"Listen to him," said my father; "he raves. Now, Meer Sahib, did not this bhurwa come begging and beseeching for employment, and when I said I would try him, and asked his terms, he said he was miserably poor, and would take whatever was given him; was it not so? And now, Punah-i-Khoda, we are to be bearded in this manner, defrauded of fifteen hundred rupees, where we have not as many cowrees to give, and made to eat dirt into the bargain. Beat him on the mouth with a shoe! spit on him! may he be defiled so that Ganges water would not purify him! may his mother, sisters, and all his female relatives be——"
"Nay, my good friend," said the sahoukar's clerk, "be not thus rash and hot-headed, nor waste your breath upon so mean a wretch; since you have employed him, something must be given, it is the custom, and next time you will know better; say, may I pay him the one per cent., which will be three hundred and six rupees?"
"Three hundred and six rupees! Alla, Alla! where am I to get the half?" cried my father: "for the love of the Prophet, get me off what you can; I swear by your head and eyes that I am a poor man, and only an agent; is it not so, Meer Sahib? am I not miserably poor?"
"You certainly cannot afford to pay so much money as one per cent. on this large sum," I replied; "nevertheless, as such appears to be the custom, you had better give something, say one hundred and fifty rupees."
"Certainly," said my father; "I am ready; I will not refuse anything in reason; but so large a sum—I was quite astounded at the impertinence of the demand, and lost my temper, like a fool."
Mohun Das stood all this time with his eyes and mouth wide open, looking from one to the other, every word that was uttered increasing his astonishment and disappointment. "Do you pretend to say," screamed he at last, "do you pretend to say that I am not to get my money, my fifteen hundred rupees, for which I have toiled night and day? And do you pretend to say I came to you first? did you not take me with you from the Char-Minar?"
"Nay, here is the Char-Minar again; for the sake of Alla," said I to the clerk, "if you really know this fellow, advise him to be quiet; what have I, who am a soldier, to do with his filthy traffic; he may provoke a patient man once too often, and people with weapons in their hands are not safe persons to play jokes with;" and I twisted up my mustachios.
I have told you, Sahib, what a coward the fellow was: he fell instantly on the ground and rubbed his forehead against the floor. "Pardon! pardon!" he cried, "most brave sirs! anything, whatever you choose to give me, even ten rupees, will be thankfully received, but do not kill me, do not put me to death;—see, I fall at your feet, I rub my nose in the dust."
"You fool," cried the clerk, holding his sides with laughter, for he was a fat man; "you fool; ah, Mohun Das, that I should have seen this! In the name of Narayun, who will do you any harm? Are you a child—you, with those mustachios? Shame on you, man; dullal as you are, be something less of a coward; get up, ask for your money boldly, ask for whatever these gentlemen please to give you, though indeed you deserve nothing for your impertinent attempt at deception."
He got up and stood on his left leg, with the sole of the right foot against the calf, his hands joined, his turban all awry, and the expression of his face most ludicrously miserable.