Chapter IX

Chapter IX

Soon after he got out of his room in the great inn near Vidin, Stefan went down to the waiting room. People kept coming in while he waited. The place was coming alive. In order to accommodate more guests the innkeeper had narrowed the rooms but that caused congestion. The place was noisy and loud. The creaking of wooden doors, floors and stairs, loud human chatter, trotting of horse hooves outside, all added to the general noise. Many of the guests came from Hungary, Transylvania and Walachia. Some were local Ottoman Beys, raft builders and coach drivers. Some were here on business and others to idle their time. Spaso, a merchant by trade, came into the waiting room and, after greeting Stefan, the two left and boarded a coach parked in front of the inn. Then they drove off. With wheels squealing and hooves knocking on the stone slabs, they made their way up towards the city. They stopped in front of a big building.

“Why are we stopping?” asked Stefan.

“Soldiers are coming out of the ‘Cross-Barracks,’ replied Spaso.

“Cross-barracks?”

“It took the Neimars from Poland three summers to construct this building for Osman Pazvantoglu. He later remembered that it was like a great cross. In no faith was it evil what he’d done from Vidin to Varna, and from Bucharest to Kraiova. One hundred thousand soldiers went into jihad against him, but Osman won and became pasha.”

“And the mess was gone. As a pasha he no longer had to plunder because money came from taxes, teskerinia (written permission, identification papers, documents, etc.) and everything else. He brought order and got even closer to the Christians, they say!”

“He got that from the French who came here. He treated Christians and Mohammedans as equals. He halved their taxes and abolished taxing the poor. He helped Kara Giorgia in a war with the Dahis whom he didn’t want near. (The Dahis were led by four outcast janissary squires, who ruled the Belgrade pashalak from 1801-1804. Lacking the power to defeat them, the Sultan recognized their pashalak.) But when the local Shops (Shopi) allied themselves with the Serbs, Osman was shocked that they were preparing a rebellion against him. After Vasilitsa (New Years by the old calendar) two summers ago, Osman gathered the leaders of the rebellion and Bishop Kalinik and massacred them inside a church. The summer after the massacre, Osman fell ill. He died last year after Atanas Day. Now Idriz Mola is pasha.”

“Mola…? Should I be seeing him?”

“Yes, he knows about you and you will both benefit from such a visit.”

After the soldiers passed by, the coachman prompted the horses to get moving and they soon arrived at the bazaar; amid roasting skewers, heavy smells of frying oils, smells of burned sugar and various other spices. There were veiled women, bald men and boys who served food and drinks. Spaso and his guest Stefan got of the coach and went towards the stores because Stefan knew what to give a Turkish official. He selected some good gifts and asked for the prices of other goods.

“You’ll see, we will make a deal during our first visit with the pasha,” said Spaso.

“I will bring a small quantity of goods along the Danube. The pasha too will gain something from them. Should I still think about the teskere (invitation)?

A little later the coach started moving and made its way to the pasha’s inn. Stefan was always confident, but approaching the inn he began to feel a strange restlessness.

He knew practically nothing about this Mola, and wondered if he was somewhat strange in nature, so he asked Spaso:

“What else do you know about the pasha, except that he is good with numbers? Is he evil, weak, strong, what family is he from?”

“Has he gained the respect of the elders? He has. Was he taught by tyrants? He was. Some janissaries left the sultan and became sandzhaks (merchants), using Istanbul’s wars in Egypt or along the Danube for their own benefit. They rose and fell in glory and ruin. This is how Mola appeared on the scene and here he is… a pasha.”

“Does he keep his word…? What’s he like when trading with Christians?”

“He is good with the Christians and his trade with them is first class. Pazvantoglu’s trade laws were good because Mola drafted them. Traders like the Shishmanovs are very happy with them. Goods were traded with “pazvant” money (Pazvantoglu’s currency)... I have some here with French letters written on them that say ‘There is only one god’ on one side and ‘Freedom’ on the other. They were close to Napoleon. That’s where they got the idea of freedom, equality and brotherhood.”

“Did they also think about how to lead the Freemasons?”

“It seemed like they were in a brotherhood in Vienna, but who knows?”

“How much is Idriz Pasha mixed up in everything else?”

“Look, not even Osman rose like that. His father Omer Aga left him a thousand books and he obtained another two thousand. He was well read and surrounded himself with bright people like Idriz whom he hired in his service twelve or thirteen years ago. At that time, the sultan sent an army to Vidin from Istanbul and Trsteniklioglu from Ruschuk. They clashed with Osman’s army, somewhere near Pleven but Osman defeated them because Napoleon was helping him. He took captives and among them was Idriz Mola, then a janissary lieutenant from Ruschuk. But because he had been

wronged before, Idriz promised to serve Osman. As it turned out, the next summer Idriz broke the new siege of Vidin and took the head of Hapti Pasha. After that Osman put Idriz next to him and when he found out Idriz was good with numbers, he put him in charge of his treasury. Idriz Mola was loyal and kept his word to the end.”

“Well, that’s good to know... and we have arrived.”

The horses stopped in front of the entrance to the inn. Although the inn was a dominating structure, it was wrapped in by the surrounding deciduous trees. Of the three floors it had, the lower was the widest and with many rooms, the second floor had half the number of rooms and the third had only one room raised above everything. The pasha chose a place with the best view of the city and the Danube where the river wind blew and mixed with the clean air coming from the shadows of the tree canopy.

A guard went inside to announce their arrival. He came back with a courtier dressed in a stately robe. He seemed to be the pasha’s secretary. He led the businessmen inside in a ceremonial way that seemed to follow European protocols. From this it was evident that the French had much influence here. Finally, they were ushered into the pasha’s lounge. The pasha sat on a convenient, slightly elevated chair covered with velvet, silver and pearls on the sides. The lounge shone in the splendor of beautiful carpets and sofas, and a certain sparkle radiated from the patterns of the woodwork, from the metal of the decorative weapons and from all those places lined with mother-of-pearl. Stefan and Spaso sat on the guest sofas on the side after the pasha invited them to sit with a gesture from his slightly raised hand. The Pasha was a mature man in his prime somewhere in his forties but his duty and the attacks from his enemies made him look older. In general his senses were sharp and he continuously scanned his guests reading their body language. Stefan surmised that “if the pasha wanted an impression from Stefan he would have asked Spaso about him. It would have been smart of Spaso to say that Stefan was like a Muslim judge who judged for an hour be it this hour or be it another. This is what we would have expected from the pasha too. He had us both in his service!”

When the pasha and Stefan finished with the greetings, they continued to scan each other’s glances like they were looking for something. Spaso in the meantime laid in wait thinking that everyone in this business hunted everyone else. At one point, it seemed to Stefan that he saw a faint gleam in the pasha’s eyes, a ray of hope that foretold they would be doing business with him. That feeling strengthened Stefan. He even got the feeling that he knew the pasha from somewhere. The pasha too had similar thoughts. Stefan figured that he’d known Idriz from the time he and the bishop were moving goods from Bucharest all over Walachia, or from his brother the banker. After the ice was broken they continued their discussion but with caution. Idriz continued questioning Stefan about his plans as well as the volume of goods he carried, the timing, his intentions and so on. About some things the pasha also questioned Spaso to make sure of the answers and to easier knit a web of calculations. Stefan was careful, as much as he could be and so was Spaso!

“Vidin is interesting but it’s more important for a trader to know where the conditions are best,” said Stefan at one point.

“Do you think there are more secure places? Napoleon has trampled Europe, the Russians have trampled Walachia and there are ongoing revolts in Serbia and battles in Istanbul. Vidin is much better in comparison… and besides, it has low taxes. And the only thing your goods have to cross is the Danube River.”

“Dear Pasha, when a bear plays in your neighbourhood it’s bound to come to your door. Perhaps it would be better if I didn’t do business at all!”

“The Russians came to Vidin and were defeated. Sultan Selim gave me three horsetails (symbolic title for pasha) because I stopped them from crossing the Danube.

“Mahmud is now sultan and Alemdar Mustafa Vizier with whom you had unfinished business in Ruschuk. They are preparing to attack you with a large army. Under those conditions it won’t be…”

“Enough…! What kind of pezevenk (hooligan) are you? I treat you like a prince, and you… you line up my enemies and those who are sowing malice against me! What kind of mother and father in a pasha’s yard taught you to speak like this, huh?!”

“You’re right Pasha; you did treat me like a prince. And if you want to know, my mother’s name is Despina and my father’s is Dimitri. My parents have never seen a Pasha’s yard, never mind teaching me in one...”

“Despina…? Dimitri…? You must be Stefan! Is your younger brother Konstantin? Are you from Linotopi, under Gramushcha?”

“Yes, that’s us... But how do you know that, Pasha?”

After the pasha had calmed down and his swollen veins bursting with rage turned back to normal, his anger subsided and his gloomy face became slightly brighter as if a gentle hand had stroked it. His whole body relaxed and, full of sad thoughts, full of sorrow, and with wet eyes and barely visible tears, he turned and looked at Stefan. Stefan started to feel cold all over as he wondered how the pasha knew all this…! He now knows everything about me, thought Stefan to himself, and is circling around me with vague intentions to trade… At the same time it appeared to Stefan like the pasha was in shock. The pasha had stopped talking; it seemed like he had lost his voice... but not for long. After the torturous silence, words started coming out of him. With a crackling voice, barely enough to break the silence, the pasha said:

“On the day of judgment, my father sent me to my grandfather Giorgia in ‘Dolno Maalo’! My younger brother looked at me with envy because our father trusted me... But life is full of lies. When you think you have gained something you soon realize you have lost even more. I separated myself from my brother and ran downhill as our father had instructed... and time swallowed me. I wandered in the fog a long time, and only when I sat down did my brother arrive.”

“Giorgi!” Stefan cried. Stefan lost his strength and his entire body began to shake, suffering under the force of the currents that

dragged joy, sorrow, dizziness and thoughts through his veins and nerves... He got up and ran towards Idriz who was already standing. They hugged and a moment later they both had wet eyes looking at each other… They were looking for signs of recognition, something from their past that they could recognize hidden in their faces. They could feel each other’s pain as tears of sadness and joy flowed down their faces without end. Even Spaso’s face was moistened with tears, and no matter how much he wiped them with his sharbet (handkerchief) they continued to flow from his eyelids. He kept staring at them, the two who had just discovered that they were brothers. He felt privileged to be a witness to such a moment. And as they say, the stronger the pain, the further back it goes. With their fraternal hug, they opened and closed doors through the corridors of their minds, searching for common things that had survived in their memories. At one moment they remembered running near the frothing Belitsa River, at another they remembered being in their grandfather’s yard and then in the barn in Blatsa with their cousins... Their childhood memories took them to who knows where, in which they were both together.

“You can leave now Spaso, my brother and I have a lot to discuss,” said Idriz when the two brothers were done reminiscing.

After the brothers were reacquainted, the spacious cold lounge they were in seemed to shrink and warm up. It began to look like a cozy little room with the brothers sitting down for a nice chat. During their conversation Stefan informed Idriz of how their father, mother, brother, sister and all the others were doing. Idriz expressed joy when he heard the name of every niece and nephew. Idriz told Stefan about his own family and took him to meet his wife and daughters. Initially they were a bit confused about his new and distant family but in time Idriz figured they would get used to it. After that the brothers went back to the lounge and Idriz began to tell Stefan what had happened to him that dreadful day when they were separated.

“I didn’t do exactly as our father asked me to do the day I was sent to see our grandfather. He trusted me to do what he asked and told me to come back immediately. Why didn’t I do what I was told…? Why didn’t I run when I saw the slaughtered people in the yard?

Why did I allow myself to be captured? They were all dead and the rest of us were neither alive nor dead. They herded us like a flock of screaming animals and made us walk on foot over hills, ridges and valleys with our fate sealed. I was alive with my throat caught between the jaws of the beast... I was alive like our grandfather’s half month old calf that was taken by a wolf one night. The wolf grabbed it by the throat with its jaws and led it away. The wolf wasn’t strong enough to carry it dead so it left the calf alive. It dragged it along and made it walk for hours using its own legs and strength... When the wolf brought the calf into its den it left it alive for a few days to teach its young pups how to kill. It only bit its legs to make sure it couldn’t run away... My experience was similar to that of the calf. Not even one summer had passed between the calf’s fate and mine. When they found the wolf’s den the only thing that was left of our calf was the rope and the wedge on which it was tied. That’s how they knew it was our calf. I would have never guessed that I would share my fate with the calf… except my wolf’s den was the village Molai where we arrived after crossing the mountains. That village was in front of a long plain at the end of which was the town Goritsa (today’s Korcha in the Republic of Albania). The spoils from the plunder were divided there among the thieves. I saw our aunt Ilina there for the last time. They took her away along with the other women and girls. The torment they experienced was unspeakable. They had big plans for us boys from eight to twelve summers old. They fed us well to strengthen us for what was coming but first we had to give up our Christian faith. They forced us to accept a new faith and adorned us with Islam, then circumcision and celebration. I had to say two holy words in front of a hodzha and a mufti to renounce my name. So from Giorgi I became Idriz... Ten days later Hadzhi Hasan Alemdar arrived at the market. He was a janissary and served as a bairaktar (standard bearer). He traded in cattle and sometimes in people. Later I found out that he was born in a local village called Goshkove. The village Molai was located at the end of the plain but a little higher… Hadzhi Hasan Alemdar was attached to his family there by trade. Then, when we arrived near the Danube River, he introduced me to the janissaries as Idriz from Molai. But, either the scribe heard him wrong and wrote the name in the register wrong or because of the Turkish word for Molai, the people began to call me Idriz Mola, so Mola became my last name.”

“Oh my poor brother, you’ve suffered a lot... We too suffered a lot… We didn’t have a single good day that summer or the summers that followed… For as long as we lived there that land seemed to be cursed... We used to have some good days in the past but all was lost after that day… Speaking of Alemdar you mentioned… Is he related to Vizier Mustafa Alemdar?”

“Yes, Mustafa is his father. When Mustafa was a young man he and his friends left their service and went looting along the Danube River. He later tied himself with Ayan Trsteniklioglu who gave him shelter in Ruschuk. I served there as a lieutenant and had a misunderstanding with Mustafa. After the battle for Pleven, I joined Pazvantoglu’s service; I couldn’t go back. And it was a good thing too because as soon as Trsteniklioglu died, Mustafa became an official in Ruschuk and two or three months ago he became vizier.”

“Your situation is bad when the vizier is your enemy!”

“His situation is even worse because he has stronger enemies. The new sultan doesn’t like him. He will hold him there until he uses up his strength and gains access to his seat. He will then take it from him. I got a secret message from the sultan’s people to attack Ruschuk and strike Alemdar’s stronghold in October 1808 and they will attack him in Istanbul.”

“Be careful they don’t play you after they use you?”

“They will need me as long as the war with the Russians lasts, and it will last a long time. When it ends anything is possible. But whatever happens, I’m prepared.”

Stefan knew his brother was calculating. He was a step ahead of the others no matter what they did. While there was chaos everywhere there was order in Vidin because his brother was in favour of supporting trade... Now that Idriz had found his brother and shared his feelings of sadness and joy with him, he turned to lighter topics. He said:

“Don’t worry about me brother. First, I would like to invite everyone in our family, our father, our mother, your family, our

brother and sister… to come here. I want to also send gifts to everyone... And then we brothers - merchants, pashas, judges, bankers and whatever will pursue what we know best - economy and trade. From the Ottoman side I will send and arrange whatever the markets demand. You from Walachia, Transylvania, Moldova and Russia, and our brother from Hungary, Austria, Italy and Bavaria will do the same. We’ll become well-known in all of Europe.”

“Of course brother, of course... Konstantin will not be able to come right away. He was in Budim, and he would have already left for Vienna, but I will give him the happy news. But until he arrives, I will visit father, mother and my family and give them the good news... We will somehow find a way to contact our sister in Istanbul... Then we will all gather together like you asked and pursue our business in trade, economy, holdings… and everything will be in order.”