Ali’s own will counted for nothing in this important movement. He foresaw it, but without ever seeking to aid it, and was powerless to arrest it. He was not one of those men who place their lives and services at the disposal of any cause indiscriminately; and his sole aim was to acquire and increase a power of which he was both the guiding influence, and the end and object. His nature contained the seeds of every human passion, and he devoted8 all his long life to their development and gratification. This explains his whole temperament9; his actions were merely the natural outcome of his character confronted with circumstances. Few men have understood themselves better or been on better terms with the orbit of their existence, and as the personality of an individual is all the more striking, in proportion as it reflects the manners and ideas of the time and country in which he has lived, so the figure of Ali Pacha stands out, if not one of the most brilliant, at least one of the most singular in contemporary history.
From the middle of the eighteenth century Turkey had been a prey10 to the political gangrene of which she is vainly trying to cure herself to-day, and which, before long, will dismember her in the sight of all Europe. Anarchy11 and disorder12 reigned13 from one end of the empire to the other. The Osmanli race, bred on conquest alone, proved good for nothing when conquest failed. It naturally therefore came to pass when Sobieski, who saved Christianity under the walls of Vienna, as before his time Charles Martel had saved it on the plains of Poitiers, had set bounds to the wave of Mussulman westward15 invasion, and definitely fixed16 a limit which it should not pass, that the Osmanli warlike instincts recoiled17 upon themselves. The haughty18 descendants of Ortogrul, who considered themselves born to command, seeing victory forsake19 them, fell back upon tyranny. Vainly did reason expostulate that oppression could not long be exercised by hands which had lost their strength, and that peace imposed new and different labours on those who no longer triumphed in war; they would listen to nothing; and, as fatalistic when condemned20 to a state of peace as when they marched forth21 conquering and to conquer, they cowered22 down in magnificent listlessness, leaving the whole burden of their support on conquered peoples. Like ignorant farmers, who exhaust fertile fields by forcing crops; they rapidly ruined their vast and rich empire by exorbitant23 exactions. Inexorable conquerors24 and insatiable masters, with one hand they flogged their slaves and with the other plundered25 them. Nothing was superior to their insolence26, nothing on a level with their greed. They were never glutted27, and never relaxed their extortions. But in proportion as their needs increased on the one hand, so did their resources diminish on the other. Their oppressed subjects soon found that they must escape at any cost from oppressors whom they could neither appease28 nor satisfy. Each population took the steps best suited to its position and character; some chose inertia29, others violence. The inhabitants of the plains, powerless and shelterless, bent30 like reeds before the storm and evaded31 the shock against which they were unable to stand. The mountaineers planted themselves like rocks in a torrent32, and dammed its course with all their might. On both sides arose a determined33 resistance, different in method, similar in result. In the case of the peasants labour came to a stand-still; in that of the hill folk open war broke out. The grasping exactions of the tyrant34 dominant35 body produced nothing from waste lands and armed mountaineers; destitution36 and revolt were equally beyond their power to cope with; and all that was left for tyranny to govern was a desert enclosed by a wall.
But, all the same, the wants of a magnificent sultan, descendant of the Prophet and distributor of crowns, must be supplied; and to do this, the Sublime37 Porte needed money. Unconsciously imitating the Roman Senate, the Turkish Divan38 put up the empire for sale by public auction39. All employments were sold to the highest bidder40; pachas, beys, cadis, ministers of every rank, and clerks of every class had to buy their posts from their sovereign and get the money back out of his subjects. They spent their money in the capital, and recuperated41 themselves in the provinces. And as there was no other law than their master’s pleasure, so there, was no other guarantee than his caprice. They had therefore to set quickly to work; the post might be lost before its cost had been recovered. Thus all the science of administration resolved itself into plundering42 as much and as quickly as possible. To this end, the delegate of imperial power delegated in his turn, on similar conditions, other agents to seize for him and for themselves all they could lay their hands on; so that the inhabitants of the empire might be divided into three classes—those who were striving to seize everything; those who were trying to save a little; and those who, having nothing and hoping for nothing, took no interest in affairs at all.
Albania was one of the most difficult provinces to manage. Its inhabitants were poor, brave, and, the nature of the country was mountainous and inaccessible43. The pashas had great difficulty in collecting tribute, because the people were given to fighting for their bread. Whether Mahomedans or Christians44, the Albanians were above all soldiers. Descended45 on the one side from the unconquerable Scythians, on the other from the ancient Macedonians, not long since masters of the world; crossed with Norman adventurers brought eastwards46 by the great movement of the Crusades; they felt the blood of warriors47 flow in their veins48, and that war was their element. Sometimes at feud49 with one another, canton against canton, village against village, often even house against house; sometimes rebelling against the government their sanjaks; sometimes in league with these against the sultan; they never rested from combat except in an armed peace. Each tribe had its military organisation50, each family its fortified51 stronghold, each man his gun on his shoulder. When they had nothing better to do, they tilled their fields, or mowed52 their neighbours’, carrying off, it should be noted53, the crop; or pastured their, flocks, watching the opportunity to trespass54 over pasture limits. This was the normal and regular life of the population of Epirus, Thesprotia, Thessaly, and Upper Albania. Lower Albania, less strong, was also less active and bold; and there, as in many other parts of Turkey, the dalesman was often the prey of the mountaineer. It was in the mountain districts where were preserved the recollections of Scander Beg, and where the manners of ancient Laconia prevailed; the deeds of the brave soldier were sung on the lyre, and the skilful55 robber quoted as an example to the children by the father of the family. Village feasts were held on the booty taken from strangers; and the favourite dish was always a stolen sheep. Every man was esteemed56 in proportion to his skill and courage, and a man’s chances of making a good match were greatly enhanced when he acquired the reputation of being an agile57 mountaineer and a good bandit.
The Albanians proudly called this anarchy liberty, and religiously guarded a state of disorder bequeathed by their ancestors, which always assured the first place to the most valiant58.
It was amidst men and manners such as these that Ali Tepeleni was born. He boasted that he belonged to the conquering race, and that he descended from an ancient Anatolian family which had crossed into Albania with the troops of Bajazet Ilderim. But it is made certain by the learned researches of M. de Pouqueville that he sprang from a native stock, and not an Asiatic one, as he pretended. His ancestors were Christian14 Skipetars, who became Mussulmans after the Turkish invasion, and his ancestry59 certainly cannot be traced farther back than the end of the sixteenth century.
Mouktar Tepeleni, his grandfather, perished in the Turkish expedition against Corfu, in 1716. Marshal Schullemburg, who defended the island, having repulsed60 the enemy with loss, took Mouktar prisoner on Mount San Salvador, where he was in charge of a signalling party, and with a barbarity worthy61 of his adversaries62, hung him without trial. It must be admitted that the memory of this murder must have had the effect of rendering63 Ali badly disposed towards Christians.
Mouktar left three sons, two of whom, Salik and Mahomet, were born of the same mother, a lawful64 wife, but the mother of the youngest, Veli, was a slave. His origin was no legal bar to his succeeding like his brothers. The family was one of the richest in the town of Tepelen, whose name it bore, it enjoyed an income of six thousand piastres, equal to twenty thousand francs. This was a large fortune in a poor country, where, all commodities were cheap. But the Tepeleni family, holding the rank of beys, had to maintain a state like that of the great financiers of feudal65 Europe. They had to keep a large stud of horses, with a great retinue66 of servants and men-at-arms, and consequently to incur67 heavy expenses; thus they constantly found their revenue inadequate68. The most natural means of raising it which occurred to them was to diminish the number of those who shared it; therefore the two elder brothers, sons of the wife, combined against Veli, the son of the slave, and drove him out of the house. The latter, forced to leave home, bore his fate like a brave man, and determined to levy69 exactions on others to compensate70 him for the losses incurred71 through his brothers. He became a freebooter, patrolling highroads and lanes, with his gun on his shoulder and his yataghan in his belt, attacking, holding for ransom72, or plundering all whom he encountered.
After some years of this profitable business, he found himself a wealthy man and chief of a warlike band. Judging that the moment for vengeance73 had arrived, he marched for Tepelen, which he reached unsuspected, crossed the river Vojutza, the ancient Aous, penetrated74 the streets unresisted, and presented himself before the paternal75 house, in which his brothers, forewarned, had barricaded76 themselves. He at once besieged77 them, soon forced the gates, and pursued them to a tent, in which they took a final refuge. He surrounded this tent, waited till they were inside it, and then set fire to the four corners. “See,” said he to those around him, “they cannot accuse me of vindictive78 reprisals79; my brothers drove me out of doors, and I retaliate80 by keeping them at home for ever.”
In a few moments he was his father’s sole heir and master of Tepelen. Arrived at the summit of his ambition, he gave up free-booting, and established himself in the town, of which he became chief ago. He had already a son by a slave, who soon presented him with another son, and afterwards with a daughter, so that he had no reason to fear dying without an heir. But finding himself rich enough to maintain more wives and bring up many children, he desired to increase his credit by allying himself to some great family of the country. He therefore solicited81 and obtained the hand of Kamco, daughter of a bey of Conitza. This marriage attached him by the ties of relationship to the principal families of the province, among others to Kourd Pacha, Vizier of Serat, who was descended from the illustrious race of Scander Beg. After a few years, Veli had by his new wife a son named Ali, the subject of this history, and a daughter named Chainitza.
Ire spite of his intentions to reform, Veli could not entirely82 give up his old habits. Although his fortune placed him altogether above small gains and losses, he continued to amuse himself by raiding from time to time sheep, goats, and other perquisites83, probably to keep his hand in. This innocent exercise of his taste was not to the fancy of his neighbours, and brawls84 and fights recommenced in fine style. Fortune did not always favour him, and the old mountaineer lost in the town part of what he had made on the hills. Vexations soured his temper and injured his health. Notwithstanding the injunctions of Mahomet, he sought consolation85 in wine, which soon closed his career. He died in 1754.
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1
vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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narrate
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| v.讲，叙述 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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glutted
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| v.吃得过多( glut的过去式和过去分词 )；（对胃口、欲望等）纵情满足；使厌腻；塞满 | |
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28
appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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inertia
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| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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41
recuperated
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| v.恢复（健康、体力等），复原( recuperate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
plundering
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 ) | |
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43
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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45
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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46
eastwards
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| adj.向东方（的），朝东（的）；n.向东的方向 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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48
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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49
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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50
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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51
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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52
mowed
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| v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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54
trespass
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| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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56
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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58
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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60
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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67
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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71
incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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72
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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74
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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76
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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retaliate
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| v.报复，反击 | |
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81
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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82
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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83
perquisites
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| n.（工资以外的）财务补贴( perquisite的名词复数 )；额外收入；（随职位而得到的）好处；利益 | |
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brawls
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| 吵架，打架( brawl的名词复数 ) | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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