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The Pacha of Many Tales By: Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) |
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Captain Frederick Marryat was born July 10 1792, and died August 8 1848.
He retired from the British navy in 1828 in order to devote himself to
writing. In the following 20 years he wrote 26 books, many of which are
among the very best of English literature, and some of which are still
in print. Marryat had an extraordinary gift for the invention of episodes in his
stories. He says somewhere that when he sat down for the day's work, he
never knew what he was going to write. He certainly was a literary
genius. "The Pacha of Many Tales" was published in 1835, the sixth book to flow
from Marryat's pen. It is designedly reminiscent of "The Arabian
Nights". Marryat has let his genius for inventing delightful little
stories and episodes run riot in this unusual book. This e text was transcribed in 1998 by Nick Hodson, and was reformatted
in 2003, and again in 2005. THE PACHA OF MANY TALES, BY CAPTAIN FREDERICK MARRYAT. VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE. Every one acquainted with the manners and customs of the East must be
aware that there is no situation of eminence more unstable, or more
dangerous to its possessor, than that of a pacha. Nothing, perhaps,
affords us more convincing proof of the risk which men will incur, to
obtain a temporary authority over their fellow creatures, than the
avidity with which this office is accepted from the sultan who, within
the memory of the new occupant, has consigned scores of his predecessors
to the bow string. It would almost appear, as if the despot but
elevated a head from the crowd, that he might obtain a more fair and
uninterrupted sweep for his scimitar, when he cut it off; only exceeded
in his peculiar taste by the king of Dahomy, who is said to ornament the
steps of his palace with heads, fresh severed, each returning sun, as we
renew the decoration of our apartments from our gay parterres. I make
these observations, that I may not be accused of a disregard to
chronology, in not precisely stating the year, or rather the months,
during which flourished one of a race, who, like the flowers of the
cistus, one morning in all their splendour, on the next, are strewed
lifeless on the ground to make room for their successors. Speaking of
such ephemeral creations, it will be quite sufficient to say, "There
was a Pacha." Would you inquire by what means he was raised to the distinction? It is
an idle question. In this world, pre eminence over your fellow
creatures can only be obtained, by leaving others far behind in the
career of virtue or of vice. In compliance with the dispositions of
those who rule, faithful service in the one path or the other will
shower honour upon the subject, and by the breath of kings he becomes
ennobled to look down upon his former equals. And as the world spins round, the why is of little moment. The
honours are bequeathed, but not the good, or the evil deeds, or the
talents by which they were obtained. In the latter we have but a life
interest, for the entail is cut off by death. Aristocracy in all its
varieties is as necessary for the well binding of society, as the divers
grades between the general and the common soldier are essential in the
field. Never then inquire, why this or that man has been raised above
his fellows; but, each night as you retire to bed, thank Heaven that you
are not a King . And if I may digress, there is one badge of honour in our country, which
I never contemplate without serious reflection rising in my mind. It is
the bloody hand in the dexter chief of a baronet, now often worn, I
grant, by those who, perhaps, during their whole lives have never raised
their hands in anger. But my thoughts have returned to days of yore
the iron days of ironed men , when it was the symbol of faithful
service in the field when it really was bestowed upon the "hand embrued
in blood;" and I have meditated, whether that hand, displayed with
exultation in this world, may not be held up trembling in the next in
judgment against itself... Continue reading book >>
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Adventure |
Literature |
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