But since the very idea of
a bad Sultan demands a good one, Harrington tried to satisfy Bob by
investing Mohammed V with a large number of negative virtues. "A good
Sultan does not shoot people, or burn down houses or throw women into
jail or whip little children." The portrait failed to please. Bob's
faith demanded something robust to cling to; and in the end he compelled
his father to do for the good Sultan the opposite of what he had done
for the bad one. Mohammed V stands to-day invested with all the virtues
that have been manifested on earth from Enoch to Florence Nightingale.
And yet of the two, Bob and his father, I must say again that it is Bob
who has the more truthful and healthy outlook upon life, and it is good
for Harrington to rehearse with him the history of the fall of Abdul
Hamid II three or four times a week. Bob has no flabby standards. He
wastes no time in looking for lighter shades in what is black or dark
spots in the white. Bob holds, for instance, that bad soldiers shoot
down good people, and that good soldiers shoot down bad people. He is
quite as close to the truth as I am, who believe that there is no such
thing as a good soldier and that the business of shooting down people,
whether good or bad, is a wretched one.
Pages:
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54