SCENE IV. _A Hall in the Wazir Mansur’s Mansion.

_The room is a large oblong one, with a colonnade running along the back, looking out on a colonnaded courtyard beyond. A large double door to the left leads to the entrance hall. Opposite it, in the right wall, a niche with a diwan, raised a step or two. The tiles and carvings are of the richest._

_MANSUR is seated on the diwan, before him a chessboard._

_AFIFE is crouching to the right on the steps, his partner in the game._

_KAFUR stands behind them watching._

_MANSUR is in a sullen humour, his mind not on the game._

AFIFE. (_Making a move, in a high squeaky voice._) Move, O master.

MANSUR. (_Moving a chess-man._) Now match me this move, O thou bundle of misery.

AFIFE. Match it? (_He moves._) Thy turn, O my master.

MANSUR. (_Moving again._) So!

AFIFE. Check!

MANSUR. Check? Now cursed be Satan the Stoned! What Ifrit is at thine elbow? This is the third game thou dost beat me.

AFIFE. Thy thoughts wander, O my Lord.

MANSUR. Dost thou wonder they wander, o thou misbegotten lump of dough?—Wander? They gallop, they fly! Even though I myself must crawl at other men’s heels these days.

KAFUR. (_To MANSUR._) There’s yet one more move for thee.

MANSUR. (_Studying the board._) One more?

KAFUR. So! (_He sweeps the chessboard clear with his sword._)

(_The door opens and an ATTENDANT enters._)

ATTENDANT. A Chamberlain from the Caliph, O my lord.

MANSUR. Admit him.

(_The ATTENDANT ushers in the CHAMBERLAIN from the CALIPH who enters with a sealed scroll. He comes up to MANSUR and bows._)

CHAMBERLAIN. From the Commander of the Faithful to his Wazir Mansur.

(_KAFUR turns and takes the letter from the CHAMBERLAIN and hands it to MANSUR. MANSUR rises and takes the letter, touches the top of his head with it, then breaks the seals and scans the contents. His lips contract. After a moment’s pause he says to the CHAMBERLAIN._)

MANSUR. Harkening and obedience to the Prince of True Believers.

(_The CHAMBERLAIN bows and retires as he came._)

MANSUR. (_Springing up with great rage._) Hear! Hear! (_Reading from right to left._) “In the name of Allah, the Compassionating the Compassionate. From Abdallah, Caliph and King of Mankind to his Wazir of Police. But after. We find all the moneys of our various departments of state, complete and in account, saving those under thy control. Report thou to us accordingly at our diwan this day. Though mine uncle the King be dead, justice and order have not died with him.” (_He tears the letter to bits, stuffs strips into his mouth, chews them and spits them out again._) Wah! Now Allah damn the grammarian for this! This is _his_ handiwork, big-turban’d, bean-fed son of a sow! So I’m to end through _him_? I who sat in his seat, hard by the side of the throne. By all devils that kneel round hell, I swear this shall never be—do ye hear me?—no, never! (_He strikes at AFIFE in his rage._)

KAFUR. What wilt thou do, O my lord?

MANSUR. I would I had him between my feet to rip the tongue from his teeth.

AFIFE. A hundred grammatical tongues will not bring back one danik of the moneys thou hast squandered.

MANSUR. Justice and order! (_He spits out a piece of the letter._) Pah! Show me the Wazir of Police who hath crushed with a heavier hand, whose sword made the execution ground as slippery. Recall ye not the merry summer’s night when with mine own hand, in ten waves of the scymitar, I carved my old jester into as many pieces?

AFIFE. The old jester! Ha! Ha! ’Twas his last quirk!

KAFUR. How we laughed!

(_THEY all laugh._)

MANSUR. Alas for the glorious drunken nights of passion and power. The feasts of beauty and blood! Awah, awah, awah!

(_THEY all sigh._)

AFIFE. What’s to be done?

KAFUR. Were Prince Omar Caliph, never wouldst thou have lost thy seat of honour.

AFIFE. Higher titles would have been thine. He loves thee as a brother.

KAFUR. He would have created thee Grand Wazir.

AFIFE. Yea, Grand Wazir of all the kingdom!

MANSUR. Were! Would! Had! The Caliph’s the Is! His letter the thing alive! The spent moneys must be accounted for. ’Tis my death. Awah! Awah!

KAFUR. The guards are yet under thy orders.

MANSUR. For the moment. But to-night——

AFIFE. Use to-day.

KAFUR. (_Pointing to the chessboard._) One move—and the game is thine.

MANSUR. (_Realising KAFUR’S intention._) Yehh! Kill the Caliph? (_He rises in thought._)

(_KAFUR and AFIFE nod and follow him, standing on either side of him._)

KAFUR. ’Tis he——

AFIFE. Or thou.

MANSUR. (_Looking from AFIFE to KAFUR._) Yehh! But how? When? Who? (_Turning to AFIFE._) Thou?

AFIFE. (_Grovelling at MANSUR’S feet._) Alas! I lack the strength.

MANSUR. (_Turning to KAFUR._) Thou?

KAFUR. (_Falling on his knees._) Am I not known by every servant in the palace?

MANSUR. Then where shall I find him? This fellow strong enough, unknown enough, to stab and stab to the soul?

KAFUR. Fear not. Fate hath written the deed in the lines of someone’s forehead. And when the hour comes he will be ready.

MANSUR. Yehh!

(_The door opens and the ATTENDANT enters and bows. Outside voices can be heard._)

MANSUR. What noise is that?

ATTENDANT. Some merchants in the hall, O my lord. They have caught a thief and come for justice.

MANSUR. Justice—do they? Justice! By Allah! I’ll dispense them justice. Have them enter. (_He goes back to the diwan and sits._)

(_KAFUR and AFIFE take their wonted positions by his side._)

(_The two shopkeepers, AMRU and ZAYD, enter, after them NASIR, the CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH and FOUR ARCHERS. A crowd of loiterers (six or eight) follow, who kneel or stand in the background. AMRU and ZAYD approach and kneel. TWO NEGRO EUNUCHS enter and stand at the back._)

AMRU. O Wazir of the Age, we come for protection against the roguery of mankind.

ZAYD. O eye of uprightness! Let thy light shed judgment.

MANSUR. Speak your grievance.

AMRU. There came a man to my shop——

ZAYD. And mine——

AMRU. And he fanned a quarrel ’twixt me and my fondest friend.

ZAYD. And meantime off he stole with garments of both of us.

MANSUR. Where’s the thief?

(_HAJJ is brought through the door by TWO ARCHERS and prostrates himself before MANSUR, the ARCHERS retiring._)

HAJJ. (_With great saintliness, on his knees._) O Wazir of wazirs, O Wisdom of wisdom, O Clemency of clemencies! I seek refuge in thy sanctity from these my foul-mouthed defamers. A thief—I? Allah forfend. I am a man of religion and peace. They fell to fisticuffs and curses before me, these two,—till mine ears were stung with their ungodliness and mine eyes wounded. So I laid my moneys on the carpet of the shop and went my silent ways.

ZAYD and AMRU. (_Together._) Liar!

AMRU. We’d not so much as fixed on a price.

HAJJ. Wilt thou swear I paid thee no earnest money?

AMRU. A miserable dinar or two to blind me.

HAJJ. Blind thee? What cause had I to blind thee?

ZAYD. Thou art a well-known beggar.

HAJJ. A beggar? Showed I thee not a swollen purse?

ZAYD. A stolen purse—thou meanest.

HAJJ. He lies, O my lord. ’Twas given me in charity.

MANSUR. Given thee? By whom?

HAJJ. By one Jawan—a highwayman.

MANSUR. A highwayman do charity? Now Allah pardon thee. Tell the truth.

HAJJ. May doomsday break if I lie.

MANSUR. How? A highwayman here in Baghdad? An exile with a price on his neck? Thou art mad.

HAJJ. By mine honesty! There stands his guide Nasir. Ask him.

MANSUR. (_To NASIR._) O thou! Is this so?

NASIR. (_Coming forward and kneeling between HAJJ and the merchants._) ’Tis true such an one lodges at my Khan, O my lord. But he is come to the city in repentance, to pray at the tombs of saints.

MANSUR. (_Furious._) Saints and repentance! His coming spits at the law! (_To the CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH._) Go with yon fellow. Find the highwayman. Take him to the royal diwan this mid-afternoon. The Caliph shall note how I uphold justice and order.

(_The CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH moves to the door with TWO ARCHERS._)

HAJJ. (_Interrupting._) O my lord, a word! (_To NASIR._) Tell the Lord Wazir, thou sawest the Sheikh throw me a purse.

NASIR. (_Copying HAJJ’S manner in the first scene._) I?—I saw no purse.

HAJJ. (_Producing the purse; pleading to him._) Nasir! Here it is.

NASIR. I saw no purse.

MANSUR. ’Tis well. Off!

(_NASIR goes with the CAPTAIN and ARCHERS._)

MANSUR. (_To HAJJ._) As for thee—Give me the purse!

HAJJ. Awah! (_He hands the purse to KAFUR, who hands it to MANSUR._)

MANSUR. (_Pocketing the purse in his sleeve._) Thou art a liar and a thief. (_To KAFUR._) The sword and the cauldron of oil. (_KAFUR bows and motions to the NEGROES who go off into the courtyard._)

MANSUR. Thy right hand is forfeit to the merchants.

HAJJ. (_Looking at his hand._) My hand?

MANSUR. (_To the shopkeepers, smilingly._) Two fingers to each. I pray you quarrel not over the thumb. (_AMRU and ZAYD smile politely in response._)

HAJJ. My hand! My hand! Thou’lt cut off my hand?

MANSUR. Says not Allah in His Holy Koran: “If a man steal, cut off his hand”?

HAJJ. Alas, O poor hand! Thou couldst have served the Wazir of Wazirs, a courtier to his whims, a slave to his desires. (_The TWO EUNUCHS re-enter from the courtyard bearing a boiling cauldron._)

MANSUR. Now by the dog, thy father, of what service to me were a rogue’s hand like thine?

(_THE EUNUCHS place the boiling cauldron under HAJJ’S wrist._)

HAJJ. What service? There’s not a stronger—a prompter—a bolder in Baghdad! Ready to plunder and pillage, to slash and stab, at thy least command.

MANSUR. (_Starting at the word “stab”._) Stab?

KAFUR. (_To HAJJ._) Cease thy talk, bare thy wrist. (_He unsheathes the sword._)

HAJJ. (_Turns and sees the sword, then says in a resigned voice._) There is no majesty nor might save in Allah! The Causer of Causes! The Ordainer of Fate and Fortune!

KAFUR. (_About to raise the sword._) Art thou prepared?

HAJJ. Even as the Fox for the Wolf. Strike!

(_KAFUR raises the sword._)

MANSUR. Hold!—The Fox and the Wolf?—What story is that?

HAJJ. O Wazir of the Age, ’twere too long to recount— (_looking round slyly_) with yon sword in the air.

MANSUR. Then shall it first sever thy wrist.

HAJJ. (_With an eloquent gesture._) Who can tell a tale without his two hands?

MANSUR. Knowest thou many histories?

HAJJ. Ask the beggars of my quarter. The teller of night-tales they call me—one and all.

MANSUR. Away with the cauldron! (_To KAFUR._) Hither with the sword.

(_KAFUR hands MANSUR the sword; the EUNUCHS take the cauldron into the courtyard._)

MANSUR. What is thy name?

HAJJ. (_Creeps nearer, on his knees._) Hajj, O my lord.

MANSUR. Thou shalt serve me, O Hajj. Thy wit shall shorten the weary watches of my sleeplessness. Take this sword, the badge of thy new dignity. (_He offers him the sword._)

HAJJ. O fountain of grace! My hand blesses thee for its salvation, my lowly self for its elevation. (_He takes the sword and raises it to his forehead._) I am thy mameluke, thy chattel. (_He touches the ground with his head._)

MANSUR. Rise! Mansur’s servants do not kneel.

HAJJ. (_Rising proudly._) Is it thy pleasure that my first act should be an act of clemency?

MANSUR. Do as thou wilt.

HAJJ. (_Turning ferociously on the shopkeepers._) Then down, O ye calamities! Down, I say, and cry my mercy for lying as ye did, ye false-of-faces!

(_The SHOPKEEPERS sink down in terror. HAJJ approaches them flourishing his sword before them._)

HAJJ. Confess ye lied! Confess ye lied!

AMRU and ZAYD. (_Scarcely audible._) We lied! We lied!

HAJJ. Louder, by your garlic breaths, louder!

AMRU and ZAYD. We lied! Pardon! Pardon!

HAJJ. Pardon?—So ye send not my lord rich gifts of atonement none shall answer for your lives. Up! Turn your faces and show the breadth of your shoulder.

(_The SHOPKEEPERS rise and hurry out by the door, more dead than alive. HAJJ prods their backs with his sword as they vanish._)

HAJJ. (_Turning to MANSUR with a flourish._) Is it well, O my master?

MANSUR. ’Tis a beginning. Go now! Get thee to thy new quarters. (_To the ATTENDANT._) Ho, Fazil! See Hajj be lodged and robed fittingly. Garb him in the Persian garments of our jester deceased. Alas, poor fellow! He died most sudden of a summer evening. (_With a reassuring smile._) Thou shalt be his successor.

HAJJ. I am a tree thy bounty hath planted. May the fruit of my endeavour be to thy taste ever. (_He bows._)

MANSUR. Thou shalt give us a smack of thy quality after the mid-day meal. Go! Whoso loveth me let him show honour to Hajj! (_He waves his handkerchief in sign of dismissal._)

HAJJ. (_Turns and with a heroic gesture motions the curious aside._) Room for the Wazir’s Jester, O ye dogs!

(_The CROWD falls back before him._)

(_The ATTENDANT leads the way to the left._)

(_HAJJ struts out conducted by the ATTENDANT._)

MANSUR. (_To KAFUR and AFIFE._) Think ye I’ve pardoned this mountebank to listen to foolish fables? (_With great emphasis._) He is the man.

KAFUR. What man?

MANSUR. The man to kill the Caliph.

(_Through the colonnade at the back HAJJ is seen to enter the courtyard from the left and cross over to the right, preceded by the ATTENDANT, MANSUR’S SERVANTS and TWO EUNUCHS, bending low, the crowd following. HAJJ turns to the hall and seeing MANSUR, bows again to him. MANSUR acknowledges his bow with a grim smile. HAJJ, delighted, turns, twirling his moustachios and with enormous swagger moves to the colonnade, right, the ATTENDANT cringing to the new favourite._)

[CURTAIN]

_End of Act I_