l, as
the first step towards my change of life.

Making my way through the crowd, I was stopped by a violent quarrel
between three men, who were abusing each other with more than ordinary
violence. I pushed into the circle which surrounded them, and there, to
my dismay, discovered the courier, whom I had deceived, seconded by a
peasant, attacking the horse-dealer, whom they had just pulled off the
horse, which I had sold him.

'That is my horse,' said the peasant.

'That is my saddle,' said the courier.

'They are mine,' exclaimed the horse-dealer.

I immediately saw the danger in which I stood, and was about to slink
away, when I was perceived by the horse-dealer, who seized hold of my
girdle, and said, 'This is the man I bought the horse of.' As soon as
I was recognized by the courier, immediately the whole brunt of the
quarrel, like a thunder-cloud, burst on my head, and I was almost
overwhelmed by its violence. Rascal, thief, cheat, were epithets which
were dinned into my ears without mercy.

'Where's my horse?' cried one.

'Give me my saddle,' vociferated the other.

'Return me my money,' roared out the third.

'Take him to the cadi,' said the crowd.

In vain I bawled, swore, and bade defiance; in vain I was all smoothness
and conciliation: it was impossible for the first ten minutes to gain
a hearing: every one recited his griefs. The courier's rage was almost
ungovernable; the peasant complained of the injustice which had been
done him; and the horse-dealer called me every sort of name, for having
robbed him of his money. I first talked to the one, then coaxed the
other, and endeavoured to bully the third. To the courier I said, 'Why
are you so angry? there is your saddle safe and sound, you can ask no
more.' To the peasant I exclaimed, 'You could not say more if your beast
had actually been killed; take him and walk away, and return thanks to
Allah that it is no worse.' As for the horse-dealer, I inveighed
against him with all the bitterness of a man who had been cheated of
his property:--'You have a right to talk indeed of having been deceived,
when to this moment you know that you have only paid me one-half of the
cost of the horse, and that you wanted to fob me off with a dying ass
for the other half.'

I offered to return him the money; but this he refused: he insisted upon
my paying him the keep of the horse besides: upon which a new quarrel
ensued, in which arguments were used on both sides w