On this page
-
Text (1)
-
WOMEN IN TURKEY. 5 3
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
-«Gp- • - The Word Harem Has A Very Vari...
Ker hulves ( it is thus that is designated in tie East the tie which consists in having a husband in common ) . The head was bent
down , and her look was more humbled than humble . I paid my compliments hastilto the two firstfor I was impatient to arrive
at the lastand see y how this fair face , would look when animated b , y conversation . I saluted her ; she made no answer . I asked her
why she did not bring her children ; the same silence . Then the three halves , all talking at once , told me with the greatest
satisfaction , that she had none , whilst the beautiful half bent her head and blushed excessively . I regretted having struck so delicate a
chord , and no one would ever guess what I added to diminish the effect of my imprudence . It would have been the most odious
brutality had I addressed myself to any other woman than the inhabitant of a harem ; but I had been three years in Asiaand
, knew pretty well on what ground I was treading . I said then , . assuming an air of confidence and approbation , as if what I was
about to say would necessarily put an end to the distress of the lovely Turk and restore her to honor" The lady ' s children are
, dead , no doubt ? " " She never had any , " vociferated the three harpieswith shouts of laughter ; and this time two tears flowed
, down the poor victim ' s burning cheeks . Nothing is more despised , more shunned in the Eastthan sterility . To have had children
and lose them , is doubtless , a grief ; but they soon console themselves , forget and replace them . After all , though there should be
neither consolation , forgetfulness , nor substitutes , the mother who has lost her children is not the less respected . Her social and
domestic position remains the same ; she is admired , respected , perhaps loved , she has no cause for shame . To have no children
, that is the real misfortune , the greatest of all ; one which humbles to the dust , to _& he mireand which authorises the meanest slave
, ( provided she be a mother ) to trample you under foot . Be lovely , be adored , bring your husband the fortune which he spends , have
royal blood in your veins while he is but a laborer , from the moment that you are acknowledged childless you have no longer
any hope . Better have done with life at once , for each day is but a succession of grief , insult , and humiliation .
During the whole time I passed in the society of these ladies , I could not wring one single word from the fairest of all . She
lowered her long eyelashes in the loveliest way , the bright color deepened and faded on her velvet cheeks , the sweet smiles played on
her lips , but had she been dumb she could not have kept a more determined silence . It was not until the end of my visit , when I
took leave of my hostesses , and , affcer having remarked to the silent fair one that I was leaving her without having heard the sound of
her voice , that , taking a step towards me with an air as resolute as though she were about to mount a breach , she said , all in one
breath , in a very sw . eet and pure voice but without the slightest
modulation , * Lady , remain , for I love thee much . ' Having .
Women In Turkey. 5 3
WOMEN IN TURKEY . 5 3
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Sept. 1, 1859, page 53, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01091859/page/53/
-