
parted because on one occasion I applied to him an epithet which,
etymologically considered, might be exceedingly insulting to a
high-minded brother, but which in popular parlance signifies nothing.
This "point d'honneur" was the boy Mohammed's strong point.
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