Donovan Pasha, and Some People of Egypt — CompleteParker, Gilbert
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Donovan Pasha, and Some People of Egypt — Complete
Parker, Gilbert
Egypt -- Fiction; Short stories
Cries of “Kill-kill the infidels!” resounded on all sides; but Dicky
called up again to Abdalla. “Stop this nonsense, effendi.” Then, without
awaiting an answer, he shouted to the crowd: “I am Donovan Pasha. Touch
me, and you touch Ismail. I haven’t come to spy, but to sorrow with you
for Noor-ala-Noor, whose soul is with God, praise be to God, and may God
give her spirit to you! I have come to weep for him in whom greatness
speaks; I have come for love of Abdalla the Egyptian.... Is it a sin
to stand apart in silence and to weep unseen? Was it a sin against
the Moslem faith that in this minaret I prayed God to comfort Abdalla,
grandson of Ebn Mahmoud, Egyptian of the Egyptians? Was it not I who
held Ismail’s hand, when he--being in an anger--would have scoured the
bazaars with his horsemen for Abdalla and Noor-ala-Noor? This is known
to Abdalla, whom God preserve and exalt. Is not Abdalla friend to
Donovan Pasha?”
Dicky was known to hundreds present. There was not a merchant from
the bazaars but had had reason to appreciate his presence, either by
friendly gossip over a cup of coffee, or by biting remarks in Arabic,
when they lied to him, or by the sweep of his stick over the mastaba and
through the chattels of some vile-mouthed pedlar who insulted English
ladies whom he was escorting through the bazaar. They knew his face,
his tongue, and the weight and style of his arm; and though they would
cheerfully have seen him the sacrifice of the Jehad to the cry of Alldhu
Akbar! they respected him for himself, and they feared him because he
was near to the person of Ismail.
He was the more impressive because in the midst of wealth and splendour
he remained poor: he had more than once bought turquoises and opals and
horses and saddlery, which he paid for in instalments, like any little
merchant. Those, therefore, who knew him, were well inclined to leave
him alone, and those who did not know him were impressed by his speech.
If it was true that he was friend to Abdalla, then his fate was in the
hand of God, not theirs. They all had heard of little Donovan Pasha,
whom Ismail counted only less than Gordon Pasha, the mad Englishman, who
emptied his pocket for an old servant, gave his coat to a beggar, and
rode in the desert so fast that no Arab could overtake him.
“Call off your terriers, effendi,” said Dicky again in French; for
Renshaw was restive under the hands that were laid on his arm, and the
naboots that threatened him. “My friend here is American. He stands for
the United States in Egypt.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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