Skip to content
Linespedia

Ben Allah Achmet; Or, The Fatal Tum

Topics: classic

I once did know a Turkish man     Whom I upon a two-pair-back met,     His name it was Effendi Khan     Backsheesh Pasha Ben Allah Achmet.     A Doctor Brown I also knew     I've often eaten of his bounty     The Turk and he they lived at Hooe,     In Sussex, that delightful county.     I knew a nice young lady there,     Her name was Isabella Sherson,     And though she wore another's hair,     She was an interesting person.     The Turk adored the maid of Hooe     (Although his harem would have shocked her);     But Brown adored that maiden, too:     He was a most seductive doctor.     They'd follow her where'er she'd go     A course of action most improper;     She neither knew by sight, and so     For neither of them cared a copper.     Brown did not know that Turkish male,     He might have been his sainted mother:     The people in this simple tale     Are total strangers to each other.     One day that Turk he sickened sore     Which threw him straight into a sharp pet;     He threw himself upon the floor     And rolled about upon his carpet.     It made him moan it made him groan     And almost wore him to a mummy:     Why should I hesitate to own     That pain was in his little tummy?     At length a Doctor came and rung     (As Allah Achmet had desired)     Who felt his pulse, looked up his tongue,     And hummed and hawed, and then inquired:     "Where is the pain, that long has preyed     Upon you in so sad a way, sir?"     The Turk he giggled, blushed, and said,     "I don't exactly like to say, sir."     "Come, nonsense!" said good Doctor Brown,     "So this is Turkish coyness, is it?     You must contrive to fight it down     Come, come, sir, please to be explicit."     The Turk he shyly bit his thumb,     And coyly blushed like one half-witted,     "The pain is in my little tum,"     He, whispering, at length admitted.     "Then take you this, and take you that     Your blood flows sluggish in its channel     You must get rid of all this fat,     And wear my medicated flannel.     "You'll send for me, when you're in need     My name is Brown your life I've saved it!"     "My rival!" shrieked the invalid,     And drew a mighty sword and waved it.     "This to thy weazand, Christian pest!"     Aloud the Turk in frenzy yelled it,     And drove right through the Doctor's chest     The sabre and the hand that held it.     The blow was a decisive one,     And Doctor Brown grew deadly pasty     "Now see the mischief that you've done,     You Turks are so extremely hasty.     "There are two Doctor Browns in Hooe,     He's short and stout I'm tall and wizen;     You've been and run the wrong one through,     That's how the error has arisen."     The accident was thus explained,     Apologies were only heard now:     "At my mistake I'm really pained,     I am, indeed, upon my word now."     "With me, sir, you shall be interred,     A Mausoleum grand awaits me"     "Oh, pray don't say another word,     I'm sure that more than compensates me.     "But, p'r'aps, kind Turk, you're full inside?"     "There's room," said he, "for any number."     And so they laid them down and died.     In proud Stamboul they sleep their slumber.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"I once did know a Turkish man..."

This evocative piece by William Schwenck Gilbert, titled "Ben Allah Achmet; Or, The Fatal Tum", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"When I was a lad I served a term     As office boy to an Attorney's firm.     I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,     And I polished u"

"Take a pair of sparkling eyes,     Hidden, ever and anon,     In a merciful eclipse     Do not heed their mild surprise     Having passed th"

"Of all the good attorneys who     Have placed their names upon the roll,     But few could equal BAINES CAREW     For tender-heartedness and so"

"A monarch is pestered with cares,     Though, no doubt, he can often trepan them;     But one comes in a shape he can never escape -     The im"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"When I was a lad I served a term     As office boy..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.