French and Oriental Love in a Harem

Five minutes later we were running about the gardens. Having only

arrived two days before, they had not yet been outside the harem. The

sight of their domain pleased them immensely, and their young voices

prattled away with a musical volubility fit to gladden the hearts of the

very birds. At each step they made some new discovery, some bed of

flowers, or some shady path at the bottom of which the sound of a

waterfall could be heard, carried off by sparkling brooks running on

beds of moss over the whole length of the park until they lost

themselves in the lake; over these brooks were placed at intervals

little foot-bridges painted in bright colours. All these things gave

rise to questions. Naturally Kondjé-Gul was always the interpreter; they

all listened, opening their eyes wide; then they started off again,

plucking flowers from the bushes, which they placed in their hair, in

their bosoms, and round their necks. In order to attract my admiration

for these adornments, each of them kept running up to me as if she

wanted a kiss.

If you want to know the thoughts and feelings of a mortal under these

circumstances, I must confess that it is quite beyond my power to

explain them to you. I was bewildered, captivated, and surprised by such

novel sensations that without reflection or conscious analysis, I simply

abandoned myself to them. If you wish to understand them, my dear

fellow, you must first acquire some æsthetic notions which, artist

though you are, you do not yet possess; you must familiarise yourself

with these entirely exotic charms of the daughters of the East, their

youthful simplicity and ease combined with a certain voluptuous

nonchalance, the undulating movements of their hips acquired by the

habit of moving about in Oriental slippers, their lissom and feline

graces, and the overwhelming fascination of their languishing eyes. You

must see them in these strange picturesque costumes, so artistically

revealing their graceful forms, in wide silk trousers, tied round at the

ankles, and drawn in at the waist by a rich scarf of golden gauze: you

must see them in their jackets embroidered with pearls, and open bodices

of Broussan silk transparent as gauze; or in the long robe open in

front, the train of which they hold up by fastening it to the waist when

they want to walk about freely--all these things in soft well-toned

colours, blending wonderfully together. It was a dazzling scene of fresh

beauty and strange enchantment, such as I cannot attempt to describe.

Once we arrived at the end of a ravine, where we were obliged to cross

the brook by stepping-stones set in its bed. Thereupon they cried out

with fright. I prevailed upon Zouhra, who seemed to be the bravest, to

cross holding my hand. Hadidjé followed her; but when it came to Nazli's

turn, the timid creature hung to my neck as if terrified by some great

danger; so I took her up in my arms and carried her across to the

opposite side. Kondjé-Gul, like a coquette that she is, followed her

example.