Egypt -- History -- Mohammed Ali, 1805-1849 -- Fiction; Muhammad Ali Basha, Governor of Egypt, 1769-1849 -- Fiction
One person only had not fallen down on his knees, and that person
was Mohammed Ali.
He had secreted himself behind a rock, and there he stands,
regarding the pacha with eager eyes, and glancing contemptuously at
those who, at other times so noisy and arrogant, are now bowed down
in the dust, and who have as yet not even ventured to raise their
heads.
But now the scene on the shore becomes an animated one. The governor
has ordered that other boats be sent out to the ship, and a peculiar
and wondrous sight presents itself on board.
White female figures, closely enveloped in long white veils, appear
on deck. Tall men, with black faces and fat bodies, stand at their
side. The sailors have disappeared from the deck; no one is now
visible but the white female figures and the fat black men.
"That is the harem of the grand-vizier," the people now whisper to
each other, "and those men at their side are the eunuchs."
Two of these eunuchs now come to the shore, and, in threatening
tones, order the men to leave the beach at once, and to go up to
Cavalla to announce there that no one shall allow himself to be seen
in the streets.
The men hurriedly ascend the pathway to the city, without even
venturing to look back at the pacha's harem.
Mohammed Ali alone is nowhere to be seen. He has crouched down
behind the rocks, and no one sees the fiery eyes that peer out
cautiously from his hiding-place.
The women, looking like white swans, are now rowed to the shore.
The beach is bare--no one sees them. They can venture to open their
veils a little, and look about them on this strange shore.
Oh! what glowing eyes, what purple lips, are disclosed to the boy's
sight! For the first time, his heart beats stormily; for the first
time, he feels a strange delight in his soul. Yes--beautiful are
these women, as are the houris in paradise, and enviable is he to
whom they belong.
Two of the eunuchs walk before the women, four walk beside them, and
imperiously command them to draw their veils closer together. They
approach several of them with profound respect, and extend their
hands to assist them in entering the palanquins that stand ready to
receive them; the others must go on foot.
Loudly resounds the cry of the eunuchs who walk in advance: "The
harem--the harem of his excellency! Away, ye men! The harem!"
At this cry all flee to their houses in the city above, and none are
to be seen in the deserted streets but the ladies of the harem that
are being borne along in palanquins, and the train of veiled figures
behind them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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