The Wise Son of Ali Pasha

A servant of his Majesty Sultan Ahmet, who had been employed for

twenty-five years in the Palace, begged leave of the Sultan to allow

him to retire to his native home, and at the same time solicited a

pension to enable him to live. The Sultan asked him if he had not

saved any money. The man replied that owing to his having to support a

large family, he had been unable to do so. The Sultan was very angry

that any of his servants, especially in the immediate employ of his

household, should, after so many years' service, say that he was

penniless. Disbelieving the statement, and in order to make an

example, the Sultan gave orders that Hassan should quit the Palace in

the identical state he had entered it twenty-five years before.

Hassan was accordingly disrobed of all his splendor, and his various

effects, the accumulation of a quarter of a century, were confiscated,

and distributed amongst the legion of Palace servants. Poor Hassan,

without a piaster in his pocket, and dressed in the rude costume of

his native province, began his weary journey homeward on foot.

In time he reached the suburbs of a town in Asia Minor, and seeing

some boys playing, he approached them, sat on the ground, and watched

their pastime. The boys were playing at state affairs: one was a

Sultan, another his Vizier, who had his cabinet of Ministers, while

close by were a number of boys bound hand and foot, representing

political and other prisoners, awaiting judgment for their imaginary

misdeeds. The Sultan, who was sitting with worthy dignity on a throne

made of branches and stones, decorated with many-colored centrepieces,

beckoned to Hassan to draw near, and asked him where he had come from.

Hassan replied that he had come from Stamboul, from the Palace of the

Sultan.

"That's a lie," said the mock Sultan, "no one ever came from Stamboul

dressed in that fashion, much less from the Palace; you are from the

far interior, and if you do not confess that what I say is true, you

will be tried by my Ministers, and punished accordingly."

Hassan, partly to participate in their boyish amusement, and partly to

unburden his aching heart, related his sad fate to his youthful

audience. When he had finished, the boy Sultan, Ali by name, asked him

if he had received his twenty-five years. Hassan, not fully grasping

what the boy said, replied:

"Nothing! Nothing!"

"That is unjust," continued Ali, "and you shall go back to the Sultan

and ask that your twenty-five years be returned to you so that you may

plough and till your ground, and thus make provision for the period of

want, old age."

Hassan was struck by the sound advice the boy had given him, thanked

him and said he would follow it to the letter. The boys then in

thoughtless mirth separated, to return to their homes, never dreaming

that the seeds of destiny of one of their number had been sown in

play. Hassan, retracing his steps, reappeared in time at the gates of

the Palace and begged admittance, stating that he had forgotten to

communicate something of importance to his Majesty. His request being

granted, he humbly solicited, that, inasmuch as his Majesty had been

dissatisfied with his long service, the twenty-five years he had

devoted to him should be returned, so that he might labor and put by

something to provide for the inevitable day when he could no longer

work. The Sultan answered:

"That is well said and just. As it is not in my power to give you the

twenty-five years, the best equivalent I can grant you is the means of

sustenance for a period of that duration should you live so long. But

tell me, who advised you to make this request?"

Hassan then related his adventure with the boys while on his journey

home, and his Majesty was so pleased with the judgment and advice of

the lad that he sent for him and had him educated. The boy studied

medicine, and distinguishing himself in the profession ultimately rose

to be Hekim Ali Pasha.

He had one son who was known as Doctor Ali Pasha's son. He studied

calligraphy, and became so proficient in this art, now almost lost,

that his imitations of the Imperial Iradés (decrees) were perfect

fac-similes of the originals. One day he took it into his head to

write an Iradé appointing himself Grand Vizier, in place of the

reigning one, a protégé of the Imperial Palace, which Iradé he took to

the Sublime Porte and there and then installed himself. By chance the

Sultan happened to drive through Stamboul that day, in disguise, and

noticing considerable excitement and cries of "Padishahim chok yasha"

(long live my Sultan) amongst the people, made inquiries as to the

cause of this unusual occurrence. His Majesty's informers brought him

the word that the people rejoiced in the fall of the old Grand Vizier,

and the appointment of the new one, Doctor Ali Pasha's son. The Sultan

returned to the Palace and immediately sent one of his eunuchs to the

Sublime Porte to see the Grand Vizier and find out the meaning of

these strange proceedings.

The eunuch was announced, and the Grand Vizier ordered him to be

brought into his presence. Directly he appeared in the doorway, he was

greeted with: "What do you want, you black dog?"

Then turning to the numerous attendants about, he said: "Take this

nigger to the slave market, and see what price he will bring."

The eunuch was taken to the slave market, and the highest price bid

for him was fifty piasters. On hearing this, the Grand Vizier turned

to the eunuch and said: "Go and tell your master what you are worth,

and tell him that I think it too much by far."

The eunuch was glad to get off, and communicated to his Majesty the

story of his strange treatment. The Sultan then ordered his Chief

Eunuch, a not unimportant personage in the Ottoman Empire, to call on

the Grand Vizier for an explanation. At the Sublime Porte, however, no

respect was paid to this high dignitary. Ali Pasha received him in

precisely the same manner as he had received his subordinate. The

chief was taken to the slave market, and the highest sum bid for him

was five hundred piasters. The self-appointed Grand Vizier ordered him

to go and tell his master the amount some foolish people were willing

to pay for him.

When the Sultan heard of these strange proceedings he sent an

autograph letter to Ali Pasha, commanding him to come to the Palace.

The Grand Vizier immediately set out for the Palace and was received

in audience, when he explained to his Majesty that the affairs of

State could not be managed by men not worth more than from fifty to

five hundred piasters, and that if radical changes were not made,

certain ruin would be the outcome. The Sultan appreciated this earnest

communication, and ratified the appointment, as Grand Vizier, of Ali

Pasha, the son of the boy who had played at state affairs in a village

of Asia Minor.