224 THE XXth ENTUH.Y

The Master Thief

M ANY hundreds of y ar. ago thereli,- d in th small village of'Ullin on Rhode:, opp ite the

AlIu.tolian 'oast, a widow with ber sonJani and h r dau htcr Krisanti. ThhllHbaml <1 poor, ponge lli"er, had b enkill'd by a shu.rk and hall left his familyill abjcct poverty. ince tho widowreally no long r knew how h' was tomunu.ge, he 'ent h r buy Jani to t,heil--Iand uf 'imi to b come lL spong divert o. Jani Wl1ti hired La work Oil u. largeIi ~d, ami giv n his alary, 20 M dyidyc.fur I:lix mouths in advance. ThiI:l he gu.veto his mother. For many long monthstit ul1l'k w rk d up and du\\ n t.ho African'(milt L tween Bengasi and Tripuli. Since

Ja.ni ,y' t,he young bt on Lard, he wa~

gi n th' hardm;t work aud was oft n1ll';~L '0. L pon retumulg \\ ith a. richea.rgo Jalli was gin·n nuthing from titboot,y. Full of wrll,th he return d t,o Itismoth r. 'h pre"s d him t gu back totit bark, f r th 20 ledyidye w re longf'inc'e spent, but h felt nut th lea tillclinatiun. "T 0 many kn ekg und tooIi Ltl ' br ad ., \\'0. his opiniun. ,. Bring mem father's sw rd I 8haU '0 tu thoAnu. lian .For s to try my luck." J-I ism ther ('['ied bitterly becau'e this meantthat h waul I be l~ robuer. Finally,hm\' ver, he let him go, and gave himhis fath r'g old word.

For ten days Jani waud red throughthe forctiL, until ho r ached the town ofCutt~ja. Here liv d a. famou robLerul1Ulcd Trela!!, but no man knew whl1t ho10 k d like, and tho Pl1tiha's . rvanl.ssuu 'ht him in a.in. In order to find him,Jani went through Lbe town and soonaw in a ofT shop at the bazaar a

pourly ilic cd fcllow who was, howevor,w>aring unusuaUy fine sho f pig kin.Tit· secmed t him rn.th r strange andboldly 11 said to tho man: "Well, howg it, nele Trel '?' The oth r wasv ry startled a.nd gave him l~ sign not toapeak a loucUy. Then he a.id: "incey u are my n01 hew, come with me tomy hou '0. You should meet your cous­ins." They reached his house, and Jani

saw there th two daughters of the rub­ber and many co tly things.

Soon l'relos prop sed that Jani h uldbecome his assistant, but first he was togive proof of his tikiU. In th courLya.rdthere was a wa.Uow's nest with six gg'.

ecretly, and 0 that the bird di notnotice it, Trolos took out th eggt> 011'

after another and hand'd them to Jani.Jani m anwhile ju t as cretly pi k d upHix round pebble:; and, when Trelof; ltsk dfur tho egg in order to plae them bt~k

in tho ne ·t, h' found in ·tead Rix p ublc.qin his ham.L TrcloB had to laugh aL thetrick pla.y tl on himself and promptlyengaged Jani ll.-i hL" assistanL.

That "-eni.n u the Lwo lipp d out \\ itha. ilk ladder ami all t> rt.s of hook!> ; mll~jJprouched Lhe huu e uf th Paslta. ofGutaja., whcr Uw}" ullend d to rob alarge Lox full of guld. •'uftly 1I1l'Yclimb d n to th roof. Trel explt inedto Jani just wher the box Wt~, wh lhell'limb d down Lh chimlll"y b the la,dc er

and 'oon r turn d \\ itit a I)l~' If 'olllpiece'. \\'h 'II tho l'<tJ:;lm di"ctlveJ'.d I,h'Lheft be 11 'xt morniJlg, he \\ Il;; Lc~ide

him I \\ itb ang r. Ii de rmulC'd tocat.ch t.ho thief a.f ... his uwn 111 Lh d andI t a. cauld.r n fuU of s thing pitch bplaced und r the 'himney whidl was to b'kept h,'ated day and night. H' intendedto give the rubb r a warm r C pLion incase tbo felluw should ever return.

Meanwhile, 'frel and Jani wer nutidle: thoy plunder d the ontire Lawn. Byday they were tu b !iCcn wanderingaround in ra.gged cluthl':'; uut by nightthey stule tbe Lrl'<l.sure of tbe rit·h.After a y ar had Jl "cd ill Y tI eid:d tohunor t,he P 'ha with allother vi ·it. Butwhen they had r 'hed t.he roof, Ju.nimell d the pitch and \\,u.s reluctant. to

go further. Trclos l:lHecl'cd at his faint­heartcdn ss und d c nd d tb Bilk ladderhimself. Down blow, howev r, h feUinto the s thing auldron aud di'd amiserable death. Alter Jani had waitedBorne little time, he puUed up the la.dderand discovered the tip turnoo to ash .

'fIfE ISLE OF THE OOLO SUR 225

Th n he knew what mu~t haye happenedand tied ill all huste.

Th Pili ha meanwhile had found thecorp.'c in his ye 'cI, bu t no olle couldrecogniz it as its whole face wru; coveredwith pitch. H therefore placed it, 011

th tltr t in front of hi;; hou and prom­ised IJ. bi' reward to anyone who couldidentify it. ~lany people pass d by a.ndcursed the eorp·c. bu t no one know whu

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it wu.... Th J'll:<ha ~ lit spie~ to mix withthe crowos to Hce if pcrhapH Rom (Incupon sc(,ing the corpse, might br al- intoIn.nH'nl ILl iflnR. for he also wanted to c,Ltththe r('latin'.' of tho robber.

Juni realized that ho could no longerCOlWl'lI.! their fathor' d "lth frum the l \\'0

girls. They buth burst into OUH upunh 'aring th tory and wauteo to hru;tenirum'diately to tbc hou'c of tho Pasha.But .Jani detained thClllllnd "aid: "Von'tgo; for as soon as v u see yow' father seorp;:(' you will weep and cry, ami theguardA will arrest y u. But if you in_u:tupon goin 7, then IRk two earthen jnrsantl hreak them whcn you feel y( \I[' tearscoming. Then you can wail as much asyuu pll'n e and v ry n \"ill under ·tandyour gri f when they ee the fragm nt ."Thifl the daughters did and, as Jani hadpredi ted, people only laughed at them.

ow the PUi<hll. tri d a new m th d Lo

catch the robber' lUl.'iOciat,e;;. Hehadgoldpic e" ('atterM in front of his hOUfl a.ndplu,ceu guard in t h lanes to ill'!' t allthose who bent uown to piek up themOlley. Whell Jll.lli noticeu this hedecided to play II joke all t,he Pasha.He dr cd up t~'1 1I. milk seller. pulled onheavy ooot and CO\'er d th 01 withpitch. Then h to k A. larg 'an andwalked 118 often as he could LLCr . the,quare. At evcry cros ing a goodly nUDl­ber of gold pieces stuck to his shoo soles.Wben vening came the guard::; gu.t.hercdup th· gold and discovered that quite aportion was missing, Yet they hlld::; nnu one benuing duwn, and they werevery ru;tonished.

AftN a few days had pass d, thel'll,slw. received a letter from his en myBarat, who WI18 th PlUih:L of 'in , andwho sneeringly wrote: .. You ha l:!0

many grent warriors, yet you CIUlnot e encatch one man.' ThUlllJl1lOyed th lll.-;haof Gutaja. intens Iy. ince h did notkn w how he 'ould catch the t1i f hedecidcd to make pen. e with him. E cry­wher' h let it b known that h wouldreel·i\, ~ the c\,ildo('r, who .'hould han:nuthing Lo fear. '0 the next day JlI.niwent Lt. the l'a"ha' house, !.Jut hc didnut III11k , himself known imm diu.tdy.\\'hen the Pa.~lm l'la~ped lllil halld, Jtwjgently slipped otT (he rinus frum histinger". Then he said: "1 urn he whumyou seck, Pasha of (;utaja, a.nd h l' 1bring you back your rings." This as­toni...dleu the Pasha, out he talked in a.\'ery kindly fashion with Jani and 'aid:"Listell, 1 shall gi\' you my daughterto be your wifo if you can pLay a goodtri 'k on my enemy Harat the Pasha ofI::;ivus." "Fine," saill Jani. "what doyou want me to do?"

"13aru.t owns a hal' e,' answered thePa.."ha., "which is dear r to him than h'pntiro kingdom. <:0 and steal it!' ··Jt·sall right with mc " 8l\.id Jani, "but let'swrite him that in ten da.ys 1 shall comeat midnight to g t the horse,"

JA.lIi dre ed up as a Tnrkish priestand journeyed to in\.s. On the tenthday, as midnight drew near, he went to

2%6 THE XXth OENTURY

the stable in which the precious horsestood. Twenty servants were guarding it."You there, where are you goingf" criedone of them. "To the mosque!" answeredJani in tantly. "What do you wa.nt todo there at midni ht?" questioned thesurprised guard. Jani began to curseand said: "That wile of mine woke meup and said it was morning and time togo to prayers! But don't make me waithere in the cold, let me come into yourstable." "It's lucky for you," observedthe guard, "that we didn't catch you inthe dark and kill you, for we are ex­pecting a thief who is to come at mid-

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night and steal the Pasha's horse." Janiacted as though very surprised and said:"As a Turkish pri06t I will curse thethief. Ma.y he break his leg wherever henow hl~ppen.s to be! To you, however, Ishall give bread, that you may guard thebetter." And he gave each a. portion ofbroad, and the head guard two portions.In the bread was a powder which put allinto a deep sleep. Then Jani took thehorse, cried sneeringly: "You are twenty,but one has stolen it!" and rode swiftlyaway toward Gutaja.

Barat, the Pasha of Sivas, wrote Aziz,the Pasha of Gutaja: "You fooled meonce, but you shall not 8UCCeed a secondtimel" Thereupon Jani let it be writtento the Pasha of Sivas that he would come

in ten days at midnight and steal his bedcover. He rodo toward Sivas, and on thenight of the tenth day he went to thePasha's house and took with him a largedoll. When it was midnight, he pulledtho doll up with a rope until it hung infront of the Pasha's ba.lcony. Then hecried in a loud voice: "Here I am, PashaBarat, come to fetch your bed cover!"The Pa ha awakened, reached for hiapistol a.nd shot at the figure. Jani lot goof the rope, and the doll fell to the ground.The Pasha hurried out on to the balconyin order to l:Iee whom he had shot, andJani nimbly climbed in by a.nother win­dow and stole the bed cover.

When Barat discovered that he had boonoutwitted again, he wrote angrily to Aziz:"Twice you ma.naged it, but, verily, thethird time you will not succeed!" ThenJani let it be announced that he wouldcome on the tenth night and steal Barathimself. And he returned to Sivas.When the time had come, he covered hisbody with honey and sprinkled feathorson top, took a silver sword in the handand a large box. Then he entered thePasha's room and poked him and said:"[ am the angel of Deathl God has sentme to announce to you your end." ThePasha wa.iled: "I am still young, don'tlet me die yetI" "Good, I'll be mercifuland not cut off your head. But you mustcome with me to God to soo what Hesays about it. Here, crawl into this box,and il you hear any noise don't be alarmed:that will be the angels and the devilafighting over your soul. But when inParadise I let you out of the box, thendo not dare to look up; instead throwyourself down in awe, for you may notlook upon God's face." And the Pashaobeyed and climbed into the box.

Jani took the box and tossed it intothe courtyard. Then he mounted hishorse and galloped with box and Pashabaok to Gutaja.. There he entered thehouse of Aziz and opened the box andBarat crawled out and threw himselfdown in awe. Then Aziz laughed hearti­ly, gave him a kick and mocked him.To Jani he gave his daughter to be hiswife and showered him with gift8.

Two Woodcutters

A Whopper

THE ISLE Q}!~ THE COl.OSSUS 227

man. ;'1 mu t go there myself," Andhe to k u large earthen jar, half as highagain as a mun, lifted it onto his shoulder,and went with it to the Sultan. "Whatdo you wnnt?" question d the Sultan,

"It's a matter f ettting an old debt,Sultan! :F I' kn w that your gral1llIather,when he was at war and hard pre88ed,once borrow d frem my grancl.father thisjar fill d with gold, NlJW the time hw;ceme to repay me the monry.'

"That'!:! au impudent lie!" cried til·Sultan indignantly.

"Is it a lie? Very well, tl::ell at le<~t

give me the golden ball!"

ONCE upon a time a • ultan to amu 'ehimself had all thc liars of the citysummoned and prt-mi"cd them that

he who wa.., able to tell t,he bigge8t lietlhould receive a goluen ball. Many camebut, no matter what they said, the Sultanwould aI1SW 1': "But that i' not u. lie,"If one wore that a man ha.d fallen frunheaven, the tiultan would reply: ;''fhat'!:!quite possible." Another assured himthat the 0 'can hau drieu up; he countered:"Why not?"

At thi time an old mall rc'lul'Dc:d hI mefrom a I ng juumey and a.~kcd after hi:;Hon, "He's gune to the Sultan to tell u.lie," "How can be lie?" !:!aid the old

A FARMER \\ as ell 11 iJJg weed in afor t, and another one 10lked It.

At each blow f the l.irst fa! mer,the other maLic an euc uruging ··Hm."When he had fini hed chop Ulg all thewood, h pack tl it n his dt-nkey, \\lntto the ('ity and old it for twenty pin5t rl!."Well where is my "hare?" askul hilScompanion. "Your FhaI'd" The flUmerwas a toni~hed.

"Certainly we must divide, for I helrJ dyou with the cund of my \" ice."

The t\\(1 \Hllt tu tLl' l"utli and tuldhim the :<t ry. Tbe Cuw answer d:"'lhis il' IL !liffi<-u!t (3Fl'. but 1 "ill judgeit. Givc III II twcllty piu~t rf'." '11enhe tt~"(tl the Iirst pilUotH I1to a sil f'rplatc and kaid to the faJm 1': ··H re,take the iastn," and to the t} 1':"Take 11 e '"<-und!" And thi' he did withull t Wl nt y piuhtus, and the ne \\ hohud bf!jld (hlp wu.d \\ ith the l:iGulld ofhis \- icc \\ lit hlme \\ ilb the seunt! ofthe money.

lManoli

ONeE lIpUIl u. time there lived in Rhotlefla poor co b l.J IeI' by the name (IfManoli, who used to set lip his uellch

in L\ corner of the bazaar. Aftu the day'swork wu.s dune he w lIld u.lwoys buy lL

quart of wine and Rille br ad und liveI"',ThclI he wOlild go h<..lI\e tu his wife nndfive childrCIi.

Now it was the custcm of th Walioften to go him"elf thr u h the str cl illorder to keep an eye on th.iJlgS; and u!<he was alway 8truck by the poor cob­bler's cheerfulness, he wanted very muchto find out. how one could be so happywith the little money wbich the cobblerearned. Tosatifyhi uri ity,hedrest'dup as a farmer and went to Manoli',house. He wa given u. friendly greeting

and a glaf'A of wine. "}Jew much moneylio YGU muke goed friend. that it's pos­sible f r )'1 1I to dl ink \\ ill?" "une­time, t 11, blU ltil11(f' twel\'e piasters, itall dq.cnds. Fer men.t 1 do not earcmuch, tUI' lIla,in thing il' my quart (,f Willl',If I diun't hu\"e lily WUll', 1 wouldn'tknow whnt to do. Rulh('r 110 hrea.d thanno winc!

"If it ~b uld happ n that you could.,,·tfind work, \\ uld you th 11 ha.ve enoughto buy your wine?" "No, dear neighbor.1 haw l:iuvcd nothing but as long as Iget a. siugl ruu' f I'h(,('1; to mend, I Elha))tlrink wine.

"JUl:it yeu wait," th tIght the" ali, andrctUIl1ld to his ralaee and rderc:d that

228 THE x..Xth CENTURY

IlU one ill the city should be allowed tohave his :;hoeH m·clltled. For he wantedto see whC'ther Malloli would drink wine.e n without. work. When ManoH cametho next day to sit at, his cobbler's bench,n. gli~rcl approached alld forbade it.

d rt is the Wali'::; 'omruand tlmt fromtoday on no more ~ho can be repaired."Manoli put hi,' benah a ide and ponderedhow he could come by his wino. Hestrolled down to the harbor to !:lOO if anywork WI1 t be found there. SureIlough, he found a ship just lUlloadillg.

All day long he carried sacks of applesaud in the ovoning recoivod fifteen pias­ten;; and because he Ill"d w rked c 'peciaLlyhard the C1Lptain gave him in atllitiona few quarts of apples-not t mentionthe onef' Ite had secretly put aside.Merrily he bought two quarts of winC'.for he bad'arneeL more than ever before.

"How dirt you manage that?" a.skedhi wife, when she I'!1W the abundance ofwine anti apples. ".Iust wait, tOIll nowwill be even hetter.·' The Wali, dres edup 81 a. farmer. again rLropped in, 'awf od and wine on the tablc and f ked ina. tonishment: "\-Vell, how are things?"

"The 'Vt~li ordered that no marc shoesbC' rep "ired, :;0 I unloaded appl ;', ,meltPlI1orrow .I :-ihall gu thC'1' again."

"Good IlIck." said the Wali and or­dered that no lI1ure t;hip:; be unloaded.When Malloli rea 'hed the hn.rlwr 11 'xlmorning. the stevedore. cun;ed him: .. Youhave brought bad luck. you. No soonerdid yOIl como hero than tho work i:\topped.·'And the Captain compla.ined bitterlyand shoutcd tha.t his whole cargowould go bad. But ince nothing couldbe done about the Wali'~ command. thc~r

all went together, Captain, sailors andstevedores, to ~" coffee shop, and ManoIitoo, a.lthough he had no money.The owner of the coffee shopnow found his handR moretha.n full /Lnd didn't know

where to begin, so MllnoLi helped him,carried water from the well, passedaround the cups, and was ~o llseful tha.tin the e\'ening the innkceper gave flimtwenty piasters and asked him to comeagain the next day. So Manoli againbOllght his wine, and when the Wali camehe saw the richly spread table and ~poke

in wonder: "How did the work gotoday?"

''The WaLi !:leems to want me to gowithout wine for he forbade the shipsto unload. :::)0 1 worked in a coffee shopand earned twenty pia.sters." And theWali retllrned to hi palace and ornered!lll t.he cotIee shops to clo e.

Now ~lanoli "tarted to clean the street,and when the Wali al u forbade this. hecommenced to paint the Rhops andhouse. :::)0 the Wali rCc~Lizcd that hewOltld ha\'e tu get around him in !:lomeother way. alld order d up all the menin .Man li'to: ;'itr 'et for' rnilitary to:orviee.For the fin;t time M.l:tlloli lost hupe andwondered: ., How shall J caUl by mywine t day!" However. us h returnedhome from llrilling in the evening, heJlc~wncd his Hword at i:l hlctcksruith't:i forti,'u piast.cl's. keeping only the sheath,and bought. hi,; winc. When tbe WaLil' me. he was just carving a wooden. WOI' l. "Don't tell an yone ., said Manoli,.. , ha.ve IllLWllcd my :word and am nowIlH~king myl'oU another one." "Now I'vegot you" thouc,ht the \\ ali, and nextmorning called out all the Roldiers. Thenhe command d Manoli and another sol­dier to step forward, and ordered t.he'obbler to cut off the head of his comrade.

MI'l,Jloli quickly raised hi arm to hc,wen/l.nd cried loudly: "0 God, if this manhere is innocent, let my sword turn towooeL in order that I tipill no guiltlesshlood." He spoke and unsheathed

his wooden sword. Then theWaLi had to laugh. He sentthe other soldiers homo andmade Manoli his bodyguard.