DESCRIBES A MOORISH BRIDE, A WEDDING, AND A METAMORPHOSIS, BESIDES
INDICATING A PLOT.
On the following morning Mrs Langley set out on horseback for the
palace of the cadi, to attend the wedding of his daughter with Sidi
Omar, and, true to her promise, turned aside on the way to pay a visit
to the imprisoned bride of Rais Ali.
She was accompanied, of course, by the remarkable bridegroom himself,
and also by her husband's janissary, Sidi Hassan, as well as by her
daughter Agnes, who rode a spirited Arab pony.
Immediately on entering the gate of the city, Rais and the ladies
dismounted, and leaving their horses in charge of a groom, ascended on
foot one of the narrow streets of the town. So steep was this street
that it consisted of a flight of broad steps, which led ultimately to
the casba, or citadel, at the upper part of the town. But before they
had ascended it very far, the interpreter diverged into a cross street,
which was much narrower. It terminated in a _cul-de-sac_, at the bottom
of which stood the door of Rais Ali's town residence.
And a remarkable door it was, made of thick oaken planks, studded with
enormous nails, the heads of which were as large as a half-crown. Just
above it there was a square hole grated with thick iron bars, which
served to enlighten the gloomy passage within.
Applying the key before mentioned to this door, Rais threw it open and
bade the visitors enter.
Having carefully shut and re-locked the door, the interpreter led them
through a narrow passage, which terminated in the usual square court of
Moorish houses. This was very small, and, like all such courts, had no
roof, so that a pleasant gleam of sunshine flickered through the
creepers which twined up its pillars and gleamed on the drops that fell
from a tinkling fountain in the centre.
Entering an open doorway on the right of the court, the interpreter led
the way up a flight of marble steps to the second storey of the house.
A small gallery, such as one sees in public libraries in England, ran
round the four sides of the building over the balustrade, of which one
could look down on the leafy court with its ever singing _jet d'eau_.
The windows of the several private, apartments opened upon this gallery.
In the centre of one side of the square was a large open doorway, in the
form of a Moorish arch, by which entrance was obtained into a little
extremely ornate apartment. The dome-shaped roof of this boudoir was
lighted by four little holes filled with stained-glass, and the walls
were covered with beautifully painted tiles. Rich ornaments of various
Eastern and fanciful kinds were strewn about, and valuable Persian rugs
covered the marble floor.
On an ottoman, in the centre of all, sat Rais Ali's bride, cross-legged,
and on a cushion before her lay the cat, her only companion.
She was clothed in garments of the richest description, which glittered
with gold embroidery and jewels. Seated thus, stroking the cat, and
with a self-satisfied smile on her fat pretty face, she seemed the very
personification of contentment. Her soft brown neck was almost hidden
with rows of pearls, and long rows of the same jewels depended from the
high filigree cap which towered above her head. Her dress consisted of
three open jackets or short caftans, one above the other, without
sleeves. These were profusely garnished with gold lace, and fastened
only at the waist. White linen trousers or drawers covered her limbs to
the ankles, but these were so immensely wide as to bear more resemblance
to female drapery than to the masculine appendages which their name
suggests. A silken, gold-striped shawl was fastened by two corners
round her waist, and hung down in front like an apron. Sleeves of fine
embroidered muslin and of great width covered her arms. Her little feet
and ankles were bare, but the latter were ornamented with several thick
gold leglets. In each ear she wore five large round ear-rings, two of
these fitting into two holes in the lower, and three into the upper part
of the ear. One awkward result of this was that the upper ear-rings
pulled the ears down, and made them pendent like those of a poodle!
The visitors having been introduced, Madam Rais Ali received them with a
good-humoured stare, but said nothing. Mrs Langley then tried to
engage her in conversation, but Mrs Ali continued to stare and smile
without speaking, for the good reason that she understood neither French
nor English. Requesting Ali to interpret, Mrs Langley then put one or
two questions. The bride turned her large dark eyes on her husband
while he was speaking, and then, instead of replying, turned them on her
visitors and laughed. Whereupon little Agnes, unable to control
herself, also laughed; this unhinged Mrs Langley, who laughed likewise,
and Rais Ali followed suit from sympathy.
After this satisfactory ebullition, Mrs Langley again essayed to induce
conversation, but beyond yes, no, and a laugh, she could draw forth
nothing whatever from the bride, whose mind, in regard to all things
terrestrial, with the exception of household affairs, was a perfect
blank. Mohammedan females are treated by their lords like babies. They
receive no education worthy of the name, and are therefore apt to be
childish in their ideas.
After one or two fruitless attempts, the visitors took leave of the
happy bride, who was thereupon locked up again by her jealous husband,
and left to her own resources and the cat.
Returning to the place where their steeds had been left, the party
re-mounted, and proceeded to the palace of the cadi.
This palace, being situated in one of the narrow lanes of the town, had
a very undignified and dull exterior. Indeed, no one could have
imagined it to be a palace, but for the spiral columns of marble and
other rich and costly carving around the entrance. Inside, however, the
aspect of things was more in keeping with the dignity of the owner.
The lady and her daughter were ushered into a little square hall, in
which several guards were seated, cross-legged, on small stone seats or
niches round the walls, smoking long pipes. Beyond this was the
principal entrance-hall or antechamber of the palace. It was gorgeous
in marble pillars, stucco designs, horse-shoe arches, and other
Mooresque decorations. Here a large party of officials and friends were
moving about. Beyond this, they came to the square court, which is the
same in general arrangements, in all Moorish houses, though, of course,
not in size or luxury of detail.
Here the cadi himself met his guests, and conducted them to the suite of
chambers on the second storey, which were devoted to the ladies. At the
principal entrance to these they were received by the cadi's wife, and,
with much display of friendliness and affection, were conducted into the
harem--that mysterious retreat which, in a Mohammedan household, is
never entered by mortal man, except the lord thereof.
It was Mrs Langley's first visit to such a scene, and, although she had
been prepared for something magnificent, the gorgeous nature of
everything far surpassed her expectations. The rooms, indeed, were
small, being, like those of all Moorish dwellings, rather long and
narrow, with recesses or antechambers. Some of these latter had
dome-shaped roofs, with little coloured glass skylights, such as we have
already described, and were delightfully snug retreats. The walls and
ceilings of all the apartments were profusely ornamented, and the
hangings and furniture were of the richest material.
On a silken couch, at the farther end of one of these small apartments,
sat the bride, Zara, youngest daughter of the cadi, and a lovely girl of
nineteen. Poor Zara! Her history--not by any means an uncommon one in
that land--goes to prove that Mohammedan women, far more than English,
have need of a "Women's Rights Society."
Zara was already a widow with two beautiful children! Her first
husband, to whom she had been married without her inclination being
consulted, had been strangled.
It was afterwards proved that he was innocent of the crime for which he
had suffered, but that gave very little pain to the consciences of those
who had strangled him, partly because their consciences were callous,
and partly because they regarded the event as one of the decrees of
"Fate."
After his death it became necessary that another husband should be found
for Zara. She, poor creature, would have been thankful to have remained
in a state of widowed felicity; but this was not deemed proper by her
wealthy relatives. Of course it was not difficult to find a suitor
where a pretty girl was the hook, and a large dower the bait. Sidi Omar
came forward, and all the relatives said that it was an excellent
match--all save one, Zara's eldest sister, Hanyfa.
Hanyfa was--to speak plainly--a bad girl. She was one of the wives of a
great officer of state--in other words, a particularly noted pirate--
named Sidi Hamet. Now, Hamet was the Aga or commander-in-chief of the
cavalry. He was an ambitious man, and a rival of Sidi Omar in this
respect. Of course he hated Omar, and so did his wife Hanyfa, hence her
objection to him as her sister's husband. But neither she nor Hamet
could stay the marriage; they therefore made up their minds to endure
it.
One thing that struck and surprised Mrs Langley was the extreme
fairness of many of the Moorish ladies; some of whom were quite as fair
as Europeans, and very beautiful, with much finer eyes than those of the
more northern belles.
Having laid aside the shroud-like veils which Moorish ladies wear when
exposed to the slightest chance of meeting the gaze of man, they now
stood confessed in all the magnificence of Oriental taste. It is
impossible to describe the dazzling splendour of the jewels with which
their costumes absolutely blazed; especially those in the little golden
caps, or salmas, which some of them wore. There were bouquets of roses,
jessamine, peacock's-feathers, and butterflies, formed of diamonds,
rubies, emeralds, and other precious gems. We do not draw on our
imagination here, good reader. It is probable that if a comparison had
been instituted, these pirates could have far outshone any court of
Europe in the matter of jewellery.
Of course no gentlemen were present. It is one of the drawbacks of
Mohammedan female life that the ladies can never enjoy the satisfaction
of displaying themselves to male admirers, with the exception of
husbands, fathers, and brothers. How far the display of themselves to
each other is attended with pleasure remains a doubtful point--
especially when we consider that jealousy has not yet been quite
eradicated from the female human breast.
However, on the occasion of which we write, most of the assembled ladies
appeared to be highly delighted with each other. They were all very
merry too, and, being little better than children as regards
intellectual training, they were particularly childlike in their
merriment.
As the wife of the British consul was a lady of some importance just
then, (the consul being high in favour with the Dey), she was received
with becoming ceremony, and conducted to a seat next the bride. This
seat, like the seats of Orientals in general, was simply a cushion laid
on the marble floor. Seating herself with some difficulty in the
Moorish fashion, she proceeded to pay some compliments to the bride in
English and French, but as Zara knew neither of these languages, she
shook her head, smiled, and returned some compliments in Turkish;
whereupon Mrs Langley shook her head and smiled. The rest of the
company, from infection probably, nodded to each other also, and smiled.
Two or three pretty young and rather stout girls turned aside, and went
the length of giggling.
Fortunately at this point an interpreter was brought forward in the
person of an Italian slave, a good-looking middle-aged lady, who
understood French, and who, during a servitude of ten years, had also
acquired Turkish.
Compliments were now bandied to and fro with great volubility, without
any introductory references to weather, and much notice was taken of
little Agnes, whose appearance was the cause of some good-natured
criticism among the Algerine belles. As the costume of these latter,--
with much variety in colour and detail,--bore strong general resemblance
to that of the bride of Rais Ali, it is not necessary to describe it
more minutely.
Coffee and sweetmeats were now served, the former in exquisitely
delicate porcelain cups, so small that they might have been easily
mistaken for part of a doll's establishment. They had neither handles
nor saucers, and were prevented from burning the fingers by being
inserted into what we may style egg-cups of beautiful gold and silver
filigree. The coffee was too thick to suit the European palate, being
ground in a fashion peculiar to the Moors. It was also too sweet.
There was present a younger sister of the bride, who had not only a
tendency, but had already attained in an unusual degree, to the
possession of _embonpoint_ and was appropriately named Fatma. She wore
the salma, a dazzling little golden cap, in token of being still
unmarried. She seemed much captivated with little Agnes. No wonder,
for, in the simplicity of a pure white dress, and with her fair curls
streaming down her cheeks, unadorned save by one little blush rose, she
looked like an ethereal spirit dropped into the midst of the garish
party.
Fatma got up suddenly and whispered to her mother.
"My little girl," said the Moorish lady, through the interpreter,
"thinks your daughter would look _so_ pretty in our costume."
"I have no doubt she would," replied Mrs Langley, glancing with some
pride at Agnes.
"She asks if you will allow her to be dressed just now in the Moorish
fashion."
"If there is sufficient time," said Mrs Langley, with an amused smile.
"Oh, plenty of time," cried Fatma, who immediately seized the not
unwilling Agnes by the hand, and ran off with her.
Opposite to Zara sat her sister Hanyfa, who looked pretty and innocent
enough just then, though Mrs Langley was struck by her look of superior
intelligence, and a certain sharpness of glance which might almost have
been styled suspicious.
The consul's lady was about to address her, but was interrupted by the
entrance of several dancing-women, who immediately claimed the undivided
attention of the company.
One of these carried a sort of guitar, another an earthenware drum
covered at one end with parchment, and a third a large tambourine, while
a fourth prepared to dance.
Of the dancing we need say little. It was unworthy of the name. There
was little motion of the feet, and a good deal of waving of a kerchief
held in each hand. The music was still less worthy of note; its chief
feature being noise. Nevertheless, the Moorish ladies, knowing no
better, enjoyed it extremely, and Mrs Langley enjoyed it
sympathetically. These women were professionals, the ladies themselves
taking no part in the dancing.
After this the bride ascended by steps to one of the shelves or stone
recesses, which formed convenient sofas or couches round the walls of
the apartment, and there, seated on cushions, submitted to be arrayed in
bridal apparel. None but a lady's pen could do full justice to her
stupendous toilet. We shall therefore do no more than state that the
ludicrously high head-dress, in particular, was a thing of unimaginable
splendour, and that her ornaments generally were so heavy as to render
her incapable of walking without support.
While this was going on in the chamber of state, a very different, but
not less remarkable, transformation was being wrought in Fatma's own
private apartment, where she and several of her Algerine companions,
assisted by a coal-black slave-girl, named Zooloo, converted innocent
little Agnes into a Moor.
Of course conversation with the heroine of the hour was impossible, but
this mattered, little to Agnes, for she could converse quite powerfully
with her eyes, and her young friends chattered more than enough among
themselves.
Standing over her with a formidable pair of scissors, and grasping her
front hair with her left hand, the coal-black Zooloo said--
"Stand still, you white thing, till I perform my duty."
Of course she said it only by her looks; and Agnes quite understood her.
Next moment a whole cluster of golden ringlets fell to the ground. For
one moment Agnes's eyes and mouth resembled three round O's. She felt
that something telling had been done, and thoughts of her mother flashed
into her mind, but Fatma's pretty little round face, with no eyes to
speak of owing to laughter, caused her to smile and then to laugh
heartily.
Having brushed the front hair over her forehead, and cut it straight
across, the energetic Zooloo next painted her eyebrows black with a
substance called kohl, causing them to meet over her nose in the most
approved form of Algerine elegance. Then she dyed her nails and the
palms of her hands dark-red with another substance named henna. The
first of these takes about a week to remove, and the last can be got rid
of only by the growth of the nail. Agnes was not aware of this, else
she might have objected. They finished up the adornment of the face by
sticking it all over with gold spangles.
"Now you look lovely," said Zooloo--with her eyes--stepping back and
surveying her as a painter might his _chef-d'oeuvre_.
"Do I? How nice!" replied Agnes.
Then the whole party broke into a chorus of laughter, and running to a
wardrobe tumbled out a mass of richly embroidered garments--in silk,
satin, muslin, damask, fine linen, and gold, that would have stocked at
least half a dozen European families with charading material for life.
From this heap were selected and put on a lovely pair of fair linen
drawers, of that baggy kind peculiar to Algerine ladies; also an
exquisite little caftan, or sleeveless jacket, of scarlet cloth, so
covered with gold lace that scarcely any of the scarlet was visible;
likewise a perfect gem of a cap of gold, not bigger than Agnes's own
hand, which Fatma put on in a coquettish style, very much to one side of
the head; saying, (with her eyes), as she did so, and laughing heartily
the while--
"You're not married yet, of course?"