“Yakoot.”
“To whom does he belong?”
“To the mighty Sultana, whose empire is as extensive as the spiritual dominion of the Prophet.”
“Let him be summoned before me at the conclusion of the sports.”
“What a charming man!” said Bameea, the Queen’s favourite, one of the ladies of her mistress’s court; “and a slave too! Those limbs of his were never formed for manacles, nor that back for a scourge: what think you?”
“That fine limbs and a handsome frame are only outward tokens of beauty, and may conceal more deformity than the greatest monster exhibits to a mere superficial scrutiny. Fruits of the richest colour contain the deadliest poison; and they tell us of some, exquisite to the eye, that yield only ashes.”
“Ah! you are one of those cautious beauties, Zophra, that will take nothing upon trust. You would look into a diamond to see what it is made of; but I am content with its brilliancy, and seek not to know whether it is a mineral or vegetable, or a houri’s tear. Look at that man again, and say if he is not beautiful in his bondage—if he is a fit object for slavery.”
The Abyssinian had again come forward to exhibit his strength and skill in another encounter of quite a different character from the first. He was now about to wrestle with a gigantic man, dull in aspect and ungainly in his motions, though of colossal dimensions and prodigious muscularity of limb. They stood before each other, and immediately commenced the struggle. The larger competitor seized his adversary by the shoulder with such a vigorous grasp as left the impression of every finger. The Abyssinian soon, however, disengaged himself, and laying hold of his opponent by the waistband of his trousers, threw him forward with astounding force upon his face. The fallen champion rose actively to his feet, and with a flushed countenance again placed his hand upon the shoulder of his opponent, and, striking him at the same moment just below the knee, cast him to the earth; but as he fell upon his side the victory was not obtained, it being necessary that the vanquished man should be thrown upon his back.
The slave rose deliberately, with a faint smile upon his lip, but a defiant expression in his eye, that told, more intelligibly than words could utter, a resolution to show what he could do under the apparent disadvantages of superior strength and stature. He advanced slowly towards his huge competitor, stood before him in an erect position, his left arm extended and his right close to his breast, watching with the eye of a lynx an opportunity for making his favourite movement. The colossal champion walked round him, every now and then striking his hands upon his own body, producing a sharp, loud smack, and adopting various evolutions to distract the attention of him to whom he was opposed. At length, with the swiftness of thought, the Abyssinian darted upon his adversary and hit him with his open hand upon the throat, at the same instant striking his feet from under him with a force which nothing could resist. The man fell upon his back with so terrific a shock, that he was borne senseless from the enclosure. The victor, with modest gravity, again made his obeisance to the Sultana and retired.
The lovely Bameea was perfectly delighted with the slave Yakoot, and began to feel more than a woman’s curiosity to know something of his history. She was anxious to persuade herself that he could not be an ordinary person; and although Abyssinians were at the best little better than barbarians, yet was it certain that there were always exceptions to every general rule, and Bameea felt quite satisfied that Yakoot was one of those exceptions. Besides, she had remarked the countenance of her royal mistress as the latter regarded the two last encounters, and she observed an expression of satisfaction which confirmed her in the conclusion she had come to in the slave’s favour; for she could not a moment entertain the thought that Sultana Ruzeea Begum would condescend, even by the faintest expression of her illustrious features, to indicate a favourable impression of any man who was not worthy to be admired by all the ladies of her court.