Ten Minntes in a Life.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 292, 4 September 1873, Page 7

Ten Minntes in a Life.

(From the "Argosy,") In the year 1065 of the Hegira — corresponding to 1667 of the Christian era — on the second day of the feast of Beiram, a large group of Mussulmans were assembled in a circle before the mosque of St. Sophia. Some were standing, and others sitting cross- 1 legged on carpets spread upon the ! sand. By degrees the group increased as the Muslems issued from the mosque and as passers-by, prompted by curiosity, remained to see what was going on. In the midst of a crowd of smokers a young man of remarkably handsome features, though somewhat bronzed by an Asiatic sun, was seated before a. small table, whicb was covered wihh swords and brass balls. He was dressed in a close jacket of green silk, admirably fitted to set off his light and graceful figure ; a girdle of antelope skin, on which some mysterious characters were inscribed in silver, confined a pair of loose trousers which were drawn close at the ankle. This light and attractive dress was completed by a Phrygian cap, from the top of which hung a small musical bell. By this costume, at once graceful and fantastic, it was easy to recognise one of those jugglers whom the feast of Beiram drew every year to Stamboul, and to whom was usually given the name of Zingaro. The juggler performed his exploits without appearing to notice the admiration he excited. He took a pigeon's egg from a small moss basket, and placing it upright on the table, struck it with out injuring the shell. An incredulous bystander took the egg to examine it, but the slight pressure of his fingers served to destroy the frail object that bad resisted tbe blow of tbe scimitar. This act of dexterity was followed by many others. The boldness of the young man terrified the usually impassive Turks ; and, what was yet more surprising, he made them smile by the amusing stories he related. Persons of his profession were generally silent, and their only power of amusement lay in their fingers' ends ; but this man possessed the varied qualties of an Indian juggler and an Arabian storyteller. One of the most enthusiastic admirers of the performance was a man apparently about forty years old, whose carpet was placed in the first circle, and whose dress denoted him to be of superior rank. It -,was the Bostangi-Bass, a superintendent of the gardens and keeper of the privy purse to the grand signior. The tricks ended, the young man completed his story and gathered up his implements as if to depart. " Stop," said the Bostangi-Bassa ; " since you are such a magician, will you toll me the Sultan's favorite flower ? " " The poppy of Allepo : it is red," replied the juggler, without a moment's hesitation. "At what time does the Sultan sleep ? " resumed the Bostangi. "Never!" said the juggler. The Bassa started and looked anxiously around him, fearing least other ears - had heard this answer. Then, beckoning the juggler to approach, and lowering his voice, he asked, '•Can you name the Sultan's favorite wife?" " Assarah," replied tbe diviner. The Bostangi put his fingers on his lips in silence, and, moving .away, said, " Follow me ! " The young man took up his yataghan, and, leaving the remainder of his effects to be carried by a slave, followed bis guide toward the,great door of the palace, The history of successive sultans presents little beyond the melancholy spectacle of a throne at the mercy of a lawless soldiery. Mahmoud was not the first of his race who sought to free the seraglio from these formidable guardians. Solyraan 111. had also formed this perilous design, but he was put to death by the janizaries, led by Mustapha, his uncie, who came from the Morea for the ostensible purpose of defending the emperor, but in reality to seize upon Lis throne. The Sultan Mustapha, who had commenced his reign in such a tragic manner, experienced all the anxiety and uneasiness which must ever attend the acts of an usurper and tyrant. Sordid, suspicious, and perfidious, he broke through every promise he had made to the janizaries, whose creature, nevertheless, he was. Instead of doubling their pay, he diminished it; instead of lessening their taxes, he doubled them. He lived buried in the depths of his palace, the care of which he had confided to the Greek soldiery, notwithstanding the murmurs of the legitimate guards. The mutes, dwarfs, and buffoons of the palace could alone obtain access to his presence. At tbe time the juggler was amusing the subjects of his highness, Mustapha was seated cross-legged on his divan, seeking to drive away his ennui by watching the columns of fragrant smoke as they slowly rose from the long tube of his nargileh. A slave stood beside him, holding a feathered fan of various colors. The buffoons of the palace had vainly tried to extort a smile from their master. The impassibility of the grand signior gave them to understand that their time was ill-chosen, and that mirth would be dangerous; they had, therefore, one after the other, quitted the apart-

ment, waiting to re-enter at the good pleaßure of the prince. The palace was silent. Shortly the hangings opposite the divan were gently raised, and a man stood in respectful attitude before Mustapha. " What wouldst thou ?" asked the Sultan. The Bostangi-Bassa — for it was he — replied briefly, according to the custom of the seraglio : " A juggler stands without ; he . might perchance amuse your highness." The Sultan made an impatient sign in the negative. "This man," continued ßassa. "knows strange things. He can read the future." " Let him come in." The Bostangi bowed profoundly, and retired. , Black slaves, awae/i wifch drawn scimitars, surrounded the imperial sofa when the juggler was introduced. After a slight salutation, the young man leaned gracefully on his yataghan, awaiting the orders of the Sultan. "Thy name?" demanded Mustapha. "Mehalle." "Thy country?" " Jugglers have no country." " Thy age ?" " I was five years old when you first girded on the sword of Ottoman." " Whence comest thou ?" " From the Morea, signior," replied the juggler, pronouncing the words with emphasis. The Sultan remained silent for a moment, but soon added gaily, " Since you can read the future, I will put your knowledge to the proof. When people know the future they ought to know the past." " Tou say right, signior. He who sees the evening star rise on the horizon, has but to turn his head to view tbe last rays of the setting sun." " Well, tell me how I made my ablutions yesterday." " The first with Canary wine, the second with wine of Cyprus, and the third with that of Chios." The chief ofthe believers smiled and stroked bis beard ; he was indeed in the habit of derogating in this respect, as in many others, from the prescription of the Koran. " Knowest thou," replied the sovereign, whom the Zingaro's answer had put into a pleasant humor, " knowest thou that I could have thee beheaded ?" " Doubtless," said the juggler, undauntedly, "as you did the Spanish merchant who watered bis wine before he sold it to you." Mustapha applauded the knowledge of the magician. He hesitated, nevertheless, before he ventured to put the dreaded question that tyrants, who are e\ef superstitious, never fail to demand of those who can read the stars. " How long have I to live ? " The grand signior assumed a persuasive tone, and even condescended to flatter the organ of destiny, in hopes of obtaining a favourable answer. " Thou art a wonderful youth," said he ; " thou knowest things of which, besides thyself, the muces only possess the secret. I should wish to keep thee in my palace ; I will make thee richer than all the merchants of Gralatea, if thou wilt tell me the year when I must die." Mehalle approached the Sultan, and, taking his hand, appeared to study the lines of its palm with great attention. Having finished his examination, he went to the window and fixed bis eyes for some moments upon the heavens. " The fires of Beiram are lighting up the cupola of the grand mosque," said he slowly ; " night is at hand." Mustapha anxiously awaited the answer of the astrologer. The latter continued in a mysterious manner, "The declining day still eclipses the light of the constellations. I will answer you, signior, when the evening star appears." The Sultan made a movement of impatience ; anger was depicted in his countenance, and the look which he darted on the mutes showed that Mehalle had incurred his highness' displeasure. Curiosity, however, doubtless prevailed over every other feeling of the prince's mind, for, turning to the young man, he said, "I am little accustomed to wait ; I will do so, however, ■if thou canst amuse me until the propitious hour arrives." " Would your highness like to see some feats of juggling ? " asked Mehalle, drawing his sabre from its scabbard. " No, no ! " exclaimed the Sultan, making the circles of slaves close in about him ; " leave thy arms." " Would you prefer a story, signior?" " Stories that lull an Arab to sleep under his tent? No, I must have something new. Of all known games there is but one I care for ; I used to play it formerly, but now there is not a person in the palace who understands the chess-board." The juggler smiled, and, taking an ebony box from a velvet bag, be pre- | sented it to the Sultan, whose wish he understood. The stern countenance of the Sultan relaxed at the sight, and the box was placed on the bowed back of a slave. Before commencing the game the Sultan said, " We are about to play ; so far, good ; but shouldst thou lose, what should I gain ?" " Since your highness does me the honor of playing against me, I will stake' all that I possess — this scimitar and my liberty. But what if I win.?"

added the young man, folding his arms. "Shouldst thou win, I would give thee a slave." " For a free man. The stake is not equal." "I would add to it my finest courser." "I need him not; my feet are swifter than those of an Arab steed." " "What wouldst thou then ?" "I have a fancy, sublime signior; until this day I have been nothing but a wanderer, wearing the dress of a juggler. Were Ito complain of this I should be ungrateful, for this simple grab has ever seen me free and happy. I, however, renounce it. I become your slave ■, my mirth shall be for you alone ; I will sing for you Indian songs ; and, above all, I will divine for nona but you. In return I will ask bat one thing ; it is, if I win, to allow me to wear your royal mantle for ten minutes, to sit upon the divan surrounded by slaves, and to place upon my head that dreaded turban whose fame has reached the ends of the earth." The proposition of Mehalle was received with a burst of laughter from the Sultan. " Tbou wouldst sit upon the seat of the Calips ! Dost thou not fear the weight of this turban upon thy silly head ? A fine figure thou wouldst make under the pelisse of Ottoman ! I should like to see thee giving audience to the viziers and pashas !" "It is in your highness' power to afford yourself this pleasure." "Well," exclaimed Mustapha, "I will agree to the stake ; a juggler upon the throne ! Such a sight the East never saw." The game was short. Though he played with skill, the Sultan was checkmated. It was fairly done, and he pleasantly prepared to fulfil his engagement. Mustapha loosened his girdle, took off his pelisse, and laid down his turban, while a slave assisted to invest Mehalle in the royal garments. These preparations completed, the Sultan, dressed only in loose silken trousers and richly-embroidered vest, approached a clock, and, placing his finger on the dial-plate, " When the hand shall mark the hour of eight," said he, " I shall have paid my wager, and then I will appoint you my astrologer." The juggler ascended the divan, and, having placed his scimiter at his side, he ordered the door to be thrown open that the waiting courtiers might be admitted. The apartment, which the dim light of evening rendered obscure, was immediately filled with muftis and ulemas, agas of janizaries and pashas, great officers of the Porte, and foreign ambassadors. He next ordered a new relay of guards to relieve those on duty, and then the withdrawal of all the personal attendants. It was the work of a moment; As the fresh soldiers were marching in, a sign "from Mehalle caused the flambeaux to be lighted, when, in the dazzling flood of illumination, he stood erect, received the homage of the assembly, and, fixing more firmly on his head the scarlet-feathered turban, the emblem of power, he cried, in a commanding tone, " Let the standard of the prophet be raised on St. Sophia ! The people will salute it from afar at the fires of Beiram ! " At these words an officer stepped forth to execute the orders, but Mustapha, who had been sitting aside, at first amused and then alarmed, arose to prevent him. " Haggi Mohammed ! " thundered the ad interim sultan, " obey ! " The aga bowed and retired. Mehalle added, "Let the imaums repair to the mosques and offer up petitions for the new sultan ! Cadilisquier, have the tomb of Mustapha opened in Scutari!" The Sultan tried to smile. "Keepers of the treasury," continued Mehalle, " distribute among the poor of Stamboul the hoardings of the late sultan ! " " Enough, buffoon ! " exclaimed Mustapba, in an agitated voice, on seeing how readily his servants obeyed these strange orders. •'I still command," replied Mehalle, with calm self-possession ; the clock has not yet struck the hour of eight ; art thou, then, so impatient to know the fate that awaits thee ? " The courtiers were at a loss to understand the mysterious scene. They : looked with terror on this bold young man, invested with the insignia of I power, and the bostangi was astonished at seeing his master tremble before a strolling juggler. "Mustapha," continued the diviner, "I am about to tell the time of thy death, for the evening star has arisen ; Mufti, advance." The president of the oumela came forward. The diviner proceeded : " Tou who read every day the book of our prophet and explain it to the people, tell me how avarice and usury, drunkenness and murder, perfidy and cruelty, should be punished." The mufti replied in a low, grave tone, "By the Koran any one of these three crimes is deserving of death " "Thou hearest, Mustapha? It is the prophet who condemns thee." As he said this, he beckoned to the mutes. Mustapha tried to rush to the divan, but was seized by the slaves, who had learned to recognise the Byinbol of

power which Mehalle wore, and the cord was passed around his neck. " Thy hour has come I lam the son of Solyman, who fell 15 years ago in this place, pierced with wounds from thy sword! Thou hast counted the heads of every member of my family. Thou hast confounded the son of thy master with the child of a slave. I lam the evening star ; lam the Sultan Amurath !" As he thus spoke, the young prince made a step forward. His lofty brow, his features, voice, manner, and commanding dignity of person inspired a deep emotion in the assembly. After a moment the cry went up, " Long live Amurath !" and at the same moment the body of Mustapha fell lifeless on the marble floor. The clock had struck 8. Before the hour i band haa. once again passed round the dial, largess had been profusely scat- ! tered among the populace of Stamboul, oaths of allegiance taken by officers of state, and the proclamation "His highness, our very magnificent lord and master, Sultan Abdul Aziz Amurath, has ascended the throne !" trumpeted by the public crier before the mosque of St. Sophia.

The Mtsteetes op Fbeemasonbt — lam not a Mason, by no means (says " Bohemian " in the Lyttelton Times). The initiation fees (some £5) have always stopped my admission to the ancient order of builders. My relation to them has been that of an admirer of the regalia and mathematical figures in which they indulge. My natural curiosity, not to say my convivial nature, would have induced me to join if I could have got over the perliminary difficulty. But De Quincey has satisfied me that there is no secret to be told. Learned reader, you remember that De Quineey knew a man who — having become a mason — declared with tears in his eyes, that henceforth there was no peace for him. His wife gave him no rest She insisted upon his telling her the secret, which he did whenever he was drunk. But this gained no cessation of hostilities. She refused to believe him ; and now he felt that there was no peace for him on this side the grave unless he could invent something sufficiently unbelievable to satisfy his wife's demand. Had this Mason lived till to-day he would have obtained his desire. A certain Monseigneur De Segur has delivered a lecture on " Freemasonry and its Secrets," in which he asserts that the object of " Freemasonry " iB, amongst other things, to abolish religion from the world, and he narrates, in startling: detail, the various steps by which this consummation is to be reached. From Monseigneur De Segur, it appears that though there are upwards of eight millions of Masons in the world, only a few — he does not tell us the number — are in the secret. These few direct the operations of the remainder. Here is the secret (if it is one any longer). I feel inclined now to join the Masons. They really have a secret, and a tremendous one it is. The curious thing is — and I should like to question Monseigneur De Segur on this pomt — that the general body of Masons are orderly well-conducted Christians. They take part in religious works — help to lay foundation stones of churches, for example. It thus seems that while the few holding the grand secret, are pulling at one end of the rope, the many outside Masons are pulling at the other. Seven millions nine hundred and ninety thousand Masons are good Christians by the direction of the remaining ten thousand Atheists. This is a remarkable case of Satan casting out Satan, and being divided against himself. Isn't it singular, too, that the religion-destroying Atheists should consider themselves bound by a solemn oathlwhich they take to a Q-od in whom they do not believe? I should like Monseigneur De Segur, or the Dunedin Tablet which, publishes his lecture, to explain this. We copy the following item, from the " Poultry World," an American jonrnal. It shows how little scientific attention has been ordinarily bestowed upon the subject of poultry-keeping :—: — It has been ascertained that the ovarium of a fowl is composed of 600 ovules or eggs ; therefore a hen, during the whole of her life, cannot possibly lay more than 600 eggs, whicb, in the natural course, are distributed over nine years, in the following proportion :—: — First year after birth, 16 to 20 ; second, 100 to 120 ; third, 120 to 135 ; fourth, 100 to 115 j fifth, 60 to 80 ; sixth 50 to 60 ; seventh, 35, to 40; eighth, 15 to 20 ; ninth, Ito 10. It follows that it would not be profitable to keep hens after their fourth year, as their produce will not pay for their keeping, except when they are of a valuable and scarce breed. To begin with, we may doubt the possibility of making any accurate count of the number of ovisacs in the ovaries, or of affirming that no new ones make their appearance out of minute germs or cells in the course of the life of the hen. In the next place, such a limitation must have reference to the actual constitution of the fowl, and this either in the wild or tame condition. If to the former, the number of ovisacs, even if definitely ascertained, can have no connection whatever with the real habit of the hen, since she lays in a wild state only as many eggs as she can cover , if to the tame fowl, it is strange to find so definite a rule laid down for an animal that is, in the highest degree, of an artificial character, and whose nature is, in so many points, coustantly being remade.