uarter, there is
turmoil. The matter has already attracted a lot of attention. Nobody is
minding the store. Embroiderers, tailors, and saddlers--all Israel is
out on the street.... The men in their velvet caps, and blue woollen
stockings fidgeting noisily in groups.... The women, pale, bloated, and
unattractive in their thin dresses and gold fronts, have their faces
wrapped in black bandages, and are going from group to group,
caterwauling.... As I arrive, something starts to move in the crowd.
There's an urgency and a crush.... Relying on their witness, my
Jew--hero of the hour--passes between two rows of caps, under a hail of
exhortations:

--Revenge yourself, brother, revenge us, revenge the Jewish people.
Fear nothing; you have the law on your side.

A hideous dwarf, smelling of pitch and old leather, comes to me
pitifully, sighing deeply:

--You see! he said to me. We're hard done by, we Jews. How they treat
us! He's an old man. Look! They've practically killed him.

It's true, my poor Jew looks more dead than alive. He goes past me--his
eyes lifeless, his face haggard--not so much walking as dragging
himself along.... Only a huge compensation looks likely to make him
feel any better; after all, he is going to the consultant, not to the
doctor.

* * * * *

There are almost as many consultants in Algeria as there are
grasshoppers. It's a good living, I'd say. In any case, it has the
great advantage that you can just walk into it, without passing
examinations, or leaving a bond, or being trained. In Paris you become
a lawyer; in Algeria a consultant. It's enough to have a bit of French,
Spanish, and Arabian, and to have a code of conduct in your saddle bag;
but above all else, you need the right temperament for the job.

The agent's functions are very varied: he can be in turn a barrister,
solicitor, broker, expert, interpreter, money dealer, commissioner, and
public scribe; he is the Jack of all trades of the colony. Only
Harpagon has a single Jack of all trades; the rest of the colony has a
surfeit, and nowhere more than Milianah, where they can be counted in
dozens. Usually, to avoid office expenses, these gentlemen meet their
clients in the cafe in the main square and give their
consultations--did I say give?--between the appetiser and the after
dinner wine.

The dignified Jew is making his way towards the cafe in the main
square, with the two witnesses at his side. I will leave th