(a quote from paul bowles collection of prose-titled points in time. one finds these references to the slave trade in euroese peoples here and there in literary works, they add up to something, but what?)
"the sultan writes to the kings in europe: he deplores the slave traffic, marrakech lies at a considerable distance from sla, he is unable to do away with the lawlessness there, notwithstanding the great effort he is putting forth in his attempt to abolish piracy.
he does not tell them that he collects one guirch for every ten realized by the trade.
in fez it is said that the moslems spend most of their money on weddings, jews on pesagh, and christians on lawsuits. but what the people of fez call lawsuits are the frantic attempts by europeans to secure the audience of local dignitaries willing to help them arrange the payment of ransom for their relatives and countrymen being held hostages."
paul bowles; points in time. ecco press edition.
Posted with Blogsy