Romance of a Harem

Chapter X

One Friday I was told to accompany the great Princess Zeinep, the eldest sister of the Prince, to the palace of the Sultana Fatma.

The Princess Zeinep had kept her immense fortune; she observed with great strictness the Mussulman traditions. Intelligent, proud, and very pious, she rarely even received ambassadresses. Nevertheless, Madame de Gasparin was received by her, and kept always a delightful memory of that interview. The Princess was devoted to her brother Halim, which she proved by leaving him all her fortune. She lived in the greatest magnificence in the palace of Bebek, and rarely visited the Sultanas. These visits were a great expense on account of the money and jewels which was the custom to distribute amongst the wives of the Sultan.

Notwithstanding that she never allowed a French dress in her harem, she sent an order that I was to be dressed in the latest Parisian fashion. She thought that thus I should be more easily noticed by the Sultana, to whom she wished to present me. The Prince was interested in this, and sent me from his treasury a pair of earrings which were said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette. They were single diamonds cut in the shape of almonds, and he begged that I would wear no other jewels.

The Sultana Fatma lived like an idol in the depths of her palace. Daughter of Abdul Medjed, it was she who, after the Crimean War, used to drive about in a carriage with massive silver wheels, shaded by a large umbrella with a diamond fringe, the handle of which was ornamented with an enormous ruby the size of a pigeon's egg, which gave the French ambassador, Monsieur Thouvenel, many sad reflections. Up to the death of her father, she lived as a celebrity in all Oriental annals; and the people listened with open ears and eyes to the marvellous descriptions of her luxury and magnificence.

For many long years the Sultana Fatma had lived a retired life in the palace of Balta Liman, where I entered behind the Princess Zeinep. On going in we heard first of all in the distance the professional laughers, and nothing was more peculiar than the sound of that unreal mirth, which echoed in the silence like a pebble dropped in a well.

Laid out in those vast and deserted rooms were the presents made to Abdul Medjed by foreign sovereigns, Louis XVI, candelabras, gilt furniture, stately old Sevres china, great vases from Japan and China unknown in any trade. On cabinets, in every style, were antique clocks ranged symmetrically, and in place of honour you saw stuffed birds on musical boxes encrusted with stones, stuffs embroidered with pearls, a thousand precious things which remained there till the Sultana, pressed for money, allowed some Jew dealer to carry off a load of them.

After a wait of an hour, the Princess and I were admitted into the presence of the Sultana Fatma. She was very particular that all the ceremonial of genuflexion should be rigorously carried out; and it was only after all the customary salutations were made that I dared lift my eyes to her, when for the first time I saw a Sultana.

She was a woman with a face as absolutely immovable and expressionless as that of a goddess. Her eyes which nothing could astonish or interest, gazed into vacancy with a look of complete authority, so absolute that they made one uncomfortable.

Clothed in a dress of a strange green colour, with not even a jewel to break the uniformity, she preserved a silence that was only broken by the professional laughers. Slowly she asked after the health of the Princess, who answered her without omitting a single word of the compliments and formulas that were necessary. She wished to see me clearly, and made me go close to her, examining me curiously, like a bit of carved ivory is inspected by connoisseurs. At a sign, a lady of the palace appeared dressed in white satin, with golden dyed hair, in which were birds of paradise made of large pearls.

"Ela Hanem will dine with us," said the Sultana in an expressionless voice - such a voice as the dead Caliphs must use when they talk together in their vast burial place.

The dinner was remarkable; the slaves in low cut ball-dresses carried the immense dishes, which were of rare china, gold or silver; the table sparkled with a fairylike brilliancy. The attendants walked slowly, or held themselves immovable with their arms crossed and the head thrown a little backwards, and their white throats thrust out. The Sultana could keep a sort of illusion to herself of great wealth when she saw all this luxury about her; but away from there, in the depths of the palace, the slaves of the fourth rank were most uncomfortable, and complained bitterly of their distress.

On leaving the palace, the lady in waiting of the Princess distributed the customary presents amongst the immediate entourage of the Sultana, and that simple visit cost the Princess four hundred pounds. And it struck me that it would be pleasanter to watch the waters of the Bosphorus than to go often and kiss the stuff on the divan of a Sultana - a praiseworthy sentiment of independence, doubtless instilled into me by the European reviews which the Prince had lent me to read. That evening on goin going in I watched for some time the sunset with its blaze of gold and rose-coloured clouds, and I listened to the Muezzin who chanted his prayer to Allah. It was a hymn of infinite sadness which left one's heart bruised with a mysterious pain. I hid my face in my hands, moved with a great pity for all sufferings of which I knew nothing, and the voice of that man made me guess at.