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16
THE SENTENCE OB' MEHEMED.
Stories in which the fate of a life is made
to hang upon the outcome of a game ox
chess, are not uncommon; but, as the read
ers of Romance, can testify, they are al
most always full of interest. Here is one
which is probably among the most power
ful ever written. It is also from the magic
pen of Msurioe Jokai, and is translated
from the Hungarian for Romance by J.
Murry Mitchell.
hmanza.de me
hemed, the Sirdar of
the auxiliary troops
of Tunisi,v»as known
on account of the
, rigorous discipline
that he exercised
over his soldiers. “It
is not the enemy you
must fear, but me,”
he would often re
mark to the young
soldiers, who came
to increase the ranks. Thus his army
was an army of heroes, who had no
fear on the battle-field, but who trem
bled in the presence of their leader.
The first campaign in which they
fought was at Albania, in the battle
against the rebel Greeks, and on that
occasion Mehemed’s men proved them
selves efficient. It happened that
Mehemed one day ordered eight
soldiers to remain in ambush at the
“five fountains” of Arta, at which
point the Greeks were likely to open
their attack.
They were to stop any one who
should try to pass by, and they were
strio Jy cautioned not to dismount or
fall asleep.
The soldiers executed with exact
ness all their instructions.
A vehicle, which attempted, toward
midnight, to cross the line unobserved
was discovered and stopped. The man
who had charge of the oxen which
drew it ran away, abandoning his
wagon.
On this wagon was a barrel. It was
easy to ascertain what the barrel con
tained, even without dismounting and
without falling asleep. You only bad
to open the bungbole to smell
the pleasant odor of liquor escaping
from it. And it must have been an
excellent liquor, compounded largely
(f figs and ary raisins. The Giaurri
(Cbr stiane) undoubtedly kne>v what
w»s good. / _ /
The soldiers had not been forbidden,
if they seized liquor, to drink ft. And
really they did not drink directly
from the barrel; they merely sunk
bulrushes in it, through which they
sipped the sweet and intoxicating
liquid. Was it not harmless to sip
with such thin rushes? One could
scarcely call that drinking! But just
ly does the Prophet remark that wine
Is a deceitful beverage, in which the
devil has had his hand, since this
drink brings men to every evil.
First, the soldiers asked each other
why they should sit in their hard sad
dles, when the grass made such a soft
bed on the ground. And if they lay
there for only a short while, nobody
would know it: they could tie the
horses to the wagon, and these cer
tainly could tell no tales. After they
hau dismounted, the infernal drink
persuaded them that it was a useless
task for eight men to remain on guard;
four would suffice, and the rest could
sleep. To the four men who were to
keep awake, the waiting for their turn
seemed too long,and they agreed that
two might sleep, while the other two
remained true to the orders.
Maruf and Sefer were the two de
signated to watch for the rest.
“Do you know,” said Sefer to his
friend, “do you know that one man is
of the same value in this case as two?
It will do just as well if only one of
us watches. Do you not agree?”
Maruf assented.
“I propose,” continued Sefer, “that
we play a game of chess; the loser will
have to watch, and the winner may
sleep.”
Maruf accepted the conditions.
Tne two Bedouins prepared the
ground in front of where they stood,
and with their spears they traced a
square, dividing it into sixty-four
smaller squares. Then they substitu
ted for the regular pawns the fruits
of the woods. The Wild pears became
kings, the apples queens, the castles
were represented by acorns, the bish
ops by rose-hips, the knights by nuts
and the pawns by berries.
The men thus provided, the game
began by the light of the camp-fire.
At first Sefer held the advantage
but that inebriating drink overcame
him, little by little, so that he was not
in condition to distinguish his pawns.
He lost his queen, and was very near
being checkmated.
“Sefer, you are in a bad mess,” re
marked Maruf when he saw that the
game was in his hands.
“You are right. lam as sleepy as
the sea when it is calm.”
“You are losing the game.”
“I can see that, too!”
“Well, he down, in the name of Al
lah. I will watch for you.”
Sefer shook his friend’s hand in
grateful acknowledgement of the sac-
riflce.and he thought be spoke to him,
but he only dreamed it, for he fell
asleep immediately.
Maruf, on the contrary, kept his
eyes open, and leaning on his gnn, he
looked at his sleeping companions.
But that devilish drink began to mur
mur softly:
“Why do you not sit down? You
could see just as well!”
As soon as he was seated, Satan
again began to tempt him.
“Why do you tire your eyes? If
you shut one of them, you will see
with the other just as well as with
both.”
Maruf reflected that, if his eyes were
closed, his ears were open, and that
he would be ready to start at the
smallest danger that might threaten
his companions and himself. And
with the firm purpose of not falling
asleep, he slumbered as heavily as the
rest.
In the mean time, the hidden Greeks
came all of a sudden upon the sleeping
men, untied the horses of the Turks
and would certainly have killed them,
had not Maruf’s horse, as though he
foresaw the danger, begun to neigh.
The first to awaken was Maruf, and in
a few moments the rest were ready.
They ran to get their arms and stood
on the defence, now fully awake and
sober.
They threw themselves on the ene
my; but it was of no avail. The
Greeks had mounted the horses and
laughed at the Turks, who endeavored
to overcome them on toot.
Maruf’s horse alone would not sub
mit to the Greek who bad mounted
him, and began to rear and plunge
until he had succeeded in throwing
the rider. He then kicked him and
returned to his owner.
Eight men had one horse left among
them. What was Mehemed going to
say? The Bedouins, yet young, were
cast down at the thought of death.
They knew their leader would have
no pity for them; and still sadder
were they at the loss of their beloved
horses. Os what use is a mah without
a horse?
Mortally worried at the punishment
they expected, they returned to head
quarters, and, brought face to face
with Aiimanzade, they narrated what
bad happened; how they bad diso
beyed his orders, how they bad fallen
asleep after drinking the liquor, bow
the last two watchmen bad played
chess, and finally how they had lost
their horses.
Ahmanzade was not in the
habit of making a display of passion
when he had to pass sentence. In his
immovable face no one could read
whether he decreed life or death.
“As for eight men tbere remains
only one horse,” be remarked, “you
will agree with me, that there are
seven of yon too many. 1 have never
read in the Koran nor in the Azorat
that eight men should ride one horse,
and as you are such good players, sit
down and let skill decide which of you
is to be the man who is to have tbe
one horse. All the others are sen
tenced to die.”
Having said this, Ahmanzade had
four chess-boards brought in, for the
Turks are in the habit of carrying
chess-boards with them, even in war.
As soon as tbe men were arranged,
he ordered the Bedouins to begin their
play.
Twelve of the best marksmen were
ready with their rifles to shoot the
losers. Two or three gave in at once
to their stronger adversaries; in oth
ers, despair battled with craftiness
against the advantage of their more
skilful opponents, and the former
would win when the latter had victory
in their hands.
The losers were immediately remov
ed, and the noise of several shots indi
cated that they had ceased to exist.
The first tilt was over. Four had
lost, four were winners. These last
were paired. New hopes and new
fears. A danger would pass unobserv
ed, and he who had made the error
would raise a cry which was his death
sentence.
Again two lost, and again two were
shot. And now only two remained—
Maruf and Sefer. They found them
selves, as they had been before, in
front of the camp-fire. They were the
best players. They began the game
with a good deal of caution, resting
their foreheads on the palms of their
hands, thoughtfully calculating every
move, without hesitating but without
hurrying.
For a long while neither of the two
succeeded in obtaining an advantage;
for each gain there was an equal sac
rifice.
The spectators nod to each other
when either one makes a brilliant
move. Little by little, the number of
pawns on the chess-board diminishes;
ths main figures lie scattered to tbe
right and to the left; the situation be
comes plainer; a few more moves, and
Sefer will lose his castle!
Maruf has one more castle than his
adversary, and this means a good deal
at the present stage of tbe game. The
crowd believes that the game is in his
hands.
All of a sudden, great drops of sweat
cover the forehead of Maruf—a fear
overtakes him, he trembles through
all his body. He has noticed that, if
his adversary sacrifices his queen in
stead of the castle, he can checkmate
him with the bishop, Would Sefer
THE SOUTHERN FARM.
see that move? On that depends life
and death! , t . .
Sefer looks at the chess-board for a
long while; his looks betray that he
has seen the move that will save him.
But he does not touch the men, and
he seems to hesitate.
“Maruf,” he asks all of a sudden,
“how many children have you at
borne?” .. (
“Four,” is the answer that comes
from trembling lips.
“You have a good wife?”
“An excellent wife,” answers Maruf
with a sigh.
Sefer passes a hand over his face,
and begins to murmur as though he
were praying.
Then he asks for water; he washes
bis eyes, his hands,—first the left
hand, then the right hand. Unseen,
two guardian angels watch ever by
those who pray.
“Yesterday night you gave me the
game so that I might sleep,” he says.
Maruf does not answer, but bows his
head in assent. .
“You have always been a good friend
of mine, Maruf.”
Maruf lets his head drop on his
breast entirely overcome. Sefer then
slowly lifts his hand to the chess
board and makes a move, not with the
queen, but with the castle.
“Checkmated!” you hear murmured
on all sides. Maruf has won, and Se
fer lost. Sefer rises quietly, offers his
hand for the last time to his friend
Maruf, who seems nailed to his place,
and signals to the soldiers to be ready.
Two seconds later a shot announces
that the tournament is over.
But Maruf does not stir. With in
tent eye he looks at the board and witb
trembling hand he puts the pawns
in their places, but like one wno does
not know which are the places assign
ed to them. The other men are con
fused with the pawns; the white with
the black.
“Get up,” exclaimed Ahmanzade.
“Ride y.our horse, you are to live!”
The Joan, however, does not move,
and continues witb his vacant stare to
arrange the chess-board, making
strange moves with the figures.
“Wbat an absurdity !” he exclaims,
laughing recklessly. “One has a tur
ban, and the other a horse’s head!”
“Pick him up,” orders Mehemed.
And two soldiers lift him. Maruf,
however, continued to laugh with a
lunatic’s laugh. Heaven, earth and
men were now alike unknown to
him.
During move he had become
mad. / Romance.
\ THE THRIFTY JAPANESE.
Hard-Working? Industrious People
Who are Simple in their Tastes.
What is the reason that Japan has no
poverty problem. One reason Is proba
bly to be found in tne land system, which
has given to every worker a holding and
encouraged him to supply his own wants
by his own labor. Efforts has thus been
developed and wants are limited. Anoth
er reason lies in the national taste for
country beauty. Nowhere else are parties
formed to visit the blossom trees, and no
where else are pilgrimages simply for the
sake of natural beauty. A country life
has, therefore its own interest, and men
do not crowd to the cities for the sake of
excitement. There is, too, in Japan, a
curious absence of ostentatious luxury,
says the Fortnightly Review.
The habits or living are in all classes
much the same, and the rich du not out
shine the poor by carriages, palaces and
jewelry. The rich spend their money on
curios, which, U costly, are limite 1, and
the most popular agitation is that against
the big European houses which ministers
build for themselves. Wealth is thus not
absorbed, and is more ready for invest
ment in remunerative labor. The last
reason which occurs to the mind of a
traveler with comparatively few oppor
tunities for forming opinions is the equal
ity of manners in all classes. Rich and
poor are alike courteous It is not pos
sible to distinguish employ er from laborer
by their behavior; all are clean, all are
easy, all are restrained.
The governor lets his child go to the
common school and sit next to the child
of the casual laborer, certain that his
child will plck up no bad manners and
get no contamination in thought or in
person. This equally enables rich and
poor to meet as friends, and gifts can pass
without degradation. The rich nobles in
the country, just as the university men
whom we meet in Tokio, are thus able to
give to those whom they know to be in
need, and friendship becomes the channel
of charity. The question is, will this sur
vive the introdrction of the industrial
system? It is possible that some of it
may, and that Japan may teach the West
how to deal with the poor.
How the Entire
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