ducats out of a bag, he gave them to our two deputies, to be divided amongst us. Our deputies thanked him for his present and condescension, and departed. Our aga then ordered the ducats to be changed and divided amongst us, whence forty kreutzers, or aspers, fell to the share of each. Then, for the first time, we feasted, and bought ourselves as much bread, meal for porridge, oil, meat baked in the sun, and other provisions as we wanted, thanking the Lord God and the pasha for such a benefaction.
Our aga thenceforth comforted us, saying that, when once Synan came from Transylvania, we should have a good friend in Ibrahim, and that he would release us from this grievous prison. On one occasion he asked us, if it pleased God to help us out of prison, what would we give him in return, for we knew that he was our good friend, and he promised to be so still more? We alleged in excuse our pennilessness and poverty, and when we promised him that, as we had no money, we would give him everything that we had, and what we knitted besides, he laughed at us, admitted that he did not want our rags, but wished to know whether, in order that he might look the better after our affairs with the pasha, we were willing to secure him 500 ducats in the hands of the Christian merchants, and give them to him for his trouble if he should help us out of prison? Longing for freedom, we promised to give him 200 ducats, imagining that we could easily provide such a sum as that among the merchants; and thus our aga journeyed so much the oftener to Constantinople, and spoke of us in Ibrahim’s presence.
On one occasion Ibrahim invited the Sultan to his
