It is said that there
is honour amongst thieves, but this is certainly not the case with
the Jews of Lisbon, for they are so greedy and avaricious, that
they are constantly quarrelling about their ill-gotten gain, the
result being that they frequently ruin each other. Their mutual
jealousy is truly extraordinary. If one, by cheating and roguery,
gains a cruzado in the presence of another, the latter instantly
says I cry halves, and if the first refuse he is instantly
threatened with an information. The manner in which they cheat
each other has, with all its infamy, occasionally something
extremely droll and ludicrous. I was one day in the shop of a
Swiri, or Jew of Mogadore, when a Jew from Gibraltar entered, with
a Portuguese female, who held in her hand a mantle, richly
embroidered with gold.
Gibraltar Jew (speaking in broken Arabic). - Good-day, O Swiri; God
has favoured me this day; here is a bargain by which we shall both
gain. I have bought this mantle of the woman almost for nothing,
for it is stolen; but I am poor, as you know, I have not a cruzado;
pay her therefore the price, that we may then forthwith sell the
mantle and divide the gain.
Swiri. - Willingly, brother of Gibraltar; I will pay the woman for
the mantle; it does not appear a bad one.
Thereupon he flung two cruzados to the woman, who forthwith left
the shop.
Gibraltar Jew. - Thanks, brother Swirl, this is very kind of you;
now let us go and sell the mantle, the gold alone is well worth a
moidore; but I am poor and have nothing to eat, give me, therefore,
the half of that sum and keep the mantle; I shall be content.
Swiri. - May Allah blot out your name, you thief. What mean you by
asking me for money? I bought the mantle of the woman and paid for
it. I know nothing of you. Go out of my doors, dog of a Nazarene,
if not I will pay you with a kick.
The dispute was referred to one of the sabios, or priests; but the
sabio, who was also from Mogadore, at once took the part of the
Swiri, and decided that the other should have nothing. Whereupon
the Gibraltar Jew cursed the sabio, his father, mother, and all his
family. The sabio replied, "I put you in ndui," a kind of
purgatory or hell. "I put you in seven nduis," retorted the
incensed Jew, over whom, however, superstitious fear speedily
prevailed; he faltered, became pale, and dropping his voice,
retreated, trembling in every limb.
The Jews have two synagogues in Lisbon, both are small; one is,
however, tolerably well furnished, it has its reading desk, and in
the middle there is a rather handsome chandelier; the other is
little better than a sty, filthy to a degree, without ornament of
any kind. The congregation of this last are thieves to a man; no
Jew of the slightest respectability ever enters it.
How well do superstition and crime go hand in hand. These wretched
beings break the eternal commandments of their Maker without
scruple; but they will not partake of the beast of the uncloven
foot, and the fish which has no scales. They pay no regard to the
denunciations of holy prophets against the children of sin, but
they quake at the sound of a dark cabalistic word, pronounced by
one perhaps their equal, or superior, in villainy, as if God would
delegate the exercise of his power to the workers of iniquity.
I was one day sauntering on the Caesodre, when a Jew, with whom I
had previously exchanged a word or two, came up and addressed me.
Jew. - The blessing of God upon you, brother; I know you to be a
wise and powerful man, and I have conceived much regard for you; it
is on that account that I wish to put you in the way of gaining
much money. Come with me, and I will conduct you to a place where
there are forty chests of tea. It is a sereka (a robbery), and the
thieves are willing to dispose of it for a trifle, for there is
search being made, and they are in much fear. I can raise one half
of what they demand, do you supply the other, we will then divide
it, each shall go his own way and dispose of his portion.
Myself. - Wherefore, O son of Arbat, do you propose this to me, who
am a stranger? Surely you are mad. Have you not your own people
about you whom you know, and in whom you can confide?
Jew. - It is because I know our people here that I do not confide in
them; we are in the galoot of sin. Were I to confide in my
brethren there would be a dispute, and perhaps they would rob me,
and few of them have any money. Were I to apply to the sabio he
might consent, but when I ask for my portion he would put me in
ndui! You I do not fear; you are good and would do me no harm,
unless I attempted to deceive you, and that I dare not do, for I
know you are powerful. Come with me, master, for I wish to gain
something, that I may return to Arbat, where I have children . . .
Such are Jews in Lisbon.
CHAPTER VI
Cold of Portugal - Extortion prevented - Sensation of Loneliness - The
Dog - The Convent - Enchanting Landscape - Moorish Fortresses - Prayer
for the Sick.
About a fortnight after my return from Evora, having made the
necessary preparations, I set out on my journey for Badajoz, from
which town I intended to take the diligence to Madrid.
