around poor Ali, who is as much astonished as themselves; really one
might suppose he was the only Nubian they had ever beheld. Now I can
promise you, that a Frenchman might show himself in public, either in
Tunis, Constantinople, Bagdad, or Cairo, without being treated in that
way.”
“That shows that the Eastern nations have too much good sense to waste
their time and attention on objects undeserving of either. However, as
far as Ali is concerned, I can assure you, the interest he excites is
merely from the circumstance of his being your attendant—you, who are at
this moment the most celebrated and fashionable person in Paris.”
“Really? and what has procured me so flattering a distinction?”
“What? why, yourself, to be sure! You give away horses worth a thousand
louis; you save
