of the Alhambra, when a slave arrived from the fortress of Salobreña, with
a message from the sage Kadiga, congratulating him on the anniversary of
his daughters' birthday. The slave at the same time presented a delicate
little basket decorated with flowers, within which, on a couch of vine and
fig-leaves, lay a peach, an apricot, and a nectarine, with their bloom and
down and dewy sweetness upon them, and all in the early stage of tempting
ripeness. The monarch was versed in the Oriental language of fruits and
flowers, and rapidly divined the meaning of this emblematical offering.
"So," said he, "the critical period pointed out by the astrologers is
arrived: my daughters are at a marriageable age. What is to be done? They
are shut up from the eyes of men; they are under the eyes of the discreet
Kadiga,--all very good,--but still they are not under my own eye, as was
prescribed by the astrologers: I must gather them under my wing, and trust
to no other guardianship."
So saying, he ordered that a tower of the Alhambra should be prepared for
their reception, and departed at the head of his guards for the fortress
of Salobreña, to conduct them home in person.
About three years had elapsed since Mohamed had beheld his daughters,
and he could scarcely credit his eyes at the wonderful change which that
small space of time had made in their appearance. During the interval,
they had passed that wondrous boundary line in female life which separates
the crude, unformed, and thoughtless girl from the blooming, blushing,
meditative woman. It is like passing from the flat, bleak, uninteresting
plains of La Mancha to the voluptuous valleys and swelling hills of
Andalusia.
Zayda was tall and finely formed, with a lofty demeanour and a penetrating
eye. She entered with a stately and decided step, and made a profound
reverence to Mohamed, treating him more as her sovereign than her father.
Zorayda was of the middle height, with an alluring look and swimming gait,
and a sparkling beauty, heightened by the assistance of the toilette.
She approached her father with a smile, kissed his hand, and saluted him
with several stanzas from a popular Arabian poet, with which the monarch
was delighted. Zorahayda was shy and timid, smaller than her sisters, and
with a beauty of that tender beseeching kind which looks for fondness and
protection. She was little fitted to command, like her elder sister, or
to dazzle like the second, but was rather formed to creep to the bosom
of manly affection, to nestle within it, and be content. She drew near to
her father, with a timid and almost faltering step, and would have taken
his hand to kiss, but on looking up into his face, and seeing it beaming
with a paternal smile, the tenderness of her nature broke forth, and she
threw herself upon his neck.
Mohamed the Left-handed surveyed his blooming daughters with mingled pride
and perplexity, for while he exulted in their charms, he bethought himself
of the prediction of the astrologers. "Three daughters! three daughters!"
muttered he repeatedly to himself, "and all of a marriageable age! Here's
tempting Hesperian fruit, that requires a dragon watch!"
He prepared for his return to Granada, by sending heralds before him,
commanding every one to keep out of the road by which he was to pass,
and that all doors and windows should be closed at the approach of the
princesses. This done, he set forth, escorted by a troop of black horsemen
of hideous aspect, and clad in shining armour.
The princesses rode beside the king, closely veiled, on beautiful white
palfreys, with velvet caparisons, embroidered with gold, and sweeping the
ground; the bits and stirrups were of gold, and the silken bridles adorned
with pearls and precious stones. The palfreys were covered with little
silver bells, which made the most musical tinkling as they ambled gently
along. Woe to the unlucky wight, however, who lingered in the way when
he heard the tinkling of these bells!--the guards were ordered to cut him
down without mercy.
The cavalcade was drawing near to Granada, when it overtook, on the banks
of the river Xenil, a small body of Moorish soldiers with a convoy of
prisoners. It was too late for the soldiers to get out of the way, so they
threw themselves on their faces on the earth, ordering their captives to
do the like. Among the prisoners were the three identical cavaliers whom
the princesses had seen from the pavilion. They either did not understand,
or were too haughty to obey the order, and remained standing and gazing
upon the cavalcade as it approached.
The ire of the monarch was kindled at this flagrant defiance of his
orders. Drawing his cimeter, and pressing forward, he was about to deal
a left-handed blow that might have been fatal to at least one of the
gazers, when the princesses crowded round him, and implored mercy for
the prisoners; even the timid Zorahayda forgot her shyness, and became
eloquent in their behalf. Mohamed paused, with uplifted cimeter, when the
captain of the guard threw himself at his feet. "Let not your highness,"
said he, "do a deed that may cause great scandal throughout the kingdom.
These are three brave and noble Spanish knights, who have been taken in
battle, fighting like lions; they are of high birth, and may bring great
ransoms."
"Enough!" said the king. "I will spare their lives, but punish their
audacity--let them be taken to the Vermilion Towers, and put to hard
labour."
[Illustration: _Vermilion Towers_.]
Mohamed was making one of his usual left-handed blunders. In the tumult
and agitation of this blustering scene, the veils of the three princesses
had been thrown back, and the radiance of their beauty revealed; and in
prolonging the parley, the king had given that beauty time to have its
full effect. In those days people fell in love much more suddenly than
at present, as all ancient stories make manifest: it is not a matter of
wonder, therefore, that the hearts of the three cavaliers were completely
captured; especially as gratitude was added to their admiration; it is a
little singular, however, though no less certain, that each of them was
enraptured with a several beauty. As to the princesses, they were more
than ever struck with the noble demeanour of the captives, and cherished
in their breasts all that they had heard of their valour and noble
lineage.
[Illustration]
The cavalcade resumed its march; the three princesses rode pensively
along on their tinkling palfreys, now and then stealing a glance behind in
search of the Christian captives, and the latter were conducted to their
allotted prison in the Vermilion Towers.
The residence provided for the princesses was one of the most dainty that
fancy could devise. It was in a tower somewhat apart from the main palace
of the Alhambra, though connected with it by the wall which encircled
the whole summit of the hill. On one side it looked into the interior
of the fortress, and had, at its foot, a small garden filled with the
rarest flowers. On the other side it overlooked a deep embowered ravine
separating the grounds of the Alhambra from those of the Generalife. The
interior of the tower was divided into small fairy apartments, beautifully
ornamented in the light Arabian style, surrounding a lofty hall, the
vaulted roof of which rose almost to the summit of the tower. The walls
and the ceilings of the hall were adorned with arabesque and fretwork,
sparkling with gold and with brilliant pencilling. In the centre of the
marble pavement was an alabaster fountain, set round with aromatic shrubs
and flowers, and throwing up a jet of water that cooled the whole edifice
and had a lulling sound. Round the hall were suspended cages of gold and
silver wire, containing singing-birds of the finest plumage or sweetest
note.
[Illustration]
The princesses had been represented as always cheerful when in the Castle
of the Salobreña; the king had expected to see them enraptured with
the Alhambra. To his surprise, however, they began to pine, and grow
melancholy, and dissatisfied with everything around them. The flowers
yielded them no fragrance, the song of the nightingale disturbed their
night's rest, and they were out of all patience with the alabaster
fountain, with its eternal drop-drop and splash-splash, from morning till
night and from night till morning.
The king, who was of a somewhat testy, tyrannical disposition, took
this at first in high dudgeon; but he reflected that his daughters had
arrived at an age when the female mind expands and its desires augment.
"They are no longer children," said he to himself, "they are women grown,
and require suitable objects to interest them." He put in requisition,
therefore, all the dressmakers, and the jewellers, and the artificers
in gold and silver throughout the Zacatin of Granada, and the princesses
were overwhelmed with robes of silk, and tissue, and brocade, and cashmere
shawls, and necklaces of pearls and diamonds, and rings, and bracelets,
and anklets, and all manner of precious things.
[Illustration]
All, however, was of no avail; the princesses continued pale and languid
in the midst of their finery, and looked like three blighted rose-buds,
drooping from one stalk. The king was at his wits' end. He had in general
a laudable confidence in his own judgment, and never took advice.
"The whims and caprices of three marriageable damsels, however, are
sufficient," said he, "to puzzle the shrewdest head." So for once in his
life he called in the aid of counsel.
The person to whom he applied was the experienced duenna.
"Kadiga," said the king, "I know you to be one of the most discreet women
in the whole world, as well as one of the most trustworthy; for these
reasons I have always continued you about the persons of my daughters.
Fathers cannot be too wary in whom they repose such confidence; I now wish
you to find out the secret malady that is preying upon the princesses,
and to devise some means of restoring them to health and cheerfulness."
Kadiga promised implicit obedience. In fact she knew more of the malady
of the princesses than they themselves. Shutting herself up with them,
however, she endeavoured to insinuate herself into their confidence.
"My dear children, what is the reason you are so dismal and downcast in
so beautiful a place, where you have everything that heart can wish?"
The princesses looked vacantly round the apartment and sighed.
"What more then would you have? Shall I get you the wonderful parrot that
talks all languages, and is the delight of Granada?"
"Odious!" exclaimed the princess Zayda. "A horrid screaming bird, that
chatters words without ideas: one must be without brains to tolerate such
a pest."
"Shall I send for a monkey from the rock of Gibraltar, to divert you with
his antics?"
"A monkey! faugh!" cried Zorayda; "the detestable mimic of man. I hate
the nauseous animal."
"What say you to the famous black singer Casem, from the royal harem, in
Morocco? They say he has a voice as fine as a woman's."
"I am terrified at the sight of these black slaves," said the delicate
Zorahayda; "besides I have lost all relish for music."
"Ah! my child, you would not say so," replied the old woman slyly, "had
you heard the music I heard last evening, from the three Spanish cavaliers
whom we met on our journey. But bless me, children; what is the matter
that you blush so and are in such a flutter?"
"Nothing, nothing, good mother; pray proceed."
"Well; as I was passing by the Vermilion Towers last evening, I saw the
three cavaliers resting after their day's labour. One was playing on the
guitar, so gracefully, and the others sang by turns; and they did it in
such style, that the very guards seemed like statues, or men enchanted.
Allah forgive me! I could not help being moved at hearing the songs of my
native country. And then to see three such noble and handsome youths in
chains and slavery!"
[Illustration: _Gibraltar._]
Here the kind-hearted old woman could not restrain her tears.
"Perhaps, mother, you could manage to procure us a sight of these
cavaliers," said Zayda.
"I think," said Zorayda, "a little music would be quite reviving."
The timid Zorahayda said nothing, but threw her arms round the neck of
Kadiga.
"Mercy on me!" exclaimed the discreet old woman, "what are you talking
of, my children? Your father would be the death of us all if he heard of
such a thing. To be sure, these cavaliers are evidently well-bred, and
high-minded youths; but what of that? they are the enemies of our faith,
and you must not even think of them but with abhorrence."
There is an admirable intrepidity in the female will, particularly when
about the marriageable age, which is not to be deterred by dangers and
prohibitions. The princesses hung round their old _duenna_, and coaxed,
and entreated and declared that a refusal would break their hearts.
What could she do? She was certainly the most discreet old woman in the
whole world, and one of the most faithful servants to the king; but
was she to see three beautiful princesses break their hearts for the
mere tinkling of a guitar? Besides, though she had been so long among
the Moors, and changed her faith in imitation of her mistress, like a
trusty follower, yet she was a Spaniard born, and had the lingerings of
Christianity in her heart. So she set about to contrive how the wish of
the princesses might be gratified.
The Christian captives, confined in the Vermilion Towers, were under the
charge of a big-whiskered, broad-shouldered _renegado_, called Hussein
Baba, who was reputed to have a most itching palm. She went to him
privately, and slipping a broad piece of gold into his hand, "Hussein
Baba," said she, "my mistresses, the three princesses who are shut up in
the tower, and in sad want of amusement; have heard of the musical talents
of the three Spanish cavaliers, and are desirous of hearing a specimen of
their skill. I am sure you are too kind-hearted to refuse them so innocent
a gratification."
[Illustration: _Night on the Sea-front of Algeciras._]
"What! and to have my head set grinning over the gate of my own tower;
for that would be the reward, if the king should discover it."
"No danger of anything of the kind; the affair may be managed so that
the whim of the princesses may be gratified, and their father be never
the wiser. You know the deep ravine outside of the walls which passes
immediately below the tower. Put the three Christians to work there, and
at the intervals of their labour, let them play and sing, as if for their
own recreation. In this way the princesses will be able to hear them from
the windows of the tower, and you may be sure of their paying well for
your compliance."
As the good old woman concluded her harangue, she kindly pressed the rough
hand of the _renegado_, and left within it another piece of gold.
Her eloquence was irresistible. The very next day the three cavaliers
were put to work in the ravine. During the noontide heat, when their
fellow-labourers were sleeping in the shade, and the guard nodding
drowsily at his post, they seated themselves among the herbage at the foot
of the tower, and sang a Spanish roundelay to the accompaniment of the
guitar.
The glen was deep, the tower was high, but their voices rose distinctly
in the stillness of the summer noon. The princesses listened from their
balcony, they had been taught the Spanish language by their duenna, and
were moved by the tenderness of the song. The discreet Kadiga, on the
contrary, was terribly shocked. "Allah preserve us!" cried she, "they
are singing a love-ditty, addressed to yourselves. Did ever mortal hear
of such audacity? I will run to the slave-master, and have them soundly
bastinadoed."
"What! bastinado such gallant cavaliers, and for singing so charmingly!"
The three beautiful princesses were filled with horror at the idea. With
all her virtuous indignation, the good old woman was of a placable nature,
and easily appeased. Besides, the music seemed to have a beneficial effect
upon her young mistresses. A rosy bloom had already come to their cheeks,
and their eyes began to sparkle. She made no further objection, therefore
to the amorous ditty of the cavaliers.
When it was finished, the princesses remained silent for a time; at length
Zorayda took up a lute, and with a sweet, though faint and trembling
voice, warbled a little Arabian air, the burden of which was, "The rose
is concealed among her leaves, but she listens with delight to the song
of the nightingale."
[Illustration]
From this time forward the cavaliers worked almost daily in the ravine.
The considerate Hussein Baba became more and more indulgent, and daily
more prone to sleep at his post. For some time a vague intercourse was
kept up by popular songs and romances, which in some measure responded
to each other, and breathed the feelings of the parties. By degrees the
princesses showed themselves at the balcony, when they could do so without
being perceived by the guards. They conversed with the cavaliers also, by
means of flowers, with the symbolical language of which they were mutually
acquainted; the difficulties of their intercourse added to its charms,
and strengthened the passion they had so singularly conceived; for love
delights to struggle with difficulties, and thrives the most hardily on
the scantiest soil.
The change effected in the looks and spirits of the princesses by this
secret intercourse, surprised and gratified the left-handed king; but no
one was more elated than the discreet Kadiga, who considered it all owing
to her able management.
At length there was an interruption in this telegraphic correspondence:
for several days the cavaliers ceased to make their appearance in the
glen. The princesses looked out from the tower in vain. In vain they
stretched their swan-like necks from the balcony; in vain they sang like
captive nightingales in their cage: nothing was to be seen of their
Christian lovers; not a note responded from the groves. The discreet
Kadiga sallied forth in quest of intelligence, and soon returned with a
face full of trouble. "Ah, my children!" cried she, "I saw what all this
would come to, but you would have your way; you may now hang up your lutes
on the willows. The Spanish cavaliers are ransomed by their families; they
are down in Granada, and preparing to return to their native country."
The three beautiful princesses were in despair at the tidings. Zayda was
indignant at the slight put upon them, in thus being deserted without a
parting word. Zorayda wrung her hands and cried, and looked in the glass,
and wiped away her tears, and cried afresh. The gentle Zorahayda leaned
over the balcony and wept in silence, and her tears fell drop by drop
among the flowers of the bank, where the faithless cavaliers had so often
been seated.
The discreet Kadiga did all in her power to soothe their sorrow. "Take
comfort, my children," she said, "this is nothing when you are used to
it. This is the way of the world. Ah! when you are as old as I am, you
will know how to value these men. I'll warrant these cavaliers have their
loves among the Spanish beauties of Cordova and Seville, and will soon
be serenading under their balconies, and thinking no more of the Moorish
beauties in the Alhambra. Take comfort, therefore, my children, and drive
them from your hearts."
The comforting words of the discreet Kadiga only redoubled the distress
of the three princesses, and for two days they continued inconsolable. On
the morning of the third the good old woman entered their apartment, all
ruffling with indignation.
"Who would have believed such insolence in mortal man!" exclaimed she, as
soon as she could find words to express herself; "but I am rightly served
for having connived at this deception of your worthy father. Never talk
more to me of your Spanish cavaliers."
"Why, what has happened, good Kadiga?" exclaimed the princesses in
breathless anxiety.
"What has happened?--treason has happened! or, what is almost as bad,
treason has been proposed; and to me, the most faithful of subjects, the
trustiest of _duennas_! Yes, my children, the Spanish cavaliers have dared
to tamper with me, that I should persuade you to fly with them to Cordova,
and become their wives!"
Here the excellent old woman covered her face with her hands, and gave
way to a violent burst of grief and indignation. The three beautiful
princesses turned pale and red, pale and red, and trembled, and looked
down, and cast shy looks at each other, but said nothing. Meantime the
old woman sat rocking backward and forward in violent agitation, and now
and then breaking out into exclamations,--"That ever I should live to be
so insulted!--I, the most faithful of servants!"
At length the eldest princess, who had most spirit and always took the
lead, approached her, and laying her hand upon her shoulder, "Well,
mother," said she, "supposing we were willing to fly with these Christian
cavaliers--is such a thing possible?"
The good old woman paused suddenly in her grief, and looking up,
"Possible," echoed she; "to be sure it is possible. Have not the cavaliers
already bribed Hussein Baba, the renegado captain of the guard, and
arranged the whole plan? But, then, to think of deceiving your father!
your father, who has placed such confidence in me!" Here the worthy woman
gave way to a fresh burst of grief, and began again to rock backward and
forward, and to wring her hands.
"But our father has never placed any confidence in us," said the eldest
princess, "but has trusted to bolts and bars, and treated us as captives."
"Why, that is true enough," replied the old woman, again pausing in her
grief; "he has indeed treated you most unreasonably, keeping you shut up
here, to waste your bloom in a moping old tower, like roses left to wither
in a flower-jar. But, then, to fly from your native land!"
"And is not the land we fly to the native land of our mother, where we
shall live in freedom? And shall we not each have a youthful husband in
exchange for a severe old father?"
"Why, that again is all very true; and your father, I must confess, is
rather tyrannical; but what then," relapsing into her grief, "would you
leave me behind to bear the brunt of his vengeance?"
"By no means, my good Kadiga; cannot you fly with us?"
"Very true, my child; and, to tell the truth, when I talked the matter
over with Hussein Baba, he promised to take care of me, if I would
accompany you in your flight; but then, bethink you, my children, are you
willing to renounce the faith of your father?"
"The Christian faith was the original faith of our mother," said the
eldest princess; "I am ready to embrace it, and so, I am sure, are my
sisters."
"Right again," exclaimed the old woman, brightening up; "it was the
original faith of your mother, and bitterly did she lament, on her
death-bed, that she had renounced it. I promised her then to take care of
your souls, and I rejoice to see that they are now in a fair way to be
saved. Yes, my children, I too was born a Christian, and have remained
a Christian in my heart, and am resolved to return to the faith. I have
talked on the subject with Hussein Baba, who is a Spaniard by birth, and
comes from a place not far from my native town. He is equally anxious
to see his own country, and to be reconciled to the Church; and the
cavaliers have promised that, if we are disposed to become man and wife,
on returning to our native land, they will provide for us handsomely."
In a word, it appeared that this extremely discreet and provident old
woman had consulted with the cavaliers and the renegado, and had concerted
the whole plan of escape. The eldest princess immediately assented to it;
and her example, as usual, determined the conduct of her sisters. It is
true the youngest hesitated, for she was gentle and timid of soul, and
there was a struggle in her bosom between filial feeling and youthful
passion: the latter, however, as usual, gained the victory, and with
silent tears and stifled sighs she prepared herself for flight.