Page:Poet Lore, volume 31, 1920.djvu/36

 , Polish, German, French, Russian, Bosnian, Madgar, and finally a Moor.)

Anna.—Is the master here?

Bilent.—Yes, yes, fine ladies. (Greeting the others.) Aj, dona signora,—how beautiful you are, and you, you lovely pearls from the Sultan’s harem—

Eliška.—Silence, Master Wizard, your tongue behind your teeth!

Bilent.—Terrifying commandant, how can I be serious and conduct myself gravely when I see so many lovely creatures around me! (The Moor steps up to him and laughs with a leer in her face. backs away, looking frightened.) Ha, you she-devil, would that Satan had left you in your own country!

Lenka (Quickly finishing).—From which I flew away!

Bilent (With comical feigned anger).—Certainly nobody else on earth cared for you! (All the others leave; in the meantime enters.)

and

Hannewaldt.—What is this aggregation of girls and nationalities which has just now passed me?

Bilent.—Aj, the harem of the master, Mr. Secretary.

Hannewaldt.—Then these are his mistresses, of whom we hear everywhere we go? How long have they been here?

Bilent.—A number of years; although they are occasionally exchanged. The master was born under the Gemmi,—and he is all the while looking for his twin,—though he seeks for it only among the members of the female sex.

Hannewaldt (Laughing).—And when was this collection made?

Bilent.—During the lifetime of the Lady Katherine, wife of the master. The lovely Zuzanka was then present, also some five or six of the girls.

Hannewaldt.—The Lady Katherine allowed it?

Bilent.—Aj, the one was ready to grant a little happiness to the other. (Quietly, intimately.) The Lady Katherine was fond of entertaining herself with the young attendants,—and Hendrych Sobek of Kornic was especially favored by her.