or I shall
surely act upon this judgment and denude thee quite." The
major-domo--'

Cries of 'Miskin! Miskin!' (poor fellow!) interrupted the narrative.

One said: 'I once ate pig's flesh by mistake, but this man's plight is
much more horrible.'

Suleyman's opponent cried: 'It was a judgment on him, evidently, for
his theft of the bastirma. Say, what became of him thereafter, O
narrator?'

'The major-domo, who, till then, had been a precious rogue--I knew him
intimately from a child, and so can vouch for it--became from that day
forth the saintliest of men. He thought about his crime and mourned
for it, and deemed himself an unclean beast until he died--may God
have mercy on him--and was buried in the Holy City as the Jew desired.
He thought of nothing but good deeds, yet without seeking merit,
knowing that nothing he could do would ever cleanse him. He became the
humblest and the best of men, who had before been arrogant and very
wicked. Therefore I say that it is well for men to think of their sins
after rather than before committing them.'

'But the intention!--What of the intention, O my master? His intention
was not good. He stole!'

'His intention went no further than a basket of bastirma. The Jew was
only an unpleasant accident, in respect whereof no guilt attached to
him. The case is clear, and yet, although I used to argue with him on
the subject, I never could contrive to make him see it. One thing is
certain, and will prove to you the worth of good intentions. He only
meant to eat a basket of bastirma; therefore he felt great remorse
when he devoured a Jew, and so became a saint for Paradise. Had he
intended to devour a Jew he could not possibly have felt such great
remorse. What say you?'

And everyone agreed that it was so.

CHAPTER XIX

THE ARTIST-DRAGOMAN

Of Suleyman in his capacity of dragoman I saw little but heard much
both from himself and others. The English residents in Palestine and
Syria--those who knew of him--regarded him as but a doubtful
character, if one may judge from their repeated warnings to me not to
trust him out of sight. His wisdom and his independent way of airing
it did not please everybody as they did me; and reverence in dealing
with a fellow-man was not his strong point. By travellers, I gather
from innumerable testimonials which he showed me, he was either much
beloved or the reverse, though none could say he did not know his
business.

His English, th