“Yes, yes, I may proceed.  You think women have no resolution, and no 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 that 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 meantime, 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 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 dispenser of life and death, honour and disgrace, to millions.  I had made up my mind how to behave; the poets I had read had taught me but too well.  Convinced that a little wilfulness would, from its novelty, be most likely to captivate one who had been accustomed to dull and passive obedience, I allowed my natural temper to be unchecked.  The second day after my arrival, the Kislar Aga informed me that the sultan intended to honour me with a visit, and that the baths and dresses were prepared.