I wonder at what hour commence the reveries of a heart which has not yet
been opened fully into the light of life? What are the dreams which
woman's soul creates whilst she remains yet between childhood and
womanhood, whilst she is yet half a slave, half a queen, partly a
careless being, partly an angel of light!
On the day of the birth of Maria, the daughter of Eleázár, the King of
Bulgaria, the horoscope which was cast for her by the soothsayers
foretold that this woman would be the cause of a great monarch's death.
King Eleázár naturally thought that this mighty monarch must mean
himself, and on the day of her christening he left her in the convent
where the ceremony had been performed, fully intending that she should
never leave the place.
Just about this time the Osman Emperors commenced to overrun Europe, and
Eleázár was vanquished by them, and, in order to save himself from
slavery, he offered his daughter as wife to the notorious enemy, in
accordance with a custom then prevalent. At this time the Sultans had
their own lawful wives, and it happened that Maria became the last
Sultana upon the Ottoman throne. Those who followed her were merely
favourites, and sat on footstools at the steps of the throne.
Maria was just sixteen when she exchanged the walls of the nunnery for
those of the Seraglio.
One is as closely guarded as the other.
In this abode of innocent virgins she was taught that the world is
divided into three parts. The portion above is Paradise, which is
inhabited by angels; that below is Hades, where the devils abide; and
between these comes the earth, where dwell women, and heartless beings,
alien to animals, and nothing more! The inhabitants of the upper and
lower worlds are continually fighting one against the other, and it is
the duty of the women who live on earth to pray incessantly and to
glorify and honour the angels.
The Sultan sent his chariot to fetch Maria away, and she only descended
from this at the door of the Emerald Room of the palace, where she was
greeted by three hundred maidens.
She now learnt to know that there was such a thing as a man in the
world, and that he was the Sultan Bajazet! She believed in the existence
of one man alone. The others she thought were all _Dzsins_
(Christians)--that is to say, good and evil spirits, who continually
fight against one another. She imagined Bajazet to be the chief of the
good _Dzsins_, whom he led into battle against the bad.
Maria was just sixteen, and she did not know that there was more than
one man in the world, and that was her husband, the Emperor Bajazet,
whom she loved, revered, and adored, and for whom she forgot everything,
even all that she had been taught by the sainted, marble-faced sisters
in the convent, concerning the paradise which is lit up by the rays of
the stars.
She was happy, and she made others happy. Both in the Seraglio and in
the convent she saw none but women's faces. The only difference was that
_here_ were glitter and pomp, and nothing but cheerfulness and
merriment, whilst _there_ all was coldness and severe simplicity. _Here_
she had a variety of enjoyments, whilst _there_ she had to renounce all
pleasure. _Here_ her idol was a living man with a smiling countenance,
who heaped love and flattery upon her, whilst _there_ it was an unhappy
Saviour who wore a crown of thorns, and whose pale face looked down upon
her from the cross.
Bajazet reposed in the society of Maria after his victories, and it
gratified him to recount to her how many of his opponents he had slain
in one day, whilst she caressed his snowy beard, and kissed his wrinkled
forehead, being glad to know that there were so many _Dzsins_ the less
in the world.
Little did she know that those very _Dzsins_ were of her own creed, and
that they were having their last desperate fight for existence with him.
The Odalisc (women of the harem) sang of the Sultan's glories in
something like the following strain, in which Maria delighted: "The
unbelievers disappear as a flock before a hailstorm, and as tow in the
flames. They are burned in their own cities!" Maria applauded this
singing, little knowing that amongst the _Dzsins_ fell her own brothers!
"Should you kill the King of the _Dzsins_ bring me his eyes," she said
one day to the Sultan.
Bajazet was a tender husband and a cunning inventor of tales. The next
day he made her a present of two diamonds as large as a man's eyes, and
he said they had come from the forehead of the King of the _Dzsins_.
The eyes of other spirits were made, said Bajazet, of opals, emeralds,
and rubies, and he, after each of his victories, heaped these precious
stones upon her, and pearls, which he made her believe were the teeth of
fallen _Dzsins_, were so heavy as to weigh down her bodice!
"When will you start again on a fresh campaign? And what will you bring
me back? I have myself plaited your whip and I have embroidered the
saddle which your horse is to wear when it carries you into battle."
* * * * *
Bajazet was at this time just starting on an expedition against the
Greek Emperor, whose empire was then limited to the extent of the walls
of Constantinople, which were being bombarded by his adversary.