The Book of Travels. Hannā Diyāb

2.10

      اخيرًا بعد الجهد حتي وصلته بحق الجميع غرس وقلتله ما في زود فاعطاني الفلوس وحجر الخاتم فاعطيته الغرش واخدتهم وسرت وكان الخواجه واقف بيستناني في عوجه فلما وصلت لعنده سالني هل اشتريتهم قلته نعم وما اعطاهم لي الا بغرش قلي عفاك سير بنا الي الدير.

      After a lengthy negotiation, I brought him down to a single piaster for everything, saying I could go no higher. He handed over the coins and the stone, and I gave him the piaster. I gathered everything, left, and found the khawājah waiting for me around the corner.

      “Did you buy it all?”

      “Yes, but he wouldn’t sell for less than a piaster.”

      “Bravo!” he said. “Let’s go back to the monastery.”

      ١١،٢2.11

      وفي وصولنا الي محلنا قلي جيب لي في فراغ شويت خل وحط تلك الفلوس في ذلك الخل وصار يتامل في ذلك الحجر وفي تلك الاحرف المكتوبه وهو فرحان وقلي صدق لو يطلب هل رجل حق هل حجر وحده ماية غرش لعطيته لان هل حجر له خواص عظيم وما راد يقلي عن خواصه بل قلي بان هذا راس ملك من ملوك القدم وسوف بفحص عن اسمه في التواريخ.^١

      ١ الأصل: التوايخ.

      When we arrived, he said, “Bring me a little bit of vinegar in a bowl.” He put the coins in the vinegar, and studied the stone and its engraved letters with great delight.

      “Believe me, if that man had asked for a hundred piasters for the stone alone, I would have given it to him, because this stone has tremendous magical properties,” he said, but he wouldn’t tell me what they were. “This is the head of an ancient king,” he continued. “I’ll look for his name in the chronicles.”

      ١٢،٢2.12

      وثاني يوم باكر دخلت الي عنده فرايته عمال بيمسح الفلوس من الصدا فرايت جميعهم فضه خالصه وبانت كتاباتهم مسرجه بينه فقلي الخواجه بان هذه معاملة هل ملك الذي رايت صورته في حجر الخاتم الذي اشتريناه من ذاك الرجل المعصراني والشاهد بذلك كنا سالنا ذلك الرجل من اين حصل علي هل فلوس والحجر فقلنا بانه را كثير منهم في اساس حيط قديم لما خرب وراد يعمره فراهم مضمورين في الارض.

      The next day when I went in to see him, he was wiping the rust off the coins. I could see that they were all pure silver, and the inscriptions were clearly visible.

      “These coins were struck by the king whose image was on the gemstone we bought from that oil presser,” he said.

      It was evident that they were ancient coins, because when we’d asked the man where he found the coins and the stone, he said he’d discovered many of them at the base of an old crumbled wall. When he set about rebuilding it, he found them buried in the ground.

      ١٣،٢2.13

      وذلك اليوم خرجنا ايضًا ندور في المدينه ونفتش علي فلوس قدم وكان ذلك الوقت شاع خبر الخواجه بانه حكيم فصاروا يتهادونا من مكان الي مكان وهو يحكم البعض منهم والبعض يوصف لهم وصفات ويطلب حق حكمته لهم فلوس قدم فلمينا مشوار من تلك الفلوس وراينا بعضهم فضه ونحاس وكام واحد دهب نشتريهم بثمنهم.

      That same day, we went again to tour the city in search of old coins. Meanwhile, news had spread that the khawājah was a doctor, and people sent us from one place to another. He would treat some people and prescribe medicines to others, asking everyone for his fee in the form of old coins. We amassed an assortment of coins, some of silver, some of brass. A few were made of gold, which we bought, paying what they were worth.

      ١٤،٢2.14

      وبعد كام يوم خرجنا من بيروت وطلعنا الي جبل الدروز ودرنا في تلك الاماكن نفتش ايضًا علي فلوس والخواجه يحكم وبواسطة الحكمه كانوا يفتشوله علي فلوس فحصلنا علي كام واحد منهم وايضًا علي بعض حشايش التي وجدناها في تلك الجبال ومن هناك توجهنا الي مدينة صيدا ونزلنا في بيت القنصر الذي هو داخل خان واوض البازركانة ايضًا داخل ذلك الخان وصار للخواجه من القنصر والبازركان اكرام جزيل.

      After a few days, we left Beirut and went up to the Mountain of the Druze and roamed about looking for coins.³⁵ The khawājah would dispense medical treatment, using it as a means to have people hunt for coins on his behalf. We turned up a few, along with some mountain plants. From there, we headed to Sidon and lodged at the home of the consul, which was in a caravansary where all the foreign merchants had their quarters. The khawājah was treated very honorably by the consul and the merchants.

      ١٥،٢2.15

      وفي ذلك الوقت انوجد كام راهب من رهبان السكلنت ماضيين الي القدس فهم الخواجه في السفر معهم وبما انه كان اوعد خزمتكاره الذي كان معه يخدمه بانه يرسله الي القدس فالتزم بان ياخده معه وابقاني انا في بيت القنصر وسافر مع الرهبان وما صار لي نصيب اروح معه من قلت بختي.

      At that same time, some Franciscan friars happened to be traveling to Jerusalem.³⁶ The khawājah decided to travel with them, as he’d promised the servant who attended him during his travels that he would take him to Jerusalem. So he was obliged to accompany him, and to leave me at the consul’s home while he traveled with the friars. Unluckily for me, I didn’t get to go along.³⁷

      ١٦،٢2.16

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