Kaptzin Pasha, Part 1

 

 

Once there was a Jew at the court of the Sultan of Turkey whom the Sultan loved and esteemed more highly than all his ministers of state. Every day he used to call him to his palace to spend time with him alone. The ministers of state were very jealous of the Jew, and tried to think up ways to discredit him in the eyes of the Sultan and ruin him completely.

 

Among the ministers was a certain Pasha known as Kaptzin Pasha. He hated the Jew much more than all the other ministers, but he tried to make him think he really loved him. Every day he tried to devise ways to achieve his true desire – to discredit him in the eyes of the Sultan.

 

One day Kaptzin Pasha approached the Jew and slyly began telling him how he had been with the Sultan…

 

"And I heard him say with his own mouth how much he loves you. But one thing bothers him. When you speak with him, he cannot stand the bad odor wafting out of your mouth. Of course he can’t do without you, so this smell causes him great suffering."

 

Kaptzin Pasha continued: "Therefore my advice is that every time you come before the Sultan, you should hold a scented handkerchief in front of your mouth. This way the Sultan will not smell the bad odor coming from your mouth , and you won’t fall foul of the Sultan."

In his innocence the Jew believed what the Pasha had said and decided to follow his advice.

 

Next the Pasha went to the Sultan and told him that he had heard the Jew talking about his terrible suffering. "…Because every time he speaks with the Sultan, he finds a bad smell emanating from the Sultan’s mouth."

 

"The Jew has therefore decided," continued the Pasha, "that when he comes to speak with you, my lord the Sultan, he will hold a scented handkerchief in front of his mouth so as not to smell the bad odor from the Sultan’s mouth. The sign that what I am saying is true will be that tomorrow, when he comes to speak with you, you will see with your own eyes that he will be holding a handkerchief over his mouth."

 

On hearing this, the Sultan became extremely angry and said to the Pasha, "If I see that you are right, I will utterly destroy him."

 

 

Sure enough, the following day the Jew came to the Sultan holding a handkerchief over his mouth, just as the Pasha had advised him, since he believed what he had been told. Seeing this, the Sultan took it as proof that the Pasha had told him the truth. The Sultan immediately wrote a letter to his Chief Executioner saying: "The person who brings you this letter must be thrown at once into the furnace where they cast those condemned to death by burning."

 

To be continued.