Indeed, all four of them were of such striking beauty, and yet so
different in type, that you might have thought them grouped together in
order to form the most ravishing picture, their large dark eyes, sweet,
timid, and languishing like the gazelle's, with that Oriental expression
which we do not meet with in these climes; lips which disclosed pearly
teeth as they smiled; and complexions which have been preserved by the
veil from the sun's rays, and which--according to the ancient
simile--appeared really to be made up of lilies and roses. In those rich
costumes of silk or of Broussan gauze, with their harmonious colours,
revealing the forms of their hips and of their bosoms, they exhibited
attitudes and movements of feline lissomness and exotic grace, the
voluptuous languor of which can only be realised by those who have seen
it in Mussulman women. I imagined myself the hero of an Arabian story,
and mad fancies entered my brain.
While I was endeavouring, for appearance's sake, to talk with their
father as well as I could, they, growing tamer by degrees, began to
whisper together--now and then came a little burst of laughter, in which
I seemed to detect some mischief. I playfully responded by holding up my
finger to let them know I guessed their thoughts, and again they burst
out laughing like sly children--this going on until, after half an hour
or so, quite a nice feeling of familiarity was established between us;
we talked by signs, and our eyes enabled us almost to dispense with the
laborious intervention of Mohammed's interpretations. Moreover, he
seemed delighted to see us frolicking in this way.
In order to teach them my name I pronounced several times the word
"André." They understood and tried in their turn to make me say their
names. Hadidjé's was the occasion of much laughter, by reason of my
difficulty in articulating the guttural breathing. Seeing that I could
not manage it, she held me by both hands, her face almost touching mine,
and shouted "Hadidjé!" I repeated it, "Hadidjé!" This was charming and
intoxicating. I had to take the same lesson from each of them; but when
it came to the turn of Kondjé-Gul, it was a delirium of joy. By some
chance she let slip a word of Italian. I questioned her in this
language, and found she knew it pretty well. You may imagine my
delight! Immediately we overwhelmed each other with a torrent of
questions. Her sisters watched us with looks of amazement.
At this moment a Greek servant came in, followed by two other women,
bringing in the dinner on trays, which they laid upon small low tables
of ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl.