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Updated: June 4, 2025
Shall I punish them and allow thee to go unhurt? No. I must punish thee also," and he raised his sword to strike. As the sword circled in the air the Hodja, secreted in the tree, forgot the fear in which he stood of the Dervish. In the excitement of the moment he cried out in a loud tone of voice: "Stop! Stop! He owes me one thousand piasters." The Dervish reeled and fell senseless to the ground.
On returning from the woods, he immediately sold his horse and went and told the Hodja. "Oh Hodja, why will you not teach me the language of birds? Yesterday I went to the woods and they warned me that my horse would die, thus affording me an opportunity of selling it and avoiding the loss." The Hodja was silent, but would not give way.
All at once came your knock at the gate, and I said to the Hodja, 'That is the Pasha; and if he finds you here, he will kill you." "And I will kill him," screamed the Pasha, "where is he?" "Be patient, Pasha Effendi," said the lady, "and I will tell you. When you knocked a second time, I suddenly thought of the chest, and I put the Hodja in." "Let me at him!" screamed the Pasha.
One young man was very persistent in his desire to know the language of these sweet creatures, but the Hodja was inflexible. In despair, the young man went to the woods at least to listen to the pleasant chirping of the birds. By degrees it conveyed to him a meaning, till, finally, he understood them to tell him that his horse would die.
"My son," answered the Hodja, "I knew this would come, and that is why I refused to teach you the language of birds. Had you borne the loss of your horse, your house would have been saved, and had your house been burned, your life would have been saved." A man one day saw a swallow and caught it.
Carefully and attentively he counted and then recounted his money, and found that if invested in the ways of Allah it would bring a return of no less than one thousand piasters. "Think of it," said the Hodja to himself, "one thousand piasters! One thousand piasters! Mashallah! a fortune."
I told the young man that the letter was long, and I could not stand in the street to write it. So I asked him to come and see me this afternoon." "Here? to this house?" thundered the Pasha. "Yes, Pasha Effendi," said the lady. "So the Hodja came here, and I gave him coffee and a cigarette, and we talked, and the minutes seemed like seconds, and the hours were as minutes.
He asked, and received food. If refused, life often paid the penalty. The Hodja's lamentations were now greater than ever; for should the Dervish ask him for food and the Hodja have nothing to give, he would certainly be killed. "Allah! Allah! Allah! Guide me now.
The Hodja nervously pulled out his writing-implements. "Do not be in such a hurry," said the lady. "Refresh yourself; take a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette, and we will write the letter afterwards." So he lit a cigarette, drank a cup of coffee, and they fell to talking. Time flew; the minutes seemed like seconds, and the hours were as minutes.
The Hanoum inquired if the answer would come before the twenty-four hours were up. Ahmet's reply to this was a long and concentrated gaze at the heavens. "Oh Hodja Effendi, I must go now, or the Pasha will miss me. Shall I give you the necklace to restore to the Pasha without explanation, when he comes to-morrow for the answer?"
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