1680 CE sits in the twilight of the Köprülü era, and the reign of Mehmed IV. The lifetime that TCM Volume 1 covers is one of the most stable (economically and politically) in Ottoman history. Just wait 3 more years until things started to crash a little.
I think when I was constructing this scene I wanted to show the international character of the setting (the tea! the array of carpets from various locales!) – and just how fancy and as he says, bedazzling, Zeynel’s job was. This isn’t your village’s average carpet merchant; this is your polished cosmopolitan merchant-poet.
On that note I refined Zeynel’s language to be a bit more theatrical. You will see it in the following pages. He only speaks in this heightened manner for work; his customer service voice.
“Try this,” offers the carpet merchant. He fills the sheikh’s glass cup with tea. “It’s one of the finest brews of jasmine in the world.”
The carpet merchant is a tall, lanky man. He possesses a scholarly aura, with a large and graceful nose, a neat mustache and beard across a soft jawline, and a face in constant thought. At the moment, he is decked in a fine uniform: a blue sleeveless coat with yellow stripes, a red jacket and sash underneath, a white long-sleeved shirt, brown pants and an off-white turban. He is exuberance in human flesh.
The sheikh brings the glass of tea to his nose. “Mm, it smells delicious.”
The carpet merchant smiles. “Just like it tastes!” He walks off and busies himself with the task of selecting some of the finest carpets in the room. “Now I warn you, the carpets Ayse has amassed are all wonderful, strange, bedazzling! Are you ready to resist temptation?”
The sheikh leans over, seated cross-legged, looking as regal as a Sultan. “Ohh, I am ready. The question is, are you?”
The carpet merchant laughs, and like a magician, he begins his show with a dramatic unrolling of a carpet. The carpet is a long, rectangular piece; red with a central gold medallion and a blue and red floral inset, and framed by a golden arabesque, tiny woolen flowers cascading in almost perfect symmetry. Speaking in a warm, gentle voice, the carpet merchant announces, “Behold! The Bidjar! This one’s wool is so soft; it’s like walking on Paradise.”
That well-practiced introduction incites the intended response from the sheikh: awe, wonder, and excitement.
Pleased at his audience, the carpet merchant winks, apparently with more tricks up his sleeve. “Aha! But it’s not THE prettiest! Would you like to see more?”
