Enrique. Do you know this Moorish woman?
Farez. Zoraya?
Enrique. Is her name Zoraya?
Farez. Yes, my lord; that is to say, in the Arabic tongue, “The Star of the Morning.” I have long known her. I was in Granada before the conquest, employed as a servant by her father, Abou-Abassa, a scholar and physician of the last King Boabdil.
Enrique. Maiden, woman or widow—this Zoraya?
Farez. Widow, my lord!—Sometime before the siege she was married to a very valiant Moor, who was killed in a sortie.
Enrique. Being now a Granadan, does she reside in Toledo?
Farez. After the capture of Toledo, the wise Bishop Talavera, Governor of our city, took a strong fancy to Abou-Abassa because of his great knowledge and made him come here to reside. The daughter, of course, lived with him. The mother is no longer of this earth.
Enrique. Does she reside in Toledo?
Farez. No, my lord; but near here on this mountain-slope in a house built by her father, who died in the past year. She lives there alone with her old servants and her few surviving friends. Her door is always open to those of her race and her religion who appeal to her in need or in sickness.