souls--be it so--and what you dignify with the name of perseverance in
your own sex, you call obstinacy in ours. Be it so--time has been."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was no sooner in the litter than I let loose my tongue, and called out
to the women who were appointed to conduct me to the door of the harem,
"Tell Osman Ali, that now I am no longer his slave, I have found my
tongue." Then closing the curtains, I was carried away. As soon as I
arrived, I told the merchant all that had passed, and the reason why Ali
had parted with me. The merchant, who was astonished at having made so
good a bargain, laughed heartily at my narrative. He told me that he
intended me for the seraglio of the sultan--flattered me by declaring
that I should be certainly the favourite, and advised me to profit all I
could by the masters he would provide. In the mean time, Osman Ali
having heard from the women the message I had sent, was very wroth, and
came to the slave-merchant to procure me again; but the slave-merchant
informed him that the kislar aga of the sultan had seen me, and ordered
me to be reserved for the imperial seraglio; by this falsehood screening
himself, not only from Ali's importunities, but also from his vengeance.
I took the advice of my master, and in a little more than a year became
a proficient in music and most other accomplishments; I also learnt to
write and read, and to repeat most of the verses of Hafiz, and other
celebrated poets. At seventeen I was offered to the kislar aga as a
prodigy of beauty and talent. The kislar aga came to see me, and was
astonished; he saw at once that I should immediately become first
favourite; and having heard me sing and play, he demanded my price,
which was enormous. He reported me to the sultan, stating that he had
never beheld such perfection, and at the same time informing him of the
exorbitant demand of the slave-merchant. The sultan, who had lately
felt little interest in the inmates of his harem, and was anxious for
novelty, ordered the sum to be paid, and I was conducted to the seraglio
in a royal litter.

That I was anxious to be purchased by the sultan I confess: my pride
rebelled at the idea of being a slave, and if I was to be so, at least I
wished to be the slave of the sultan. I indulged the idea that I should
soon bring him to subjection, and that the slave would lord it over her
master, and that master the