第249章

'And now an individual mounted the pulpit,and began to preach in a language which I did not understand,but which I believe to be Latin,addressing himself seemingly to the figure in the stall;and when he had ceased,there was more singing,more organ-playing,and then two men in robes brought forth two things which they held up;and then the people bowed their heads,and our poor governor bowed his head,and the sweet young ladies bowed their heads,and the sharking priests,whilst the idiotical parson Platitude tried to fling himself down;and then there were various evolutions withinside the pale,and the scarlet figures got up and sat down;and this kind of thing continued for some time.At length the figure which I had seen in the principal stall came forth and advanced towards the people;an awful figure he was,a huge old man with a sugar-loaf hat,with a sulphur-coloured dress,and holding a crook in his hand like that of a shepherd;and as he advanced the people fell on their knees,our poor old governor amongst them;the sweet young ladies,the sharking priests,the idiotical parson Platitude,all fell on their knees,and somebody or other tried to pull me on my knees;but by this time I had become outrageous;all that my poor brother used to tell me of the superstitions of the high Barbary shore rushed into my mind,and I thought they were acting them over here;above all,the idea that the sweet young ladies,to say nothing of my poor old governor,were,after the conclusion of all this mummery,going to deliver themselves up body and soul into the power of that horrid-looking old man,maddened me,and,rushing forward into the open space,I confronted the horrible-looking old figure with the sugar-loaf hat,the sulphur-coloured garments,and shepherd's crook,and shaking my fist at his nose,I bellowed out in English-'"I don't care for you,old Mumbo Jumbo,though you have fetish!"'I can scarcely tell you what occurred for some time.I have a dim recollection that hands were laid upon me,and that I struck out violently left and right.On coming to myself,I was seated on a stone bench in a large room,something like a guard-room,in the custody of certain fellows dressed like Merry-andrews;they were bluff,good-looking,wholesome fellows,very different from the sallow Italians:they were looking at me attentively,and occasionally talking to each other in a language which sounded very like the cracking of walnuts in the mouth,very different from cooing Italian.At last one of them asked me in Italian what had ailed me,to which I replied,in an incoherent manner,something about Mumbo Jumbo;whereupon the fellow,one of the bluffest of the lot,a jovial rosy-faced rascal,lifted up his right hand,placing it in such a manner that the lips were between the fore-finger and thumb,then lifting up his right foot and drawing back his head,he sucked in his breath with a hissing sound,as if to imitate one drinking a hearty draught,and then slapped me on the shoulder,saying something which sounded like goot wine,goot companion,whereupon they all laughed,exclaiming,ya,ya,goot companion.

And now hurried into the room our poor old governor,with the red-haired priest.The first asked what could have induced me to behave in such a manner in such a place,to which I replied that Iwas not going to bow down to Mumbo Jumbo,whatever other people might do.Whereupon my master said he believed I was mad,and the priest said he believed I was drunk;to which I answered that I was neither so mad nor drunk but I could distinguish how the wind lay.

Whereupon they left me,and in a little time I was told by the bluff-looking Merry-andrews I was at liberty to depart.I believe the priest,in order to please my governor,interceded for me in high quarters.

'But one good resulted from this affair;there was no presentation of our family to the Holy Father,for old Mumbo was so frightened by my outrageous looks that he was laid up for a week,as I was afterwards informed.