1 a vizier's daughter - Hazara.net
1 a vizier's daughter - Hazara.net 1 a vizier's daughter - Hazara.net
28 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER – A TALE OF THE HAZARA WAR GHULAM HOSSAIN had left home with a light heart, full of ambitious designs, full of hope. He returned dejected, hopeless. Gul Begum saw something of all this in the far distance. She guessed it by the wa y he sat his horse; she knew it when he greeted her two miles from their village, where she had gone to meet him. He seemed pleased to see her, and she knew that her little attention in meeting him had not been thrown awa y upon him, though he said not a word upon the subject, and took not the faintest pains to conceal his low spirits from her. There was, however, no trace of disappointment in his manner when he rode up to The Tower, where he dismounted . On the contrar y, he greeted ever y one with effusion, and was particularly gracious when he unloaded the pack pony. “Here is a Khilat (Coat of honour, official present) for you,” he said to his cousin, unfastening a parcel containing a coat of purple cloth edged with gold braid; “the Ameer gave it to me, but I told him to would hand it on to you as chief of this sub-division of our sultanate; you have a better right to it than I.” “It’s a fine garment,” Wali Mohamed said, grinning. “I wonder how I shall look in it.” “Put it on him, Gul Begum,” his cousin replied, “and let us see.” “Ah, none of your tricks with me,” the little man said, almost blushing at the idea of putting on anything so smart, “such robes are not for me.” But Gul Begum thought it a great jo ke, and insisted, and he, not altogether displeased, allowed himself to be dressed up , though, truth to tell, he looked, when he had got it on, more grotesque than ever, not unlike a monkey on a barrel-organ the most marvellous of human inventions, never even having heard of such a thing, so that simile did not strike her, but something else must have, for she burst into such screams of laughter that Shereen and her mother, and all the rest of the Vizier’s family, came rushing to see what was the cause of such merriment. Now that it was once on, her uncle was in no wise disposed to lay his newly acquired property down, but strutted about in it, to the immense admiration of all but Gul Begum and her father, who had exchanged mischievous glances, and still continued laughing. “You’ve got the credit of being a wise man,” Ghulam Hossain’s wife said, addressing her husband, when they had gone indoors, “but I think you must keep your wisdom for the chiefs councils.” “How so?” he asked good-humouredly. “What advantage do you expect to get from Wali Mohamed by giving him that coat? Many’s the thing I’ve seen go from this house to that,
29 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER – A TALE OF THE HAZARA WAR but there’s never even an old shoe that I’ve seen come from that house to this.” “Oh, that’s it, is it?” he said. “I might have guessed as much. Would you really have liked to see me made a laughing stock of before the who le village?” “Who’s being made a laughing stock of?” his wife went on. “It’s you that have made a laughing stock of yourself, giving your good clothes away and wearing your old ones.” “I only gave away what I would never have dreamt of wearing, myself,” her husband replied quietly. “When would you wish me to appear in such a coat?” “Why, at Durbar of course.” “At Durbar? In a coat given me by the enemy of our country? That would look strange, would it not?” “I don’t see that it would look strange at all; if you could accept it, you could surely wear it.” “To have refused it would have been to insult the giver, and so bring the present unsatisfactory state of affairs to a more speedy head . I could not have done that. But to wear it! That’s another thing; to wear it would imply gratification, pleasure in the gift. No, I could not have worn it, even had it been a suitable thing to wear in our mountain home.” “Then you might have given it to one of your own household , who could have worn it and enjoyed it,” she went on, a little petulantly. “There’s Gul Begum there” (her father turned and looked at the girl half regretfully), “or me” (her husband looked at her and smiled, a little scornfully perhaps); “it would have done well for me in the winter. It is a good thick, warm coat. Did you notice it, Gul Begum? It is lined with Bokhara silk.” “Yes, I noticed,” the girl said, “but it’s not a woman’s coat. It would have looked ridiculous on one of us. Now, if it were not that he looks so foolish in it, it is just the thing for my uncle, the chief.” Ghu lam Hossain had left the room, and now returned with his hands full of parcels. “Leave Wali Mohamed his coat,” he said, “and you can make what you like of these; here is stuff for coats for you all and to spare,” and while the women were gloating o ver their newly acquired treasures, the Vizier went out and joined a group of men who had alread y assembled in the courtyard to hear the result of the mission.
- Page 1 and 2: 1 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE OF
- Page 3 and 4: 3 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE OF
- Page 5 and 6: 5 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE OF
- Page 7 and 8: 7 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE OF
- Page 9 and 10: 9 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE OF
- Page 11 and 12: 11 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 13 and 14: 13 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 15 and 16: 15 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 17 and 18: 17 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 19 and 20: 19 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 21 and 22: 21 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 23 and 24: 23 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 25 and 26: 25 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 27: 27 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 31 and 32: 31 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 33 and 34: 33 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 35 and 36: 35 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 37 and 38: 37 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 39 and 40: 39 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 41 and 42: 41 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 43 and 44: 43 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 45 and 46: 45 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 47 and 48: 47 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 49 and 50: 49 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 51 and 52: 51 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 53 and 54: 53 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 55 and 56: 55 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 57 and 58: 57 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 59 and 60: 59 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 61 and 62: 61 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 63 and 64: 63 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 65 and 66: 65 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 67 and 68: 67 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 69 and 70: 69 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 71 and 72: 71 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 73 and 74: 73 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 75 and 76: 75 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
- Page 77 and 78: 77 A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER - A TALE O
29<br />
A VIZIER’S DAUGHTER – A TALE OF THE HAZARA WAR<br />
but there’s never even an old shoe that I’ve seen come from that house<br />
to this.”<br />
“Oh, that’s it, is it?” he said. “I might have guessed as much. Would<br />
you really have liked to see me made a laughing stock of before the<br />
who le village?”<br />
“Who’s being made a laughing stock of?” his wife went on. “It’s you<br />
that have made a laughing stock of yourself, giving your good clothes<br />
away and wearing your old ones.”<br />
“I only gave away what I would never have dreamt of wearing,<br />
myself,” her husband replied quietly. “When would you wish me to<br />
appear in such a coat?”<br />
“Why, at Durbar of course.”<br />
“At Durbar? In a coat given me by the enemy of our country? That<br />
would look strange, would it not?”<br />
“I don’t see that it would look strange at all; if you could accept it, you<br />
could surely wear it.”<br />
“To have refused it would have been to insult the giver, and so bring<br />
the present unsatisfactory state of affairs to a more speedy head . I<br />
could not have done that. But to wear it! That’s another thing; to wear<br />
it would imply gratification, pleasure in the gift. No, I could not have<br />
worn it, even had it been a suitable thing to wear in our mountain<br />
home.”<br />
“Then you might have given it to one of your own household , who<br />
could have worn it and enjoyed it,” she went on, a little petulantly.<br />
“There’s Gul Begum there” (her father turned and looked at the girl<br />
half regretfully), “or me” (her husband looked at her and smiled, a<br />
little scornfully perhaps); “it would have done well for me in the<br />
winter. It is a good thick, warm coat. Did you notice it, Gul Begum? It<br />
is lined with Bokhara silk.”<br />
“Yes, I noticed,” the girl said, “but it’s not a woman’s coat. It would<br />
have looked ridiculous on one of us. Now, if it were not that he looks<br />
so foolish in it, it is just the thing for my uncle, the chief.”<br />
Ghu lam Hossain had left the room, and now returned with his hands<br />
full of parcels.<br />
“Leave Wali Mohamed his coat,” he said, “and you can make what you<br />
like of these; here is stuff for coats for you all and to spare,” and while<br />
the women were gloating o ver their newly acquired treasures, the<br />
Vizier went out and joined a group of men who had alread y assembled<br />
in the courtyard to hear the result of the mission.
Change language