(Marsinah appears with a lute.)
Hajj. (To Narjis.) Behold her now! I swear the very movement of her limbs maketh melody.
Marsinah. What shall I sing thee, O my father? (She stands tuning her instrument.)
Hajj. How many modes canst thou play in?
Marsinah. One-and-twenty.
Hajj. One-and-twenty. (To Narjis.) Are one-and-twenty modes for the basket-weaver’s son? (He slaps Narjis again. To Marsinah.) And sing how many?
Marsinah. The like number.
Hajj. And dance? How many steps did thy mother teach thee?
Marsinah. Far beyond counting.
Hajj. (To Narjis.) Thou hearest! Are they, the countless, for the basket-weaver’s son? (A final slap.) I tell thee, Marsinah is rare as a houri in Paradise. Wouldst thou know what secret the future hideth for Marsinah?
Narjis. (Rubbing her poor cheek.) What secret, O master?
Hajj. Sit thee down here, O my flower. And here thou, O my cactus. Mark me close, ye both. (Marsinah sits on the ground by Hajj.)
Hajj. (Drawing the purse from his breast.) This money in my bosom will I take and buy merchandise withal. (Tossing the purse from hand to hand; his voice in lyrical exaltation.) And I will trade and sell; and buy and trade; till it is doubled and trebled a hundred times hundredfold. Then shall I turn from toil and trouble, to clothe my Marsinah in a rope of pearls serene; with the crown of a queen on her forehead clear; two jewels of shine and sheen, pending o’er each ear,—here and there; on her breast will I set a ruby amulet of flash and fret; and stuffed within a priceless piece of ambergris.
Marsinah. (In wonder.) O my father!
Hajj. And the name of thy beauty shall be blown abroad, beyond Arabia, through Sind, into China, even as far as the islands of Wak. And suitors shall venture across deserts and sea, by caravel and camel, and fall on their knee in suppliance for thee.
Marsinah. Yehh!
Hajj. But I—thy sire, (leaning on Narjis lazily as though she were a feather bed.)—shall lie back on pillows of ostrich plumes, propping mine elbow thus, nor turning to right nor to left. And there shall be wailings and gnashings of teeth amongst thy lovers; the while thou, behind many lintels, in a court of marble with a roof of molten gold, dancest merrily, airily, to the sound of smitten strings.
Marsinah. (Laughing joyfully and clapping her hands.) Ya ha! Ya ha!
Hajj. (Triumphantly.) Ha! Ha! (Eagerly.) Dance now, O dawn-breeze, now! O Narjis, pluck a tune with thy talons. (Hands her the lute.) Up, O Marsinah, up! My tom-tom, O Narjis! My tom-tom!
(Marsinah springs up. She begins to dance slowly, then faster and faster. Narjis, after handing Hajj his tom-tom, plays and occasionally sings as well.)
Hajj. (Beating the tom-tom, shrilly.) Yehh! Allah! La Yayhá! La Yayhá! So shalt thou dance! So! And the kings of the earth shall send their sons! La Yayhá! By thy youth, thou art as a branch swaying! La Yayhá! But I shall laugh them to scorn, all and one—“Ye swine,” shall I say— “Ye——”
(There is a knock at the door.)
(Marsinah stops; so does Narjis.)
Hajj. Nought. Neighbours. On! (They begin again.)
Hajj. “Ye swine—who are ye to——”
(Another knock.)
A Voice. (Outside.) Open in the name of justice.
Hajj. (Instinctively looks at his garments.) Wah! Go indoors, O my delight, go! (He throws the bundle to Marsinah.)
(Marsinah, taking the bundle, goes into the house wondering.)
Hajj. (To Narjis.) Open! Open! Open! (Narjis opens the house door.)
(Hajj sits expectant, tracing figures in the sand with his finger-tips.)
(The Captain of the Watch enters—behind him come Zayd and Amru and Four Archers. The Archers fling open the double doors to the street and guard them. Nasir enters as well.)
Captain. Is this the house of Hajj, the beggar?
Hajj. What would ye?
Zayd. I knew ’twas he! Seize the dog!
Hajj. Seize me? (He rises abruptly.)
Zayd. Those are the very garments.
Captain. Thou must come before the Wazir Mansur.
Hajj. (Terrified at the name.) Mansur? I paid in part—I meant to pay in full.
Amru. Thou liest, O split of tongue.
Hajj. Lie? I? (He goes for Amru.)
(Two Archers secure Hajj between them.)
Captain. No words! Off with him.
(The Archers march Hajj to the door.)
Nasir. (Darting forward and grinning into Hajj’s face.) Ha! Ha!
Hajj. (Stopping as he sees Nasir.) Oh! Thou!
Nasir. (Mockingly imitating Hajj’s voice.) I saw no purse.
Hajj. (Spitting in Nasir’s face.) Thou filth! Thou son of filth.
(He is led off, the other men following.)
Narjis. (Wringing her hands.) Allah! Allah! Allah!
[Curtain]
Scene IV. A Hall in the Wazir Mansur’s Mansion.
The room is a large oblong one, with a colonnade running along the back, looking out on a colonnaded courtyard beyond. A large double door to the left leads to the entrance hall. Opposite it, in the right wall, a niche with a diwan, raised a step or two. The tiles and carvings are of the richest.
Mansur is seated on the diwan, before him a chessboard.
Afife is crouching to the right on the steps, his partner in the game.
Kafur stands behind them watching.
Mansur is in a sullen humour, his mind not on the game.
Afife. (Making a move, in a high squeaky voice.) Move, O master.
Mansur. (Moving a chess-man.) Now match me this move, O thou bundle of misery.
Afife. Match it? (He moves.) Thy turn, O my master.
Mansur. (Moving again.) So!
Afife. Check!
Mansur. Check? Now cursed be Satan the Stoned! What Ifrit is at thine elbow? This is the third game thou dost beat me.
Afife. Thy thoughts wander, O my Lord.
Mansur. Dost thou wonder they wander, o thou misbegotten lump of dough?—Wander? They gallop, they fly! Even though I myself must crawl at other men’s heels these days.
Kafur. (To Mansur.) There’s yet one more move for thee.
Mansur. (Studying the board.) One more?
Kafur. So! (He sweeps the chessboard clear with his sword.)
(The door opens and an Attendant enters.)
Attendant. A Chamberlain from the Caliph, O my lord.
Mansur. Admit him.
(The Attendant ushers in the Chamberlain from the Caliph who enters with a sealed scroll. He comes up to Mansur and bows.)
Chamberlain. From the Commander of the Faithful to his Wazir Mansur.
(Kafur turns and takes the letter from the Chamberlain and hands it to Mansur. Mansur rises and takes the letter, touches the top of his head with it, then breaks the seals and scans the contents. His lips contract. After a moment’s pause he says to the Chamberlain.)
Mansur. Harkening and obedience to the Prince of True Believers.
(The Chamberlain bows and retires as he came.)
Mansur. (Springing up with great rage.) Hear! Hear! (Reading from right to left.) “In the name of Allah, the Compassionating the Compassionate. From Abdallah, Caliph and King of Mankind to his Wazir of Police. But after. We find all the moneys of our various departments of state, complete and in account, saving those under thy control. Report thou to us accordingly at our diwan this day. Though mine uncle the King be dead, justice and order have not died with him.” (He tears the letter to bits, stuffs strips into his mouth, chews them and spits them out again.) Wah! Now Allah damn the grammarian for this! This is his handiwork, big-turban’d, bean-fed son of a sow! So I’m to end through him? I who sat in his seat, hard by the side of the throne. By all devils that kneel round hell, I swear this shall never be—do ye hear me?—no, never! (He strikes at Afife in his rage.)
Kafur. What wilt thou do, O my lord?
Mansur. I would I had him between my feet to rip the tongue from his teeth.
Afife. A hundred grammatical tongues will not bring back one danik of the moneys thou hast squandered.
Mansur. Justice and order! (He spits out a piece of the letter.) Pah! Show me the Wazir of Police who hath crushed with a heavier hand, whose sword made the execution ground as slippery. Recall ye not the merry summer’s night when with mine own hand, in ten waves of the scymitar, I carved my old jester into as many pieces?
Afife. The old jester! Ha! Ha! ’Twas his last quirk!
Kafur. How we laughed!
(They all laugh.)
Mansur. Alas for the glorious drunken nights of passion and power. The feasts of beauty and blood! Awah, awah, awah!
(They all sigh.)
Afife. What’s to be done?
Kafur. Were Prince Omar Caliph, never wouldst thou have lost thy seat of honour.
Afife. Higher titles would have been thine. He loves thee as a brother.
Kafur. He would have created thee Grand Wazir.
Afife. Yea, Grand Wazir of all the kingdom!
Mansur. Were! Would! Had! The Caliph’s the Is! His letter the thing alive! The spent moneys must be accounted for. ’Tis my death. Awah! Awah!
Kafur. The guards are yet under thy orders.
Mansur. For the moment. But to-night——
Afife. Use to-day.
Kafur. (Pointing to the chessboard.) One move—and the game is thine.
Mansur. (Realising Kafur’s intention.) Yehh! Kill the Caliph? (He rises in thought.)
(Kafur and Afife nod and follow him, standing on either side of him.)
Kafur. ’Tis he——
Afife. Or thou.
Mansur. (Looking from Afife to Kafur.) Yehh! But how? When? Who? (Turning to Afife.) Thou?
Afife. (Grovelling at Mansur’s feet.) Alas! I lack the strength.
Mansur. (Turning to Kafur.) Thou?
Kafur. (Falling on his knees.) Am I not known by every servant in the palace?
Mansur. Then where shall I find him? This fellow strong enough, unknown enough, to stab and stab to the soul?
Kafur. Fear not. Fate hath written the deed in the lines of someone’s forehead. And when the hour comes he will be ready.
Mansur. Yehh!
(The door opens and the Attendant enters and bows. Outside voices can be heard.)
Mansur. What noise is that?
Attendant. Some merchants in the hall, O my lord. They have caught a thief and come for justice.
Mansur. Justice—do they? Justice! By Allah! I’ll dispense them justice. Have them enter. (He goes back to the diwan and sits.)
(Kafur and Afife take their wonted positions by his side.)
(The two shopkeepers, Amru and Zayd, enter, after them Nasir, the Captain of the Watch and Four Archers. A crowd of loiterers (six or eight) follow, who kneel or stand in the background. Amru and Zayd approach and kneel. Two Negro Eunuchs enter and stand at the back.)
Amru. O Wazir of the Age, we come for protection against the roguery of mankind.
Zayd. O eye of uprightness! Let thy light shed judgment.
Mansur. Speak your grievance.
Amru. There came a man to my shop——
Zayd. And mine——
Amru. And he fanned a quarrel ’twixt me and my fondest friend.
Zayd. And meantime off he stole with garments of both of us.
Mansur. Where’s the thief?
(Hajj is brought through the door by Two Archers and prostrates himself before Mansur, the Archers retiring.)
Hajj. (With great saintliness, on his knees.) O Wazir of wazirs, O Wisdom of wisdom, O Clemency of clemencies! I seek refuge in thy sanctity from these my foul-mouthed defamers. A thief—I? Allah forfend. I am a man of religion and peace. They fell to fisticuffs and curses before me, these two,—till mine ears were stung with their ungodliness and mine eyes wounded. So I laid my moneys on the carpet of the shop and went my silent ways.
Zayd and Amru. (Together.) Liar!
Amru. We’d not so much as fixed on a price.
Hajj. Wilt thou swear I paid thee no earnest money?
Amru. A miserable dinar or two to blind me.
Hajj. Blind thee? What cause had I to blind thee?
Zayd. Thou art a well-known beggar.
Hajj. A beggar? Showed I thee not a swollen purse?
Zayd. A stolen purse—thou meanest.
Hajj. He lies, O my lord. ’Twas given me in charity.
Mansur. Given thee? By whom?
Hajj. By one Jawan—a highwayman.
Mansur. A highwayman do charity? Now Allah pardon thee. Tell the truth.
Hajj. May doomsday break if I lie.
Mansur. How? A highwayman here in Baghdad? An exile with a price on his neck? Thou art mad.
Hajj. By mine honesty! There stands his guide Nasir. Ask him.
Mansur. (To Nasir.) O thou! Is this so?
Nasir. (Coming forward and kneeling between Hajj and the merchants.) ’Tis true such an one lodges at my Khan, O my lord. But he is come to the city in repentance, to pray at the tombs of saints.
Mansur. (Furious.) Saints and repentance! His coming spits at the law! (To the Captain of the Watch.) Go with yon fellow. Find the highwayman. Take him to the royal diwan this mid-afternoon. The Caliph shall note how I uphold justice and order.
(The Captain of the Watch moves to the door with Two Archers.)
Hajj. (Interrupting.) O my lord, a word! (To Nasir.) Tell the Lord Wazir, thou sawest the Sheikh throw me a purse.
Nasir. (Copying Hajj’s manner in the first scene.) I?—I saw no purse.
Hajj. (Producing the purse; pleading to him.) Nasir! Here it is.
Nasir. I saw no purse.
Mansur. ’Tis well. Off!
(Nasir goes with the Captain and Archers.)
Mansur. (To Hajj.) As for thee—Give me the purse!
Hajj. Awah! (He hands the purse to Kafur, who hands it to Mansur.)
Mansur. (Pocketing the purse in his sleeve.) Thou art a liar and a thief. (To Kafur.) The sword and the cauldron of oil. (Kafur bows and motions to the Negroes who go off into the courtyard.)
Mansur. Thy right hand is forfeit to the merchants.
Hajj. (Looking at his hand.) My hand?
Mansur. (To the shopkeepers, smilingly.) Two fingers to each. I pray you quarrel not over the thumb. (Amru and Zayd smile politely in response.)
Hajj. My hand! My hand! Thou’lt cut off my hand?
Mansur. Says not Allah in His Holy Koran: “If a man steal, cut off his hand”?
Hajj. Alas, O poor hand! Thou couldst have served the Wazir of Wazirs, a courtier to his whims, a slave to his desires. (The Two Eunuchs re-enter from the courtyard bearing a boiling cauldron.)
Mansur. Now by the dog, thy father, of what service to me were a rogue’s hand like thine?
(The Eunuchs place the boiling cauldron under Hajj’s wrist.)
Hajj. What service? There’s not a stronger—a prompter—a bolder in Baghdad! Ready to plunder and pillage, to slash and stab, at thy least command.
Mansur. (Starting at the word “stab”.) Stab?
Kafur. (To Hajj.) Cease thy talk, bare thy wrist. (He unsheathes the sword.)
Hajj. (Turns and sees the sword, then says in a resigned voice.) There is no majesty nor might save in Allah! The Causer of Causes! The Ordainer of Fate and Fortune!
Kafur. (About to raise the sword.) Art thou prepared?
Hajj. Even as the Fox for the Wolf. Strike!
(Kafur raises the sword.)
Mansur. Hold!—The Fox and the Wolf?—What story is that?
Hajj. O Wazir of the Age, ’twere too long to recount— (looking round slyly) with yon sword in the air.
Mansur. Then shall it first sever thy wrist.
Hajj. (With an eloquent gesture.) Who can tell a tale without his two hands?
Mansur. Knowest thou many histories?
Hajj. Ask the beggars of my quarter. The teller of night-tales they call me—one and all.
Mansur. Away with the cauldron! (To Kafur.) Hither with the sword.
(Kafur hands Mansur the sword; the Eunuchs take the cauldron into the courtyard.)
Mansur. What is thy name?
Hajj. (Creeps nearer, on his knees.) Hajj, O my lord.
Mansur. Thou shalt serve me, O Hajj. Thy wit shall shorten the weary watches of my sleeplessness. Take this sword, the badge of thy new dignity. (He offers him the sword.)
Hajj. O fountain of grace! My hand blesses thee for its salvation, my lowly self for its elevation. (He takes the sword and raises it to his forehead.) I am thy mameluke, thy chattel. (He touches the ground with his head.)
Mansur. Rise! Mansur’s servants do not kneel.
Hajj. (Rising proudly.) Is it thy pleasure that my first act should be an act of clemency?
Mansur. Do as thou wilt.
Hajj. (Turning ferociously on the shopkeepers.) Then down, O ye calamities! Down, I say, and cry my mercy for lying as ye did, ye false-of-faces!
(The Shopkeepers sink down in terror. Hajj approaches them flourishing his sword before them.)
Hajj. Confess ye lied! Confess ye lied!
Amru and Zayd. (Scarcely audible.) We lied! We lied!
Hajj. Louder, by your garlic breaths, louder!
Amru and Zayd. We lied! Pardon! Pardon!
Hajj. Pardon?—So ye send not my lord rich gifts of atonement none shall answer for your lives. Up! Turn your faces and show the breadth of your shoulder.
(The Shopkeepers rise and hurry out by the door, more dead than alive. Hajj prods their backs with his sword as they vanish.)
Hajj. (Turning to Mansur with a flourish.) Is it well, O my master?
Mansur. ’Tis a beginning. Go now! Get thee to thy new quarters. (To the Attendant.) Ho, Fazil! See Hajj be lodged and robed fittingly. Garb him in the Persian garments of our jester deceased. Alas, poor fellow! He died most sudden of a summer evening. (With a reassuring smile.) Thou shalt be his successor.
Hajj. I am a tree thy bounty hath planted. May the fruit of my endeavour be to thy taste ever. (He bows.)
Mansur. Thou shalt give us a smack of thy quality after the mid-day meal. Go! Whoso loveth me let him show honour to Hajj! (He waves his handkerchief in sign of dismissal.)
Hajj. (Turns and with a heroic gesture motions the curious aside.) Room for the Wazir’s Jester, O ye dogs!
(The Crowd falls back before him.)
(The Attendant leads the way to the left.)
(Hajj struts out conducted by the Attendant.)
Mansur. (To Kafur and Afife.) Think ye I’ve pardoned this mountebank to listen to foolish fables? (With great emphasis.) He is the man.
Kafur. What man?
Mansur. The man to kill the Caliph.
(Through the colonnade at the back Hajj is seen to enter the courtyard from the left and cross over to the right, preceded by the Attendant, Mansur’s Servants and Two Eunuchs, bending low, the crowd following. Hajj turns to the hall and seeing Mansur, bows again to him. Mansur acknowledges his bow with a grim smile. Hajj, delighted, turns, twirling his moustachios and with enormous swagger moves to the colonnade, right, the Attendant cringing to the new favourite.)
[Curtain]
End of Act I