[P.303] who amused his companions by reporting all manner of ludicrous
scenes. The Persian's wife was rather a pretty woman, and she excited
the youth's fierce indignation, by not veiling her face when he gazed
at her,-thereby showing that, as his beard was not grown, she
considered him a mere boy.
"I will ask her to marry me," said Mohammed, "and thereby rouse her
shame!"
He did so, but, unhappy youth! the fair Persian never even ceased
fanning herself.
The boy Mohammed was for once confounded.
[FN#1] In the East, wherever there is a compound of fort and city, that
place has certainly been in the habit of being divided against itself.
Surat in Western India is a well-known instance. I must refer the
reader to Burckhardt (Travels in Arabia, vol. ii., page 281, and
onwards) for a detailed account of the feuds and affrays between the
"Agha of the Castle" and the "Agha of the Town." Their day has now gone
by,-for the moment.
[FN#2] Sir John Mandeville, writing in the 14th century, informed
Europe that "Machomet lyeth in the Cytee of Methone." In the 19th
century, Mr. Halliwell, his editor, teaches us in a foot-note that
"Methone" is Meccah!
