Suddenly the word brings back to my mind yet another phrase, spoken in
a very different language, in a country far away from here: “Setchan!” a
word heard elsewhere, a word that has likewise been whispered in my
ear by a woman’s voice, under similar circumstances, in a moment of
nocturnal terror--“Setchan!” It was during one of our first nights
at Stamboul spent under the mysterious roof of Eyoub, when danger
surrounded us on all sides; a noise on the steps of the black staircase
had made us tremble, and she also, my dear little Turkish companion, had
said to me in her beloved language, “Setchan!” (“the mice!”).
At that fond recollection, a thrill of sweet memories coursed through my
veins; it was as if I had been startled out of a long ten years’ sleep;
I looked down upon the doll beside me with a sort of hatred, wondering
why I was there, and I arose, with almost a feeling of remorse, to
escape from that blue gauze net.
I stepped out upon the veranda, and there I paused, gazing into the
depths of the starlit night. Beneath me Nagasaki lay asleep, wrapped
in a soft, light slumber, hushed by the murmuring sound of a thousand
insects in the moonlight, and fairy-like with its roseate hues. Then,
turning my head, I saw behind me the gilded idol with our lamps burning
in front of it; the idol smiling the impassive smile of Buddha; and its
presence seemed to cast around it something, I know not what, strange
and incomprehensible. Never until now had I slept under the eye of such
a god.
In the midst of the calm and silence of the night, I strove to recall
my poignant impressions of Stamboul; but, alas, I strove in vain, they
would not return to me in this strange, far-off world. Through the
transparent blue gauze appeared my little Japanese, as she lay in her
sombre night-robe with all the fantastic grace of her country, the nape
of her neck resting on its wooden block, and her hair arranged in large,
shiny bows. Her amber-tinted arms, pretty and delicate, emerged, bare up
to the shoulders, from her wide sleeves.
“What can those mice on the roof have done to him?” thought
Chrysantheme. Of course she could not understand. In a coaxing manner,
like a playful kitten, she glanced at me with her half-closed eyes,
inquiring why I did not come back to sleep--and I returned to my place
by her side.
CHAPTER XI. A GAME OF ARCHERY
July 14th.
This is the National Fete day of France. In Nagasaki Harbor, all the
ships are adorned with flags, and salutes are fired in our honor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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