The Circassian Chief: A Romance of Russia
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up on the walls by attendantsin waiting. The aged host would not take a seat, till the Hadji and hisbrother had earnestly pressed him to do so.
"Rest here awhile," he said, "till my women can prepare food to refreshyou after your voyage. Do not imagine, that though daily threatened bya descent of our deadly enemy, I cannot, as in other days, prepare abanquet for a thousand or more of our gallant warriors, if they shouldhonour me by a visit."
The conversation now became general. The Hadji had many inquiries tomake, and much to relate; and as the time wore on, several nobles oflesser rank, and importance in the neighbourhood, and subject to thePrince of Pchad, entered, and took their seats on the Divan. Ivan wassilent, listening with interest to the conversation, while his twoattendants stood respectfully among the others at the further end of theroom.
The subject of discourse then turned entirely on the state of thecountry; the Uzden Achmet Beg, the Hadji's brother, giving him anaccount of the different military operations which had occurred sincethe commencement of the campaign.
"Bismillah!" exclaimed the old chief. "We have well beaten the cursedUrus, whenever we could catch them beyond the shelter of theirfortresses, where we coop them up like so many sheep in their pens.They talk of occupying our country; why, they have in all but three orfour forts in it, which they can only hold by means of their fleet; andwhich we could capture any day we liked. Except Anapa, which we care nomore for, than a dog chained to his kennel, who barks without reachingus to bite, they have only Ghelendjik, and another small fort near thesea, and Aboon at the head of the Kouban, where we close them in, andhave nearly starved them to death. But as they can do no harm there, wedo not choose to risk losing many valuable lives to take it. They onceattempted to establish one of their colonies and forts at SoudjoukKalie; but that time we were prepared for them. We rushed down uponthem like a troop of wolves into a sheep fold, ere they could throw uptheir fortifications, and carried away one half of their people to tillour own fields; while the rest we drove into the sea, where their shipspicked them up. They found it was no use attempting to sow corn wherethey would never be allowed to reap, so they sailed away; and with theblessings of Allah, we will soon make them do the like from all parts ofthe country."
"Allah be praised, we will soon accomplish that work," exclaimed theHadji. "My heart yearns to be among them again, with my true sword inmy hand, in the loving way I used to treat them. Bismillah! we mustmake a foray among them, just to take the rust off our weapons. Whatsay you, my son?" turning to Ivan, "will you try the strength of yourarm on the hard heads of the Urus, and strike your first blow for theliberty of your country?"
"Gladly will I accompany you, my noble friend," said Ivan. "I shouldnot wish to serve under a better leader, for you well know how ardentlyI long to prove myself worthy of the race from which I have sprung."
"Then, by the favour of Allah," replied the Hadji, "before long, I willlead the way among their ranks, and we will then see what stuff they aremade of, by cutting them to pieces. They are slaves and curs. Theirmothers and fathers are dogs."
The conversation was interrupted by the entrance of several male andfemale slaves bearing a repast. The dishes were placed on small woodentables, about a foot high, before each person, as they sat round theroom on the ottoman. The host himself handed to every guest a cup oflight mead, a ceremony preliminary to the repast. He would not beseated until he had performed this courtesy; nor would he join the meal,notwithstanding his advanced age, till repeatedly urged by the party todo so. The servants stood round to attend to the wants of each guest:
The repast consisted of mutton, dressed in a variety of ways; fatpoultry, pastry, preserves, and fruit, commencing with a bowl of richand savoury soup, with spoons placed for every person to helpthemselves; after which, each man drew a small knife from his girdle, tocommence the attack.
Before the attendants had cleared away the tables, the aged Princearose, and filling his cup with mead, drank to the health of all presentin turns.
"By what name shall I address my young stranger guest?" he asked,turning to Ivan. "Though he speaks with the tongue of our people, andhis eagle glance, and lofty stature, betoken him to be a noble, yet knowI not his name. Say, under what appellation shall he dwell in thememory of Mahmood Indar?"
"Noble Prince," replied Ivan, rising from his seat, "you speak truly,though I am, I trust, of the pure race of the Atteghei. Name have Inone. I love not the one I have borne for many years, therefore, I giveit not, and the noble name I long to bear, I give not, until I have donesome deeds, to shew myself worthy of the race from which I deem myselfsprung; that my kindred should not say, when I claim their love, that Iam no true scion of their stock. This I have sworn by the bright heavenabove us. My noble friend, the Hadji Guz Beg, has offered to shew theway among the ranks of our foes, and I have sworn to follow him, even tothe cannon's mouth."
All applauded this speech, the Hadji springing forward to embrace him."I see, my second son, that you will prove a true Circassian," he cried,"and by the blessing of Allah, by to-morrow's dawn, we will proceed insearch of our foes: to-night, we will rest under the roof of our noblehost."
"Happy am I to receive so gallant a warrior as you have proved yourself,oh! Hadji; and honoured am I in such guests as you and your friends,"answered the Prince.
The repast being concluded, the party strolled out among rich andfertile meadows, sloping from the house down to a pure and glassyrivulet. An orchard of various fruit trees surrounded the dwelling,while, before it, grew some magnificent chestnut trees, under whosegrateful shade the old noble loved to sit, surrounded by his youthfuldescendants, enjoying their gambols on the grass.
In the neighbourhood of the house were the farm yards and granaries,stored with all kinds of corn, the produce of the surroundinghighly-cultivated fields. On the mountain's brow grazed his numerousflocks, and in the rich meadows below his herds of fat cattle.
Our hero had parted from his companions, when the page sought his side;and as Ivan's eye fell on the boy, he exclaimed--
"Conrin, do you find yourself sad and solitary among so many strangepeople?"
"Ah, no!" answered the page, "I cannot be sad or solitary when in yourpresence."
"Do you then come to congratulate me on having, at length, arrived inthe land of my hopes?" asked Ivan.
"Yes, Sir, yes; whatever gives you pleasure makes my heart beat withjoy; and may your utmost hopes be now fulfilled!"
"Thanks, page; but still my heart is full of fears. I know not, nordare I ask, if yet my father lives. Why do you sigh, boy? Does thename of father cause you thus to sigh?"
"Alas, Sir, I never knew one: the name sounds like mockery on my ear.The kind and noble friend, whom I thought my father, I found was not so;and yet I feared to ask who was."
"'Tis strange," said Ivan. "And your mother, boy?"
"Alas, Sir!" said the page, "the kind and gentle care of her, who was mymother, I never knew."
The boy's eyes filled with tears.
"I would I had not asked you, boy, about your parents, to make you weepthus: but dry your tears; I will supply the place of both your parents,as much as in my power lies; and you shall share my fortunes, which, Itrust, will lead to happiness."
In a moment the boy's eyes brightened, as he gazed up into Ivan's face,with an inquiring and searching glance, yet radiating with smiles ofjoy.
"'Tis that alone I ask to do," he replied. "To follow your fortunesthrough good or evil, in happiness or misery. Still speak to me inwords like those you just now uttered, and they will repay me all thehardships I may endure."
"I could not speak harsh words to one so unprotected as you are. Nowtell me, what think you of my countrymen? Are they like the wildbarbarians the Russians would have taught the world to think them? But,thank heaven! they yet may learn how true courage can oppose its arms totyranny, though backed by hosts of slaves."
"I did not think to find them as they are," replied the boy; "morec
ourteous far, and hospitable, than the people of the land whence wecame. True valour sits in the eye, even of the lowest of themultitude."
"You praise them well, good page, but justly," replied Ivan. "But see,the party move towards the house. We must go in. Keep by my side, asyou see the pages of the nobles do."
Volume 2, Chapter VI.
As the sun of the first day, which Ivan had passed in his native land,sunk down beneath the waters of the ocean, shining bright and bluebetween an opening in the hills, the guests re-assembled in thehospitable mansion of the Prince Mahmood, where another repast wasserved, much in the style of the former; and as the party were seated atit, a new comer entered the guest-house. He was