I Was Shocked At This, For The Man Was
Always Attentive And Civil To Me, And I Was Disgusted At The Idea
Of His Having Been Rewarded With Insult.
Dthemetri was present
when the complaint was made, and I angrily asked him whether it was
true that he had really insulted the Governor, and what the deuce
he meant by it.
This I asked with the full certainty that
Dthemetri, as a matter of course, would deny the charge, would
swear that a "wrong construction had been put upon his words, and
that nothing was further from his thoughts," &c. &c., after the
manner of the parliamentary people, but to my surprise he very
plainly answered that he certainly HAD insulted the Governor, and
that rather grossly, but, he said, it was quite necessary to do
this in order to "strike terror and inspire respect." "Terror and
respect! What on earth do you mean by that nonsense?" - "Yes, but
without striking terror and inspiring respect, he (Dthemetri) would
never be able to force on the arrangements for my journey, and
vossignoria would be kept at Gaza for a month!" This would have
been awkward, and certainly I could not deny that poor Dthemetri
had succeeded in his odd plan of inspiring respect, for at the very
time that this explanation was going on in Italian the Governor
seemed more than ever, and more anxiously, disposed to overwhelm me
with assurances of goodwill, and proffers of his best services.
All this kindness, or promise of kindness, I naturally received
with courtesy - a courtesy that greatly perturbed Dthemetri, for he
evidently feared that my civility would undo all the good that his
insults had achieved.
You will find, I think, that one of the greatest draw-backs to the
pleasure of travelling in Asia is the being obliged, more or less,
to make your way by bullying. It is true that your own lips are
not soiled by the utterance of all the mean words that are spoken
for you, and that you don't even know of the sham threats, and the
false promises, and the vainglorious boasts, put forth by your
dragoman; but now and then there happens some incident of the sort
which I have just been mentioning, which forces you to believe, or
suspect, that your dragoman is habitually fighting your battles for
you in a way that you can hardly bear to think of.
A caravanserai is not ill adapted to the purposes for which it is
meant. It forms the four sides of a large quadrangular court. The
ground floor is used for warehouses, the first floor for guests,
and the open court for the temporary reception of the camels, as
well as for the loading and unloading of their burthens, and the
transaction of mercantile business generally. The apartments used
for the guests are small cells opening into a corridor, which runs
round the four sides of the court.
Whilst I lay near the opening of my cell looking down into the
court below, there arrived from the Desert a caravan, that is, a
large assemblage of travellers.
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