"You saw it then?" I inquired.
"Yes, indeed," said he, kindling, "I saw the whole; and if you had also, you would have wondered to see the soger battalions scramble up the breach like cats, headed by their officers, in the face of a fire of guns and matchlocks which would have scattered the people we call Sipahees like chaff. Truly they are something like men; and if we of India had fought like them, would they have possessed one foot of ground? Inshalla! they would not; but it is no use regretting. And now Sikundur Jah has made a treaty with the Ungrez, and sits in his zenana like a eunuch, leaving them to take care of him and his country."
"Then you think," said I, "that I have no chance of service at the city?"
"By no means," said he; "you are, I think, pretty sure of it. There are plenty of openings for a fine fellow like you, and your appearance will take with some of those who command troops. Inshalla! you might have had it here, but my list is full; and you are not likely to separate from your men?"
"No," said I, "that I could not; the poor fellows would starve in a strange land; and having collected them, I must perform my promise of taking them down to the city."
"Now you must see my pride, Zora, dance," said the Nuwab. "Inshalla! your heart must be hard if she does not make it ache, as she has done that of many a one."
The group, who had hitherto been singing, were desired to be seated, and Zora prepared to stand up. The bells for her ankles were brought, and she tied them on. The musicians to accompany her tuned their instruments, and after a short prelude she stood up. If I had been struck with her appearance sitting, how much more splendid was it now! She was not tall, but exquisitely formed, as far as could be judged from her peculiar dress, which was so loose from under her arms as completely to hide her form to her ankles; but it was of the richest description. It was made of a dark lilac-coloured gauze, in bands alternately with gold tissue; the bottom trimmed with gold tissue very broad, as far as her knees, upon which there was rich embroidery in gold thread and seed pearls. Around her she had thrown with extreme grace a scarf of the lightest muslin and silver, of the same colour as her dress; so thin was it, that as she moved, it seemed almost to float away from her in the air caused by her motion. The colour of the scarf round her head, in contrast with her complexion, made it appear much fairer than it really was, and her large soft eyes still more brilliant and swimming.
The musicians began their usual prelude, and with it one of Zora's companions, a pretty girl, the slow movements of the dance. After a few turns she resumed her place, and Zora herself, like the full moon emerging from a cloud, sailed towards us with a slow and graceful motion. How shall I describe to you, Sahib, her exquisite movements! Every turn displayed her form to greater advantage, and I gazed till my soul was fairly entranced. But how much more was I affected when she began to sing! Having performed the dance, both the slow and quick, she ceased; and after a prelude by one of the musicians behind her, she broke out into an impassioned Ghuzul. It was one I was very fond of myself. I listened till I could have fallen at her feet, and worshipped her as a Peri from heaven. My soul was so intoxicated with the blessed sounds I heard, that I was insensible to all around me. She at length ceased; and the Nuwab, who had been observing me attentively, asked me what I thought of the songstress and her dancing.
"Most wonderful is it," I replied; "my liver has become water before her fascinations. It is fortunate for me that I am not to live within their influence, or I were lost for ever. I could forego fame and my profession to lie at her feet and dream away my existence."
"You talk like a foolish boy," said the Nuwab, "and must not give way to such fancies; many a man has been ruined for ever by them. Persons like her are greedy and insatiable of money, as we are told of the sea, which swallows up everything that is cast into it, without showing a sign on its surface beyond that of the transient ripple."