French and Oriental Love in a Harem | Page 9

me the ages of the others. Hadidjé was the
eldest, she was nineteen: Nazli and Zouhra were between seventeen and
eighteen, the age of fresh maturity among the daughters of the East,
who ripen earlier than ours. Our gaiety and the prattle of their voices
went on without cessation; but as they were drinking nothing but water,
I said to Kondjé-Gul, thoughtlessly,
"Won't you taste the wine of France?"
At this proposition she gave such a scared little look that the others
asked her to explain what I had said. This caused a great excitement,
followed by a discussion in which the father took part. I was beginning
to fear that I had given offence to them, when His Excellency at last
said a few words which seemed to be decisive. Then Kondjé-Gul,
blushing all the while, and hesitating with divine gracefulness, took up
my glass and drank--first with a little grimace like a kitten trying
strange food, so droll and amusing was it; then, later on, with an air of
satisfaction so real that all of them burst out laughing.
By Jove, I must say that at this frank abandonment I felt my heart beat
just as if her lips had touched my own in a kiss. Imagine what became
of me when Zouhra, Nazli, and Hadidjé held out their hands all at the
same time to claim my glass. They passed round the glass and drank,
and I after them, perturbed by emotions impossible to describe. This
unconstraint varied with bashful reserve, these fascinating scruples,
which they overcame one after another, fearing no doubt to offend me
by refusing things which they thought were French customs; all their
little ways in fact stimulated me, ravished me, and yet daunted me at
times so much that I dare no longer brave their looks--although the
presence of their father was a sufficient guarantee of the innocent
character of these familiarities.
When the meal was over, the same Greek servants cleared the tables.
Night-time arrived and they lighted the chandeliers. Through the closed
shutters there came to us perfumes of myrtle and lilac. Cigarettes were

brought: Zouhra took one, lighted it, and after drawing a few mouthfuls,
offered it to me. I abandoned myself to their caprices.
Now, Louis, can you picture your friend luxuriously reclining on
cushions, and surrounded by these four daughters of Mahomet's
Paradise, in their lovely sultana's costumes, frolicking and prattling,
and all four of them so beautiful that I don't know which I should have
presented with the apple if I had been Paris? I assure you, it required an
effort to convince myself that all this was real. After a little while I
noticed that Mohammed Azis was no longer present; but thanks to
Kondjé-Gul, who had quite become my interpreter, our conversation
became brisk and general. Hadidjé taught me a Turkish game which is
played with flowers, and which I won't try to describe to you, as I
hardly understood it.
If I were to tell you all that happened that evening, I should be relating
a story of giddy madness and intoxication. I taught them in return the
game of "hunt the slipper;" you know it, don't you? We played it as
follows: there was a ribbon knotted at both ends, which we held, sitting
on the floor in a circle, and on which slips a ring, which one of the
players must seize in his hands. This, upon my word, finished me up.
What laughter, and what merry cries! Each of them, caught in her turn,
chose me of course as her mark. Every moment I found myself seized
and held prisoner in their naked, snowy arms. Upon my soul, it was
maddening!
It was nearly midnight when His Excellency returned. I had lost all
reckoning of the time; now I felt I must really make off. While I was
getting ready and saying a few words to Kondjé-Gul, Mohammed Azis
spoke to Zouhra, Nazli, and Hadidjé. I fancied that he was questioning
them, and that they replied in the negative. Then he spoke at greater
length to Kondjé-Gul; he appeared to me to be pressing her to give him
an account of my conversation with her, and that the result did not
please him. I was annoyed with myself at the thought that, maybe, I had
been the cause of her being reprimanded. At last he certainly ordered
them to retire, for they came to me, one after the other, and each of
them, as on entering, bowed to me in a respectful manner, saluting me

with her hand to her forehead, and kissed my hand; after this they went
out, leaving me in a frame of mind disordered beyond description.
I was just about to offer some apologies to Mahommed, and make