LXXVI.

"I offer you a handsome suit of clothes :

"A woman's, true; but then there is a cause

Why you should wear them." "What, tho' my soul loathes "The effeminate garb?"-thus, after a short pause,

Sigh'd Juan, muttering also some slight oaths,

"What the devil shall I do with all this gause?" Thus he profanely term'd the finest lace

Which e'er set off a marriage-morning face.

LXXVII.

And then he swore; and, sighing, on he slipp'd
A pair of trowsers of flesh-colour'd silk,
Next with a virgin zone he was equipp'd,

Which girt a slight chemise as white as milk;
But tugging on his petticoat he tripp'd,

Which as we say or as the Scotch say, whilk, (The rhyme obliges me to this; sometimes Kings are not more imperative than rhymes)

LXXVIII.

Whilk, which (or what you please), was owing to
His garment's novelty, and his being awkward;
And yet at last he managed to get through

His toilet, though no doubt a little backward:
The negro Baba help'd a little too,

When some untoward part of raiment stuck hard; And wrestling both his arms into a gown,

He paus'd, and took a survey up and down.

LXXIX.

One difficulty still remain'd, his hair

Was hardly long enough, but Baba found So many false long tresses all to spare,

That soon his head was most completely crown'd, After the manner then in fashion there;

And this addition with such gems was bound As suited the ensemble of his toilet,

While Baba made him comb his head and oil it.

LXXX.

And now being femininely all array'd

With some small aid from scissars, paint, and tweezers,, He look'd in almost all respects a maid,

And Baba smilingly exclaim'd, "You see, sirs,

"A perfect transformation here display'd;

"And now, then, you "That is the Lady:" clapping his hands twice Four blacks were at his elbow in a trice.

must come along with me, sirs,

LXXXI.

"You, sir," said Baba, nodding to the one,
"Will please to accompany those gentlemen
"To supper; but you, worthy christian nun,
"Will follow me; no trifling, sir; for when
"I say a thing, it must at once be done.

"What fear you? think you this a lion's den? 'Why, 'tis a palace; where the truly wise Anticipate the Prophet's paradise.

LXXXII.

"You fool! I tell you no one means you harm."
"So much the better," Juan said, "for them;
"Else they shall feel the weight of this my arm,
"Which is not quite so light as you may deem.
"I yield thus far; but soon will break the charm
If any take me for that which I seem:

"So that I trust for every body's sake,
"That this disguise may lead to no mistake."

LXXXIII.

"Blockhead! come, and see," quoth Baba;" while Don Juan, turning to his comrade, who

Though somewhat grieved, could scarce forbear a smile Upon the metamorphosis in view:

"Farewell!" they mutually exclaim'd: "this soil "Seems fertile in adventures strange and new,

"One's turn'd half Mussulman, and one a maid,

LXXXIV.

"Farewell!" said Juan; "should we meet no more, "I wish you a good appetite."—" Farewell!" Replied the other; "though it grieves me sore: "When we next meet, we'll have a tale to tell: "We needs must follow when Fate puts from shore: Keep your good name; though Eve herself once fell." Nay," quoth the maid, "the sultan's self sha'n't carry me, "Unless his highness promises to marry me."

LXXXV.

And thus they parted, each by separate doors;
Baba led Juan onward room by room
Through glittering galleries and o'er marble floors,
Till a gigantic portal through the gloom,
Haughty and huge, along the distance towers;
And wafted far arose a rich perfume:

It seem'd as though they came upon a shrine,
For all was vast, still, fragrant, and divine.

LXXXVI.

The giant door was broad, and bright, and high,
Of gilded bronze, and carved in curious guise;
Warriors thereon were battling furiously:

Here stalks the victor, there the vanquish'd lies;
There captives led in triumph droop the eye,
And in perspective many a squadron flies:
It seems the work of times before the line
Of Rome transplanted fell with Constantine.

LXXXVII.

This massy portal stood at the wide close
Of a huge hall, and on its either side
Two little dwarfs, the least you could suppose,
Were sate, like ugly imps, as if allied
In mockery to the enormous gate which rose
O'er them in almost pyramidic pride:

The gate so splendid was in all its features, [7]
You never thought about those little creatures,

LXXXVIII.

Until you nearly trod on them, and then
You started back in horror to survey

The wondrous hideousness of those small men,
Whose colour was not black, nor white, nor grey,
But an extraneous mixture, which no pen

Can trace, although perhaps the pencil may;
They were mis-shapen pigmies, deaf and dumb-
Monsters, who cost a no less monstrous sum.

LXXXIX.

Their duty was-for they were strong, and though
They look'd so little, did strong things at times--
To ope this door, which they could really do,
The hinges being as smooth as Rogers' rhymes;
And now and then with tough strings of the bow,
As is the custom of those eastern climes,

To give some rebel Pacha a cravat;
For mutes are generally used for that.

XC.

They spoke by signs-that is, not spoke at all;
And looking like two incubi they glared
As Baba with his fingers made them fall

To heaving back the portal folds: it scared
Juan a moment, as this pair so small

With shrinking serpent optics on him stared;
It was as if their little looks could poison
Or fascinate whome'er they fix'd their eyes on.

XCI.

Before they enter'd, Baba paused to hint
To Juan some slight lessons as his guide:
"If you could just contrive," he said, "to stint
"That somewhat manly majesty of stride,

""Twould be as well, and,-(though there's not much in't) "To swing a little less from side to side, "Which has at times an aspect of the oddest; "And also could you look a little modest.

XCII.

""Twould be convenient; for these mutes have eyes "Like needles, which may pierce those petticoats; "And if they should discover your disguise,

"You know how near us the deep Bosphorus floats; "And you and I may chance, ere morning rise, "To find our way to Marmora without boats, "Stitch'd up in sacks-a mode of navigation "A good deal practised here upon occasion."

XCIII.

With this encouragement, he led the way
Into a room still nobler than the last;
A rich confusion form'd a disarray

In such sort, that the eye along it cast
Could hardly carry any thing away,

Object on object flash'd so bright and fast;
A dazzling mass of gems, and gold, and glitter,
Magnificently mingled in a litter.

XCIV.

Wealth had done wonders-taste not much; such things
Occur in orient palaces, and even

In the more chasten'd domes of western kings
(Of which I also have seen some six or seven)
Where I can't say or gold or diamond flings
Much lustre, there is much to be forgiven;
Groups of bad statues, tables, chairs, and pictures,
On which I cannot pause to make my strictures.

XCV.

In this imperial hall, at distance lay
Under a canopy, and there reclined
Quite in a confidential queenly way,

A lady; Baba stopp'd, and kneeling sign'd
To Juan, who though not much used to pray,
Knelt down by instinct, wondering in his mind
What all this meant: while Baba bow'd and bended
His head, until the ceremony ended.