The renegade was a little at a nonplus, as he never had undergone the operation which he had described. Fortunately for the support of his veracity, it happened that during one of his piratical excursions, in an idle fit, he had permitted one of his companions to tattoo a small mermaid on his arm.
“Min Allah! God forbid,” rejoined the renegade; “my life is at the disposal of your highness, and I had sooner that you should take it, than I would affront your august eyes with the exposure in question; fortunately I can gratify your highness’s curiosity without offending decency—as, after they had finished the operation I was describing, they made the figure of their most respected deity upon my arm.” The renegade then pulled up his sleeve, and showed the figure of a mermaid, with a curling tail, a looking-glass in one hand and a comb in the other. “Here your highness will perceive a specimen of their art. This is a representation of their goddess, Bo-gee. In one hand she holds an iron rake, with which she tattoos those who are good, and the mark serves as a passport when they apply for admittance into the regions of bliss. In the other, she brandishes a hot iron plate, with which she brands those who are sentenced to be punished for their sins.”
“Allah karim—God is merciful! And why has she a fish’s tail?” inquired the pacha.
“The people I am describing, inhabit a cluster of islands, and it is to enable her to swim from one to the other, as her presence may be required.”
“Very true,” observed the pacha—“now you may go on with your story.”
As I mentioned to your highness, they tattooed me without mercy; the operation lasted an hour, when they put me on my feet again. Another speech was made, which I understood as little of as the former; they left me with my wife, and the ceremony was at an end.
I must say I wished that I had not been naturalised and married both on the same day. I was so swelled and so stiff with the tattooing, that it was with difficulty I could, with the assistance of my wife, walk back to my hut. However, by the remedies which she constantly applied, in the course of three days I felt no further inconvenience.
I now considered myself settled for the remainder of my life. I was passionately attached to Naka-poop, for such was the name of my young wife, and notwithstanding my French education, could not but acknowledge that her natural and unsophisticated manners were more graceful and more fascinating, than is all the studied address of my own countrywomen. She was of high rank in her own country, being nearly allied to the king; and for two years my life slipped away, in uninterrupted happiness and peace. But, alas!—and the renegade covered up his face.