THE INTERIOR OF THE DUKE CHOW P'HAYA MÂNDTREE'S HAREM.
Every harem is a little world in itself, composed entirely of
women,--some who rule, others who obey, and those who serve. Here
disinterestedness vanishes out of sight. Each one is for herself.
They are nearly all young women, but they have the appearance of
being slightly blighted. Nobody is too much in earnest, or too much
alive, or too happy. The general atmosphere is that of depression.
They are bound to have no thought for the world they have quitted,
however pleasant it may have been; to ignore all ties and affections;
to have no care but for one individual alone, and that the master.
But if you became acquainted with some of these very women under
favorable conditions,--very rare, however,--you might gather glimpses
of recollections of the outer world, of earlier life and strong
affections, of hearts scarred and disfigured and broken, of suppressed
sighs and unuttered sobs, that would dispose you to melancholy
reflections and sad forebodings, and, if you were by nature tender,
to shedding of tears. Their dress and manners often betray all sorts
of peculiarities, and yet all is harmonious outwardly. They are
unconscious of the terrible defacement they have undergone. Yet it
sometimes happens that this same little world has its greatness, and
always when a woman becomes a mother her life changes; she passes from
the ignoble to the noble; then she becomes pure, worthy, honorable.
The wall that surrounded the duke's palaces and temples enclosed
also about five hundred houses, with gardens and artificial lakes and
fountains and aviaries. Most of the houses were built of solid masonry,
with here and there a theatre of carved wood; the streets were narrow,
and the covered bazaars in no way remarkable except for the shops of
female jewellers, gold and silversmiths. All the palaces and temples
faced the river. The oldest Hindoo temple stood here, beside a Buddhist
temple and monastery, from which the priests who officiated in the
duke's household were supplied. The most remarkable edifice, however,
was the duke's tower, or summer-house, of four lofty stories, opening
all round into arches, made entirely of carved wood, and richly gilt.
It commanded a magnificent view of the river, and overlooked more than
one half of the city of Bangkok. When you mount the highest chamber,
you open your eyes upon a scene too solemnly and mysteriously beautiful
to be adequately described. You seem to be midway in the air, looking
down upon a city of temples and palaces, gardens, lakes, minarets,
pagodas and p'hra-chai-dees; thousands of boats glide noiselessly over
the silver floor that winds on forever. The great height hushes out
even the joyous voices that are hushed nowhere else. In the gloom at
the upper end of the river many a boatman, perched on the prow of his
boat, seems like the Angel of Death guiding some helpless passenger to
the silent shore. And overhead the sky looks like some blue door, such
as must lead straight into heaven.
In every ducal or royal harem there are a great many buildings designed
and built for the express purpose of training and educating the women,
and every girl has to go through certain forms and observances before
she is admitted among the favored ones.
The female teachers, physicians, and judges, who are placed over them,
generally receive a careful professional education,--the best the
country can supply. Mere children are often taken into these places and
trained to be actresses, dancers, musicians, and singers.
Every department has a superintendent, who is generally a lady of high
rank, and is responsible to the duke only.
The mode of teaching in the schools is peculiar; no books are used by
the pupils, who are placed in rows, with female officers in attendance
to administer the rattan in all cases of inattention. The teacher
either reads or sings the first line of a poem, or plays the first bar
of an air; the head pupil repeats it after her, and so on to the last
girl in the class; then all together, until they have learned it by
heart. Dancing and gymnastics are taught in the same way.
Often a hundred different airs and poems are committed to memory by
very young girls, who are thus converted into walking libraries.
Smâyâtee was led into the adytum of the duke's palace, conducted to a
small chamber, and left there; while her guards betook themselves to
their dinner. Very soon, the rumor of her great beauty having spread,
nearly all the lovely girls in the harem rushed in to get a glimpse
of her; but finding her closely veiled, and that no persuasion could
prevail with her to uncover her face, they gradually departed, one
young woman only remaining behind, sitting apart in silent sympathy.
After a while two female physicians came in, talking in low tones one
to the other. They then proceeded to question the girl, and to all of
their questions she returned modest replies; after they were satisfied
they bade her unrobe, which she did with some little hesitancy. When
she laid aside her veil, her eyes met those of her silent visitor; an
indescribable something beamed from every feature of the stranger,
and they became friends. The physicians then examined the girl, just
as if she were an animal; having finished their inventory of her
perfections and imperfections, they dropped a few pleasant words, and
departed. Smâyâtee had no sooner dressed herself and taken her place
close to her new friend, and they had in the brief moment exchanged
names, when another batch of women appeared, and told her to follow
them. She rose, and went out, holding her new friend's hand. After
passing through a dark and silent street, they brought her to a marble
building, with baths and fountains all round it. Here she was again
told to undress, and take her place on a marble couch. With her eyes
she pleadingly besought her friend to stay, who did so, seated, leaning
against a pillar. The bathers then anointed Smâyâtee's person with a
fragrant preparation; when she was completely besmeared they suspended
their labors, in order to let the stuff dry on the poor girl, who
knew no more what was going to be done to her than if she had been a
little kitten; and as she sat there, her skin glowing and her heart
palpitating, she heard herself discussed by the bathers, whose language
she only partially understood. But she heard enough to realize the life
in store for herself. After half an hour they seized her again, rubbed
off briskly the dried paste, and showered buckets of hot and cold water
upon her. Another set of women now took charge of the poor girl, and
dressed her in beautiful silk robes, like those worn by the Loatian
women of high rank. Her hair was combed, perfumed, and ornamented
with flowers, finally she was conducted to a pretty little house,
luxuriously fitted up, and left in the charge of a number of female
slaves.
Smâyâtee now wore a new veil of Indian gauze, but she would rather have
kept the old one. She cowered down in a corner, and laid her tired head
in the lap of her new friend, who began patting and soothing her,
without uttering a single word.
Most girls, as soon as they have overcome the horror which such a
life must naturally inspire in the young and enthusiastic, begin to
calculate on their chances of promotion to the highest place in the
harem.
As for Smâyâtee, no thought but of escape presented itself to her mind;
her nature was too wild and untamed to be flattered by the luxuries
that now surrounded her; she looked upon them only as so many fetters.
All kinds of wild plans for running away took violent possession of
her brain; but the soothing influence of the bath, combined with the
exhaustion of the day, overcame her, and she was soon sound asleep.