under whose eye I was immediately placed; and
forthwith I set about saying my prayers and making my ablutions, as
if my very existence depended upon my regularity. Indeed, what I had
formerly looked upon as irksome ceremony, now became an agreeable
pastime, and helped greatly to soften the tedium of my melancholy life.
I never omitted to rise at the first call; to make my ablutions at the
cistern, using all the forms of the strictest shiah, and then to pray in
the most conspicuous spot I could find. The intonations of my _Allah
ho akbar_ were to be heard in each corner of the tomb, and I hoped they
came to the ear of every inhabitant of it. No face wore a more mortified
appearance than mine: even the dervish, who was the best mimic possible,
could not beat me in the downcast eye, the hypocritical ejaculation, the
affected taciturnity of the sour, proud, and bigoted man of the law.

It became known that. I was a refugee at the sanctuary; and I very soon
discovered the advantages which the dervish had promised me, from taking
upon me the airs of the place, and assuming the character of a rigid
Mussulman. He spread abroad the history of my misfortune, of course much
to my advantage, giving me out for one who was suffering for the sins of
another, and asserting that the doctor ought, in fact, to have been the
sufferer.

I became acquainted with the principal personages of the town, who were
agreed that they had never known a better model of a true believer than
I; and had I not been confined to the walls of the sanctuary, it was in
contemplation to have made me a _peish namaz_ (a leader of the prayers)
at their religious meetings in the mosque. I found that the profound
taciturnity which I had adopted was the best help towards the
establishment of a high reputation for wisdom; and that, by the help
of my beads, which I kept constantly counting, a mumble of my lips,
and occasional groans and pious exclamations, the road to the highest
consideration was open to me.

My dervish and I lived almost free of expense, so plentifully were
we supplied with food. The women, in particular, did not lose an
opportunity of bringing me presents of fruit, honey, bread, and other
necessaries, for which I repaid them with kind thanks, and now and then
with a talisman, written with my own hand.

But although our life was one of ease, yet it was so dull, and so void
of incident, that even the spirits of my companion began to sink under
it.