SECTION VI.
On the wonderful Talismans within and without Kostantíneh.
First talisman. In the ‘Avret-Bázárí (female-slave-market), there is a lofty column (the pillar of Arcadius) of white marble, inside of which there is a winding staircase. On the outside of it, figures of the soldiers of various nations, Hindustánies, Kurdistánies, and Múltánies, whom Yánkó ibn Mádiyán vanquished, were sculptured by his command; and on the summit of it there was anciently a fairy-cheeked female figure of one of the beauties of the age, which once a year gave a sound, on which many hundred thousand kinds of birds, after flying round and round the image, fell down to the earth, and being caught by the people of Rúm (Romelia), provided them with an abundant meal. Afterwards, in the age of Kostantín, the monks placed bells on the top of it, in order to give an alarm on the approach of an enemy; and subsequently, at the birth of the Prophet, there was a great earthquake, by which the statue and all the bells on the top of the pillar were thrown down topsy-turvy, and the column itself broken in pieces: but, having been formed by talismanic art, it could not be entirely destroyed, and part of it remains an extraordinary spectacle to the present day.
Second talisman. In the Táúk-Bázár (poultry-market) there is another needle-like column (the pillar of Theodosius), formed of many pieces of red emery (súmpáreh) stone, and a hundred royal cubits (zirá’ melikí) high. This was also damaged by the earthquake which occurred in the two nights during which the Pride of the World was called into existence; but the builders girt it round with iron hoops, as thick as a man’s thigh, in forty places, so that it is still firm and standing. It was erected a hundred and forty years before the era of Iskender; and Kostantín placed a talisman on the top of it in the form of a starling, which once a year clapped his wings, and brought all the birds in the air to the place, each with three olives in his beak and talons, for the same purpose as was related above.
Third talisman. At the head of the Serráj-kháneh (saddlers’ bazar), on the summit of a column stretching to the skies (the pillar of Marcian), there is a chest of white marble, in which the unlucky-starred daughter of king Puzentín (Byzantius) lies buried; and to preserve her remains from ants and serpents was this column made a talisman.
Fourth talisman. At the place called Altí Mermer (the six marbles), there are six columns, every one of which was an observatory, made by some of the ancient sages. On one of them, erected by the Hakím Fílikús (Philip), lord of the castle of Kaválah, was the figure of a black fly, made of brass, which, by its incessant humming, drove all flies away from Islámból.
Fifth talisman. On another of the six marble columns, Iflátún (Plato) the divine made the figure of a gnat, and from that time there is no fear of a single gnat‘s coming into Islámbúl.
Sixth talisman. On another of these columns, the Hakím Bokrát (Hippocrates) placed the figure of a stork, and once a year, when it uttered a cry, all the storks which had built their nests in the city died instantly. To this time, not a stork can come and build its nest within the walls of Islámból, though there are plenty of them in the suburbs of Abú Iyyúb Ensárí.
Seventh talisman. On the top of another of the six marble columns, Sokrát the Hakím (i.e. Socrates the sage) placed a brazen cock, which clapped its wings and crowed once in every twenty-four hours, and on hearing it all the cocks of Islámbúl began to crow. And it is a fact, that to this day the cocks there crow earlier than those of other places, setting up their kú-kirí-kúd (i.e. crowing) at midnight, and thus warning the sleepy and forgetful of the approach of dawn and the hour of prayer.
Eighth talisman. On another of the six columns, Físághórát (Pythagoras the Unitarian), in the days of the prophet Suleïmán (Solomon), placed the figure of a wolf, made of bronze (túj), the terror of all other wolves; so that the flocks of the people of Islámból pastured very safely without a shepherd, and walked side by side with untamed wolves very comfortably.
Ninth talisman. On another of these columns were the figures in brass of a youth and his mistress in close embrace; and whenever there was any coolness or quarrelling between man and wife, if either of them went and embraced this column, they were sure that very night to have their afflicted hearts restored by the joys of love, through the power of this talisman, which was moved by the spirit of the sage Aristatálís (Aristotle).
Tenth talisman. Two figures of tin had been placed on another of the six columns by the physician Jálínús (Galen). One was a decrepit old man, bent double; and opposite to it was a camel-lip sour-faced hag, not straighter than her companion: and when man and wife led no happy life together, if either of them embraced this column, a separation was sure to take place. Wonderful talismans were destroyed, they say, in the time of that asylum of apostleship (Mohammed), and are now buried in the earth.
Eleventh talisman. On the site of the baths of Sultán Báyazíd Velí there was a quadrangular column, eighty cubits high, erected by an ancient sage named Kirbáriyá, as a talisman against the plague, which could never prevail in Islámból as long as this column was standing. It was afterwards demolished by that sultán, who erected a heart-rejoicing hammám in its place; and on that very day one of his sons died of the plague, in the garden of Dáúd Páshá outside of the Adrianople-gate, and was buried on an elevated platform (soffah) without: since which time the plague has prevailed in the city.
Twelfth talisman. In the Tekfúr Seráï, near the Egrí kapú, there was a large solid bust of black stone, on which a man named Muhaydák placed a brazen figure of a demon (’afrít), which once a year spit out fire and flames; and whoever caught a spark kept it in his kitchen; and, as long as his health was good, that fire was never extinguished.
Thirteenth talisman. On the skirt of the place called Zírek-báshí there is a cavern dedicated to St. John, and every month, when the piercing cold of winter has set in, several black demons (kónjólóz) hide themselves there.
Fourteenth talisman. To the south of Ayá Sófiyah there were four lofty columns of white marble, bearing the statues of the four cherubs (kerrúblir), Gabriel (Jebráyíl), Michael (Míkáyíl), Rafael (Isráfíl), and Azrael (Azráyíl), turned towards the north, south, east, and west. Each of them clapped his wings once a year, and foreboded desolation, war, famine, or pestilence. These statues were upset when the Prophet came into existence, but the four columns still remain a public spectacle, near the subterraneous springs (chukúr cheshmeh) of Ayá Sófiyah.
Fifteenth talisman. The great work in the Atmeïdán (Hippodrome), called Milyón-pár (Millium?), is a lofty column, measuring a hundred and fifty cubits (arshún) of builders measure. It was constructed by order of Kostantín, of various coloured stones, collected from the 300,000 cities of which he was king, and designed to be an eternal monument of his power, and at the same time a talisman. Through the middle of it there ran a thick iron axis, round which the various coloured stones were placed, and they were all kept together by a magnet, as large as the cupola of a bath (hammám), fixed on its summit. It still remains a lasting monument; and its builder, the head architect, Ghúrbárín by name, lies buried at the foot of it.
Sixteenth talisman. This is also an obelisk of red coloured stone, covered with various sculptures, and situate in the At-meïdán. The figures on its sides foretell the different fortunes of the city. It was erected in the time of Yánkó ibn Mádiyán, who is represented on it sitting on his throne, and holding a ring in his hand, implying symbolically, ‘I have conquered the whole world, and hold it in my hands like this ring.’ His face is turned towards the east, and kings stand before him, holding dishes, in the guise of beggars. On another are the figures of three hundred men engaged in erecting the obelisk, with the various machines used for that purpose. Its circumference is such that ten men cannot span it; and its four angles rest on four brazen seats, such that, when one experienced in the builders art has looked at it, he puts his finger on his mouth.
Seventeenth talisman. A sage named Surendeh, who flourished in the days of error, under king Púzentín, set up a brazen image of a triple-headed dragon (azhderhá) in the Atmeïdán, in order to destroy all serpents, lizards, scorpions, and such like poisonous reptiles: and not a poisonous beast was there in the whole of Mákedóniyyah. It has now the form of a twisted serpent, measuring ten cubits above and as many below the ground. It remained thus buried in mud and earth from the building of Sultán Ahmed’s mosque, but uninjured, till Selím II., surnamed the drunken, passing by on horseback, knocked off with his mace the lower jaw of that head of the dragon which looks to the west. Serpents then made their appearance on the western side of the city, and since that time have become common in every part of it. If, moreover, the remaining heads should be destroyed, Islámból will be completely eaten up with vermin. In short, there were anciently, relating to the land at Islámból, three hundred and sixty-six talismans like those now described, which are all that now remain.
Talismans relating to the Sea.
First talisman. At the Chátládí-kapú, in the side of the palace of an emperor whom the sun never saw, there was the brazen figure of a demon (dív) upon a square column, which spit fire, and burnt the ships of the enemy whenever it was they approached from the White Sea (Archipelago).
Second talisman. In the galley-harbour (kadirghah límání) there was a brazen ship, in which, once a year, when the cold winter-nights had set in, all the Witches of Islámból used to embark and sail about till morning, to guard the White Sea. It was a part of the spoils captured with the city by Mohammed II. the conqueror.
Third talisman. Another brazen ship, the counterpart of this, was constructed at the Tóp-khánah (cannon-foundery), in which all the wizards and conjurors kept guard towards the Black Sea. It was broken in pieces when Yezíd Ibn Mo’áviyyah conquered Ghalatah.
Fourth talisman. At Seraglo-Point there was a triple-headed brazen dragon, spitting fire, and burning all the enemy’s ships and boats whichever way they came.
Fifth talisman. There were also, near the same place, three hundred and sixty-six lofty columns bearing the figures of as many marine creatures; a White sun fish (khamsín bálighí) for example, which, when it uttered a cry, left not a fish of that kind in the Black Sea, but brought them all to Makedún, where all the people got a good bellyful of them.
The sixth talisman was, that, during all the forty days of Lent, all kinds of fish were thrown ashore by the sea, and caught without any trouble by the people of Rúm (Turkey).
All these talismans having been overthrown by the great earthquake on the night of the prophets birth, the columns which bore them still lie strewed like a pavement along the Seraglio-Point, from the Selímiyyeh Kóshk, to the castle of Sinán Páshá, and are manifest to those who pass along in boats. Though upset they still retain their talismanic virtues, and every year bring many thousand fishes to the shore.
There were also twenty-four columns round Islámból, each bearing a talisman. All could be visited by a man in one day, provided it was a day of fifteen hours: now the longest day at Islámból, from sun-rise to sun-set, is fifteen hours and a half. That city is situated in the middle of the fifth climate, and therefore enjoys excellent air and water.