French and Oriental Love in a Harem

Indeed, all four of them were of such striking beauty, and yet so

different in type, that you might have thought them grouped together in

order to form the most ravishing picture, their large dark eyes, sweet,

timid, and languishing like the gazelle's, with that Oriental expression

which we do not meet with in these climes; lips which disclosed pearly

teeth as they smiled; and complexions which have been preserved by the

veil from the sun's rays, and which--according to the ancient

simile--appeared really to be made up of lilies and roses. In those rich

costumes of silk or of Broussan gauze, with their harmonious colours,

revealing the forms of their hips and of their bosoms, they exhibited

attitudes and movements of feline lissomness and exotic grace, the

voluptuous languor of which can only be realised by those who have seen

it in Mussulman women. I imagined myself the hero of an Arabian story,

and mad fancies entered my brain.

While I was endeavouring, for appearance's sake, to talk with their

father as well as I could, they, growing tamer by degrees, began to

whisper together--now and then came a little burst of laughter, in which

I seemed to detect some mischief. I playfully responded by holding up my

finger to let them know I guessed their thoughts, and again they burst

out laughing like sly children--this going on until, after half an hour

or so, quite a nice feeling of familiarity was established between us;

we talked by signs, and our eyes enabled us almost to dispense with the

laborious intervention of Mohammed's interpretations. Moreover, he

seemed delighted to see us frolicking in this way.

In order to teach them my name I pronounced several times the word

"André." They understood and tried in their turn to make me say their

names. Hadidjé's was the occasion of much laughter, by reason of my

difficulty in articulating the guttural breathing. Seeing that I could

not manage it, she held me by both hands, her face almost touching mine,

and shouted "Hadidjé!" I repeated it, "Hadidjé!" This was charming and

intoxicating. I had to take the same lesson from each of them; but when

it came to the turn of Kondjé-Gul, it was a delirium of joy. By some

chance she let slip a word of Italian. I questioned her in this

language, and found she knew it pretty well. You may imagine my

delight! Immediately we overwhelmed each other with a torrent of

questions. Her sisters watched us with looks of amazement.

At this moment a Greek servant came in, followed by two other women,

bringing in the dinner on trays, which they laid upon small low tables

of ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl.