"Who is this person then?" said Hassan; "he must be a very great Pasha."
"We none of us know who he is," I said; "in fact, he is not any one particular person; it is more like a sort of jinn who spreads about an unwritten law."
Hassan looked perplexed.
"And are there no written words," he said, "to tell you the meaning of this law?"
"Yes," I said; "the people in our land who have the most money write out the meaning of the law."
"And if you do not follow the law, what then?"
"Your fellow-creatures are rather afraid of you; they do not ask you to their feasts, neither do they give you places of command, however capable you may be."
"Is it this jinn that makes your men wear the hard black hats and the tight black clothes?"
I nodded assent.
"And it is not only our clothes," I added; "the jinn says we may not think differently from other people, or if we do, we must hide it."