DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4608#0058
the site of the great Temple. In so doing I encountered
all sorts of people, who were often of an unprepossessing
appearance.
One day a tall, earnest-looking Greek overtook me, and I a
eagerly asked me if I would consent to dig, or allow him
to do so under the protection of my firman, in certain
places which he would point out to me. He had dreamt,
he said, of treasure which lay buried many feet under
ground, and he had distinctly seen in his dreams certain
subterraneous passages, which led to the door of the
chamber containing the treasure. I refused to dig myself
on this man's account; but as I had some hope of his
striking accidentally upon the wall of some building, or
hitting upon some inscription of interest, I so far humoured
this dreamer of dreams as to promise him the protection
of my firman, in any excavations he might make amongst
the ruins of Ephesus, which should be subject to my
control or approval, though not at my own expense.
With this understanding he set a few men to work, and
sank a number of shallow trial holes about the Serapion
and elsewhere in the city, thus betraying the fact that his
dreams had not clearly defined the situation of the
treasure. The workmen employed by him were paid by
a silly, superstitious Greek merchant of Smyrna, who
probably thought he had a chance of enriching himself
more readily by treasure-trove at Ephesus, than by
plodding on steadily at his business in Smyrna. Nothing,
however, was found to reward the fond expectations of
the dreamer and his merchant friend, nor did I gain myself
any advantage by the holes dug in search of the hidden
u
dreamer.
all sorts of people, who were often of an unprepossessing
appearance.
One day a tall, earnest-looking Greek overtook me, and I a
eagerly asked me if I would consent to dig, or allow him
to do so under the protection of my firman, in certain
places which he would point out to me. He had dreamt,
he said, of treasure which lay buried many feet under
ground, and he had distinctly seen in his dreams certain
subterraneous passages, which led to the door of the
chamber containing the treasure. I refused to dig myself
on this man's account; but as I had some hope of his
striking accidentally upon the wall of some building, or
hitting upon some inscription of interest, I so far humoured
this dreamer of dreams as to promise him the protection
of my firman, in any excavations he might make amongst
the ruins of Ephesus, which should be subject to my
control or approval, though not at my own expense.
With this understanding he set a few men to work, and
sank a number of shallow trial holes about the Serapion
and elsewhere in the city, thus betraying the fact that his
dreams had not clearly defined the situation of the
treasure. The workmen employed by him were paid by
a silly, superstitious Greek merchant of Smyrna, who
probably thought he had a chance of enriching himself
more readily by treasure-trove at Ephesus, than by
plodding on steadily at his business in Smyrna. Nothing,
however, was found to reward the fond expectations of
the dreamer and his merchant friend, nor did I gain myself
any advantage by the holes dug in search of the hidden
u
dreamer.