Narrative of the residence of Fatalla Sayeghir among the wandering Arabs of the great desertLamartine, Alphonse de
History
Narrative of the residence of Fatalla Sayeghir among the wandering Arabs of the great desert
Lamartine, Alphonse de
Arabian Peninsula -- Description and travel
I remained three days under Bargiass’s tent, tended in the most
affectionate manner by his wife, who was negotiating meanwhile a
reconciliation between her husband and me; but I felt so rancorous a
resentment at his brutality that I found it difficult to pardon him: at
length, however, I consented to bury the past in oblivion, on condition
of his signing the treaty with the Drayhy. We then embraced and entered
into an oath of fraternity. Bargiass presented me with a negro, saying,
“I have sacrificed your silver, but in return I give you a jewel;”
a play of words upon the names of the two negroes, _Fodda_, silver,
and _Gianhar_, jewel. He afterwards gave an entertainment in honour
of our reconciliation. In the midst of the feast a courier arrived
at full speed from the Drayhy, bringing to Bargiass a declaration of
exterminating war, and full of the most opprobrious epithets. “Oh! thou
traitor,” he wrote, “who violatest the sacred law of the Bedouins! thou
wretch for ever infamous, who massacrest thy guests! thou Ottoman under
a black skin! know that all the blood of thy tribe would not suffice to
compensate for that of my dear Abdallah! Prepare thyself for battle,
for my courser will rest no more till I have destroyed the last of
thy race!” I hastened my departure, to prevent any collision, and to
comfort Sheik Ibrahim and the Drayhy. I cannot describe the joy and
astonishment which my presence caused; and so miraculous did my return
appear, that they could scarcely credit the evidence of their eyes,
till I had related all my adventures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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