praised!" rejoined the pacha. "Mustapha, let Menouni know
what it is to tell a story to a pacha, even though it is rather a long
one, and I thought the princess would never have been married." And the
pacha rose and waddled to his harem.

VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER EIGHT.

On the ensuing day, the pacha was sitting at his divan, according to his
custom, Mustapha by his side, lending his ear to the whispers of divers
people who came to him in an attitude of profound respect. Still they
were most graciously received, as the purport of their intrusion was to
induce the vizier to interest himself in their behalves when their cause
came forward to be heard and decided upon by the pacha, who in all cases
was guided by the whispered opinion of Mustapha. Mustapha was a
good-hearted man: he was always grateful, and if any one did him a good
turn he never forgot it. The consequence was, that an intimation that a
purse of so many sequins would be laid at his feet if the cause to be
heard was decided in favour of the applicant, invariably interested
Mustapha in the favour of that party; and Mustapha's opinion was always
coincided in by the pacha, because he had (or supposed that he had) half
of the sequins so obtained. True, the proverb says, "you should be just
before you are generous;" but Mustapha's arguments when he first
proposed to the pacha this method of filling the royal treasury, were so
excellent, that we shall hand them down to posterity. "In the first
place," said Mustapha, "it is evident that in all these causes the
plaintiffs and defendants are both rascals. In the second place, it is
impossible to believe a word on either side. In the third place,
exercising the best of your judgment, you are just as likely to go wrong
as right. In the fourth place, if a man happens to be wronged by our
decision, he deserves it as a punishment for his other misdeeds. In the
fifth place, as the only respectability existing in either party
consists in their worldly wealth, by deciding for him who gives most,
you decide for the most respectable man. In the sixth place, it is our
duty to be grateful for good done to us, and in so deciding, we exercise
a virtue strongly inculcated by the Koran. In the seventh place, we
benefit both parties by deciding quickly, as a loss is better than a
law-suit. And in the eighth and last place, we want money."

On this day a cause was being heard; and, although weighty reasons had
already