and as cheap as the dust under
her feet, and keeps him in a most pitiful state of subjection. He dares
not sit down before her, unless she permits him, which she very seldom
does; and she is moreover so jealous, that there is no slave in her
harem who does not excite her suspicions. The doctor, on the other hand,
who is very ambitious, and pleased with his exaltation, is also subject
to the frailties of human nature, and is by no means insensible to
the charms of the fair creatures, his slaves. Zeenab herself, so she
informed me, is the peculiar object of his attentions, and consequently
that of the jealousy of his wife, who permits no look, word, or sign to
pass unnoticed. Much intrigue and espionage is carried on in the harem;
and when the lady herself goes to the bath or the mosque, as many
precautions are taken about the distribution of the female slaves,
with respect to time, place, and opportunity, as there would be in the
arrangement of a wedding.

Having never seen more of the interior of an anderun than what I
recollected as a boy in my own family, I became surprised, and my
curiosity was greatly excited in proportion as the fair Zeenab proceeded
in her narrative of the history of her life in the doctor's house.
'We are five in the harem, besides our mistress,' said she: 'there is
Shireen, the Georgian slave; then Nur Jehan,[41] the Ethiopian slave
girl; Fatmeh, the cook; and old Leilah, the duenna. My situation is that
of handmaid to the _khanum_,[42] so my mistress is called: I attend
her pipe, I hand her her coffee, bring in the meals, go with her to the
bath, dress and undress her, make her clothes, spread, sift, and pound
tobacco, and stand before her. Shireen, the Georgian, is the sandukdar,
or housekeeper; she has the care of the clothes of both my master and
mistress, and indeed of the clothes of all the house; she superintends
the expenses, lays in the corn for the house, as well as all the other
provisions; she takes charge of all the porcelain, the silver, and other
ware; and, in short, has the care of whatever is either precious or of
consequence in the family. Nur Jehan, the black slave, acts as ferash,
or carpet-spreader: she does all the dirty work, spreads the carpets,
sweeps the rooms, sprinkles the water over the court yard, helps the
cook, carries parcels and messages, and, in short, is at the call of
every one. As for old Leilah, she is a sort of duenna over the young
slaves: she is employed