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84

THE PALACE GARDEN.

The garden was too formal and shrubless to attract our attention; it is laid out in numerous flower beds. The view from the windows is, as usual from buildings on the Bosphorus, exceedingly magnificent.

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CHAPTER VI.

Our strange interpreter- Papafée's wife An old friend in a new dress-Objections to tent life in front of Sebastopol-Georgie-The brother's vineyard

Cottage hospitality-A picturesque scene"Compliments"-Ramazan-After sunset-Beiram -Its ceremonies-Two feasts called by this nameThe great Beiram-The lesser Beiram-The Turkish sergeant-major-A night voyage on the Bosphorus-Day dawn at Stamboul-Historic DreamsConstantine the Great-The way in which he traced out the walls of Constantinople-The Crescent and the Cross-An animated throng-The Pachas on horseback-Formation of the procession-The Commander of the Faithful-Santa Sophia-The immovable naval officer-A beautiful presence chamber-The reception-The descendants of Mahomet.

PAPAFEE, our strange interpreter, who has been already mentioned, did not improve as time went on. We were often on the point

86

OUR STRANGE INTERPRETER.

of dismissing him and seeking another servant, but he used to go to Lady Stratford and talk her over, and, much to our astonishment, she expressed her wish that he should remain. He was a real annoyance, and, had it not been for the sake of his wife, who was a great comfort in sickness, we must have insisted on his removal. He used to scold us, tell falsehoods, offer his advice when quite unasked and unwished for; sometimes refused to do what he was told, and, when he did condescend to be obedient, let us fully understand that he was good enough to bend his superior judgment to our want of sense.

If we seriously offended him he would threaten to write to England and report us to government. His whole conduct was so utterly absurd that we had many a laugh about it, and had these scenes only occurred now and then they would have been rather an amusement than otherwise, but with our various occupations and many calls, both on

HIS WIFE.

87

time and patience, this could not always be

the case.

Papafée's wife was a little German woman, extremely gentle and quiet, and was the very opposite of her husband, who used to scold her loudly and severely if she the least displeased him, which was not a difficult matter to accomplish, and one of daily occurrence, though it was generally quite unintentional on her part; added to which she was much out of health, and needed kindness and attention. One of our ladies remonstrated with him on the subject.

"It ees very easy for you to talk," replied he; "you are an English lady, and it comes natural to you to be verie gentle and quiet, and you do say 'pleese do thees, and pleese do that,' but as for me I am of a deeferent deesposition. I was born in a deeferent contree, and am verie passionate, and beesides I can reed the Bible, and I do see there that the wife is to obey her husband, and that he ees to rule over her."

88

DEPARTURE OF PAPAFEE.

"Yes," replied the lady, "but the Bible also says husbands are to be kind to their wives."

"Oh, vell," said he, "so I am—I am verie kind indeed to her. You should jist see what beauteeful dresses I do give her. I do assure you they are verie fine. In my own contree I am quite a gentleman, and I could have married any lady I chose. My wife was verie luckee to get mee for her husband." This was an opinion in which no one shared, however, not even poor Rosalie herself.

Happily for us we heard one day that our interpreter was wanted by a gentleman proceeding to the camp, who would give him better pay than he received from us. We were only too glad to release him, and he accordingly went up to the front, leaving his wife and child with us till he could make arrangements for them to join him.

Two months passed away, when one even

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