"أيام ثيم ولَّت" [و‎‎٥‎٤] (٢٤٨/١٠٧)

55
I found it embarrasing and
and never went a second
architecture and decoration
time and time again.
repugnant to one's sense of decency
time, in spite of the splendid
which I would gladly have admired
One evening soon after my arrival and full of curiosity about the
city and abundant energy, I took myself off for a lonq
exgloratory walk. I soon became aware of a figure in a rather
shabby summer suit and panama hat tailing me at a discreet
•a nd J lncre , aSed my P ace - As a " ex-mountain gunner I
rather prided myself on my ability to maintain a brisk six
mi les-an-hour and this I did for upwards of two hours, until I
turned into an outdoor cafe for a beer (it was possible to do
that sort of thing in those days - but unthinkable under
After a , few m1n etes a bent figure in a panama hat and
tattered Persian slippers hobbled into the cafe and collapsed
into a chair at a table behind me. I couldn't help feeling sorry
for him and admiring his determination and devotion to duty so
told the waiter to take him over a beer. To the best of
knowledge he never tailed me again - perhaps he reckoned he
blown in both senses of the word!
my
was
The arrangements for keeping tabs on the comings and goings of
the Consulate-General staff consisted of three or four youngish
plain-clothesmen, wearing knee-breeches and puttees with bicycles
at the ready, who spent the day thumbing over the magazines in a
news-agents shop conveniently situated nearly opposite the
Consulate-General gates. When a car emerged from the
Consulate—General they would leap on their bicycles and follow
it. Naturally we would finally stop round a corner and, when thev
whir ed round it, pedalling furiously, would beg them not to
burst themselves and tell them where we were going. Finally one
of them made so bold as to come into the Consulate General and
explain to the Vice-Consul that he got paid monthly and was
already out of cash with a fortnight to wait for his pay and
could we help? Of course we could! y ’
Police surveillance
annoyance.
was, in fact, more of an amusement than an
was a m owed
av w K
un e
surveillance
carpets. We all spent ... KC . seacea on
glasses of tea and bargaining endlessly.
floor
was
the
11 was
with a
bought
but the only thing really worth buying
. . hours in the carpet shops, seated on
drinking tiny- 1 " *
incidentally, one ended up
Turkoman carpets and rugs
for one's Persian and
good
fine collection of Persian and
for very little indeed.
Pol ice
1 i m i t s
surveillance seemed to
stop for some reason at the town
h ° ne d the 1nevitabl e police-post where one was qoina
and drove on; it didn't seem to matter whether one went there or
as one was no longer followed.
e1s ewhere