The Wanderer Read Online Free PDF Page B

misgivings.”
    But I silenced him for fear of vexing the haughty captain, and whispered, “A wise man chooses the lesser of two evils. However unpleasant circumcision may be, it is at least preferable to beheading. Remember that all holy men in the Bible were circumcised, from the patriarch Abraham to the apostle Paul.”
    Andy admitted that he had never thought of this.
    “But,” he went on, “my manhood revolts against it, and I doubt whether afterward I could look a decent woman in the face.”
    By now the ship was sinking beneath our feet, and so we went aboard the narrow Moslem craft which, being built only for speed and combat, was very far from roomy. Four of our sailors whose lives had been spared were at once chained to the rowers’ benches, but Tor- gut-reis allowed us to remain near him while he sat himself down with crossed legs on a cushion before his tent. His good will emboldened me to ask what was to become of us.
    “How do I know?” he replied placidly. “Man’s fate is in the hands of Allah, and the days of birth and of death are predestined. You’re too frail for rowing and too old to be made a eunuch, and so no doubt you’ll be sold to the highest bidder in the Jerba market. Your brother, though, is a brawny fellow, and I would willingly have him in my crew.”
    Andy said gravely, “Noble captain, don’t separate me from my brother, for he is weak and defenseless and without my protection would soon be devoured by wolves. Sell us like two sparrows, for the same farthing. Also I’m in no hurry to fight my Christian brothers, having seen how cruelly they’re treated.”
    Captain Torgut’s face darkened.
    “Don’t dare to speak of cruelty, for Christians treat Moslems far more savagely. From sheer bloodlust they slay them all, irrespective of age and sex, while I kill only from necessity and carefully spare all who can be useful as slaves.”
    To lead the conversation into smoother channels I asked, “Exalted captain, do I rightly understand you to serve the great Sultan? How is it then that you attack Venetian vessels, although a state of peace and friendship is said to prevail between Venice and the High Porte?”
    Captain Torgut answered, “You have much to learn. The Ottoman Sultan rules over more lands and peoples than I can count. And yet more numerous are the countries, cities, and islands that pay him tax and enjoy his protection. As Caliph, the Sultan is the radiant sun to all Moslems, with the exception of the redheaded Persian heretics, God’s curse be upon them. The Sultan is for true Moslems what the Pope is for Christians, and as the Pope rules in Rome, so does Suleiman rule in the city of Istanbul, which Christians call Constantinople. Thus the Sultan is lord of both halves of the world and is Allah’s shadow on earth. But to what extent I serve him and obey his commands I hardly know. I obey only Sinan the Jew, Governor of Jerba, and he has his orders from the great Khaireddin, whom Christian seafarers have confused with his dead brother Baba Aroush and whom in their terror they have named Barbarossa. In Sultan Selim’s day, Baba Aroush captured Algiers, and the Sultan sent two war galleys full of janissaries to his relief.”
    “Then you are the Sultan’s subject?” I persisted, for all these names were so much Hebrew to me.
    “Don’t pester me with difficult questions. My master Sinan the Jew pays tribute to the Sultan of Tunis; nevertheless Sultan Suleiman’s name is mentioned every Friday in the prayers of all the mosques in
    Khaireddin’s domain. But after his brother’s death Khaireddin lost Algiers and the Spaniards have built a stout fortress on the island, blocking the entrance to the harbor. Well, the High Porte is far away, and at sea we wage war on all Christians without distinction.”
    He rose impatiently and gazed out across the sea. The galley slaves pulled till the timbers creaked and the water foamed at the bows, for we were still in pursuit of