But he had not
quite understood the character of the Emperor he had anointed; and
overrating his own importance, at last he made of Theodore an open
and relentless enemy. The crisis came when Abouna Salama least
expected it. One day Theodore went in state to pay him his respects.
Arrived at the Abouna's tent, he informed him of his visit; the
Bishop sent word that he would receive him when convenient, and
meanwhile bade him wait without. Theodore complied; but as time
passed and the Bishop made no appearance, Theodore walked away, the
enemy of his prelate, and burning for revenge.
For years afterwards they lived in open enmity, or enmity slightly
masked: each worked hard at the destruction of the other. If
Theodore's reign had been a peaceful one, the Abouna would have
gained the day; but the Emperor, surrounded as he was by a large
army of devoted followers, found ready listeners to his descriptions
of the Bishop's character. Abouna Salama was never very popular;
he was, without being a miser, far from liberal. Friendship in
Abyssinia means presents: it is accepted as such by all; and every
chief, every man of note, who courts popularity, lavishes with an
unsparing hand. The Emperor naturally took advantage of this want
of liberality in the Bishop's character, to contrast it with his
own generosity. He insinuated that the Abouna was only a merchant
at heart; that instead of selling the tribute he received in kind
to the people of the country, as was formerly the custom, he sent
it by caravans to Massowah, trafficked with the Turks, and hoarded
all his money in Egypt.
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