possession of the money which was sewed in
the padding of my former master's turban. But it had been thrown into
a corner of the women's tent, to which I had no access, and it
required much ingenuity to get at it without creating suspicion. I
had established my reputation as a barber throughout ours and the
neighbouring encampments, and had become a favourite of the men; but
although I had reason to believe that the Banou of my master would fain
become more intimately acquainted with me than she hitherto had been,
yet as neither she nor any of the other women could employ me in my
profession as a shaver, our intercourse hitherto had been confined
to tender glances, occasional acts of kindness on her part, and of
corresponding marks of thankfulness and acknowledgement on mine. But as
they knew enough of civilized life to be aware that in Persia barbers
were also surgeons--that besides shaving and rubbing in the bath,
they could bleed, draw teeth, and set a broken limb--the Banou soon
discovered that she wanted to be bled, and sent a deputation to ask
me if I could perform that service for her. Looking upon this as
a favourable opportunity to learn some tidings of the object of my
solicitude, or perhaps to gain possession of it, I immediately answered
that provided I was furnished with a penknife, I hoped that I could
bleed as dexterously as the best of my profession. The instrument
was produced, and one of the elders of the tribe, who pretended to a
smattering of astrology, announced that a conjunction of the planets
favourable to such an operation would take place on the following
morning. At that auspicious moment, I was introduced into the women's
tent, where I found the Banou seated on a carpet on the ground, waiting
for me with great impatience. She was not a person to excite sensations
of a tender nature in a novice like me; for, in the first place, she was
of an unwieldy size (so different from the slim forms that we are taught
to prize in Persia)[10] that I looked upon her with disgust; and, in the
next, I lived in such terror of Aslan Sultan, that had I aspired to her
favour, it must have been in the constant dread of the loss of my ears.
However, I was much noticed by her, and received great attentions from
her companions, who, looking upon me as a being of a superior order,
all wanted to have their pulses felt. Whilst making my preparations
for bleeding the Banou, I cast my eyes about the tent, in the hopes of