XLVIII. "Besides, I hate to sleep alone," quoth she. The matron frown'd: "Why so?"—"For fear of ghosts," Replied Katinka; "I am sure I see A phantom upon each of the four posts; And then I have the worst dreams that can be, Of Guebres, Giaours, and Ginns, and Gouls in hosts." The dame replied, "Between your dreams and you, I fear Juanna's dreams would be but few. XLIX. "You, Lolah, must continue still to lie And I shall place Juanna with Dudù, And will not toss and chatter the night through. What say you, child?”—Dudù said nothing, as Her talents were of the more silent class; L. But she rose up, and kiss'd the matron's brow (Curt'sies are neither used by Turks nor Greeks) She took Juanna by the hand to show Their place of rest, and left to both their piques, The others pouting at the matron's preference Of Dudù, though they held their tongues from deference. LI. It was a spacious chamber (Oda is The Turkish title), and ranged round the wall Were couches, toilets—and much more than this I might describe, as I have seen it all, But it suffices-little was amiss; 'T was on the whole a nobly furnish'd hall, With all things ladies want, save one or two, And even those were nearer than they knew. LII. Dudu, as has been said, was a sweet creature, Which painters cannot catch like faces sinning Against proportion-the wild strokes of nature Which they hit off at once in the beginning, Full of expression, right or wrong, that strike, And pleasing, or unpleasing, still are like. LIII. But she was a soft landscape of mild earth, Which, if not happiness, is much more nigh it But she was pensive more than melancholy, And serious more than pensive, and serene, may be, more than either—not unholy It Her thoughts, at least till now, appear to have been. The strangest thing was, beauteous, she was wholly Unconscious, albeit turn'd of quick seventeen, That she was fair, or dark, or short, or tall; She never thought about herself at all. LV. And therefore was she kind and gentle as But what was not; a sort of style that's grown LVI. I think it may be of " Corinthian Brass,” (1) My faults even with your own! which meaneth, Put (1) [This brass, so famous in antiquity, is a mixture of gold, silver, and copper, and is supposed to have been produced by the fusion of these metals, in which Corinth abounded, when it was sacked.. -SIR D. BREWSTER.] LVII. 'Tis time we should return to plain narration, I have but one simile, and that's a blunder, LVIII. And next she gave her (I say her, because By which the more a haram is increased, LIX. And then she gave Juanna a chaste kiss : Dudù was fond of kissing—which I'm sure That nobody can ever take amiss, Because 'tis pleasant, so that it be pure, And between females means no more than this- LX. In perfect innocence she then unmade If fond of a chance ogle at her glass, LXI. And one by one her articles of dress Of modesty declined the assistance proffer'd: Which pass'd well off-as she could do no less; Though by this politesse she rather suffer'd, Pricking her fingers with those cursed pins, Which surely were invented for our sins,— LXII. Making a woman like a porcupine, Oh ye But still more dread, ! whose fate it is, as once 't was mine, In early youth, to turn a lady's maid ;I did my very boyish best to shine In tricking her out for a masquerade : The pins were placed sufficiently, but not Stuck all exactly in the proper spot. |