, that if I were an Armenian, and had two
hundred thousand pounds to back me, I would attack the Persian."

"Hem!" said the Armenian.

CHAPTER LI.

The One Half-Crown--Merit in Patience--Cementer of Friendship--Dreadful
Perplexity--The Usual Guttural--Armenian Letters--Much Indebted to
You--Pure Helplessness--Dumb People.

One morning on getting up I discovered that my whole worldly wealth was
reduced to one half-crown--throughout that day I walked about in
considerable distress of mind; it was now requisite that I should come to
a speedy decision with respect to what I was to do; I had not many
alternatives, and, before I had retired to rest on the night of the day
in question, I had determined that I could do no better than accept the
first proposal of the Armenian, and translate, under his superintendence,
the Haik Esop into English.

I reflected, for I made a virtue of necessity, that, after all, such an
employment would be an honest and honourable one; honest, inasmuch as by
engaging in it I should do harm to nobody; honourable, inasmuch as it was
a literary task, which not every one was capable of executing. It was
not everyone of the booksellers' writers of London who was competent to
translate the Haik Esop. I determined to accept the offer of the
Armenian.

Once or twice the thought of what I might have to undergo in the
translation from certain peculiarities of the Armenian's temper almost
unsettled me; but a mechanical diving of my hand into my pocket, and the
feeling of the solitary half-crown, confirmed me; after all, this was a
life of trial and tribulation, and I had read somewhere or other that
there was much merit in patience, so I determined to hold fast in my
resolution of accepting the offer of the Armenian.

But all of a sudden I remembered that the Armenian appeared to have
altered his intentions towards me: he appeared no longer desirous that I
should render the Haik Esop into English for the benefit of the
stock-jobbers on Exchange, but rather that I should acquire the rudiments
of doing business in the Armenian fashion, and accumulate a fortune,
which would enable me to make a figure upon 'Change with the best of the
stock-jobbers. "Well," thought I, withdrawing my hand from my pocket,
whither it had again mechanically dived, "after all, what would the
world, what would this city be, without commerce? I believe the world,
and particularly this city, would cut a very poor figu