XXXI.

Voltaire says, “No:
"No" he tells you that Candide
Found life most tolerable after meals;
He's wrong-unless man was a pig, indeed,
Repletion rather adds to what he feels;

Unless he's drunk, and then, no doubt, he's freed
From his own brain's oppression while it reels.
Of food I think with Philip's son, or rather

XXXVIII.

The scars of his old wounds were near his new,
Those honor'd scars which brought him fame;
And horrid was the contrast to the view-

But let me quit the theme, as such things claim, Perhaps, even more attention than is due

From me: I gazed (as oft I have gazed the same) To try if I could wrench aught out of death,

XLV.
"We must be near some place of man's abode;
For the old negro's confidence in creeping,
With his two captives, by so queer a road,

Shows that he thinks his friends have not been
A single cry would bring the mall abroad: [sleeping;
'Tis therefore better looking before leaping-
And there, you see, this turn has brought us through,
By Jove, a noble palace !-lighted, too."

XLVI.

It was indeed a wide extensive building

Which open'd on their view, and o'er the front There seem'd to be besprent a deal of gilding And various hues, as is the Turkish wont,A gaudy taste; for they are little skill'd in

The arts of which these lands were once the font: Each villa on the Bosphorus looks a screen New painted, or a pretty opera-scene.

XLVII.

And nearer as they came, a genial savor

Of certain stews, and roast meats, and pilaus, Things which in hungry mortals' eyes find favor, Made Juan in his harsh intentions pause, And put himself upon his good behavior:

His friend, too, adding a new saving clause, Said, "In Heaven's name lot's get some supper now, And them I'm with you, if you're for a row.” XLVIII.

Some talk of an appeal unto some passion,

Some to men's feelings, others to their reason ; The last of these was never much the fashion,

For reason thinks all reasoning out of season. Some speakers whine, and others lay the lash on, But more or less continue still to tease on, With arguments according to their "forte; But no one ever dreams of. being short.

XLIX.

But I digress of all appeals,-although

grant the power of pathos, and of gold, Of beauty, flattery, threats, a shilling,—no Method's more sure at moments to take hold Of the best feelings of mankind, which grow More tender, as we every day behold, Than that all-softening, overpowering knell, The tocsin of the soul-the dinner-bell.

L.

Turkey contains no bells, and yet men dine:
And Juan and his friend, albeit they heard
No Christian knoll to table, saw no line

Of lacqueys usher to the feast prepared,
Yet smelt roast-meat, beheld a huge fire shine,
And cooks in motion with their clean arms bared,
And gazed around them to the left and right
With the prophetic eye of appetite.

LI.

And giving up all notions of resistance,

They follow'd close behind their sable guide, Who little thought that his own crack'd existence Was on the point of being set aside:

He motion'd them to stop at some small distance, And knocking at the gate, 'twas open'd wide,

And a magnificent large hall display'd

The Asian pomp of Ottoman parade.

LII.

I won't describe; description is my forte,
But every fool describes in these bright days
His wond'rous journey to some foreign court,
And spawns his quarto, and demands your praise-
Death to his publisher, to him 'tis sport;

While nature, tortured twenty thousand ways, Resigns herself with exemplary patience [tions. To guide-books, rhymes, tours, sketches, illustra

LIII.

Along this hall, and up and down, some, squatted Upon their hams, were occupied at chess; Others in monosyllable talk chatted,

[dress, And some seem'd much in love with their own And divers smoked superb pipes decorated

With amber mouths of greater price or less; And several strutted, others slept, and some Prepared for supper with a glass of rum.5

LIV.

As the black eunuch enter'd with his brace
Of purchased infidels, some raised their eyes
A moment without slackening from their pace;
But those who sate ne'er stirr'd in any wise:
One or two stared the captives in the face,

Just as one views a horse to guess his price; Some nodded to the negro from their station,

But no one troubled him with conversation.

LV.

He leads them through the hall, and, without stop

ping,

On through a farther range of goodly rooms, Splendid but silent, save in one, where, dropping A marble fountain echoes, through the glooms Of night, which robe the chamber, or where popping Some female head most curiously presumes To thrust its black eyes through the door or lattice, As wondering what the devil noise that is.

LVI.

Some faint lamps gleaming from the lofty walls
Gave light enough to hint their farther way,
But not enough to show the imperial halls,
In all the flashing of their full array;
Perhaps there's nothing-I'll not say appals,
But saddens more by night as well as day,
Than an enormous room without a soul
To break the lifeless splendor of the whole
LVII.

Two or three seem so little, one seems nothing;
In deserts, forests, crowds, or by the shore,
There solitude, we know, has her full growth in
The spots which were her realms for evermore.
But in a mighty hall or gallery, both in

More modern buildings and those built of yore, A kind of death comes o'er us all alone, Seeing what's meant for many with but one.

"Blockhead! come on, and see," quoth Baba; while Don Juan, turning to his comrade, who,

[smile

The giant door was broad, and bright, and high,
Of gilded bronze, and carved in curious guise;
Warriors thereon were battling furiously;
Here stalks the victor, there the vanquish'd lies:
There captives led in triumph droop the eye,
And in perspective many a squadron flies:
It seems the work of times before the line
Of Rome transplanted fell with Constantine.

LXXXVII.

This massy portal stood at the wide close
Of a huge hall, and on its either side
Two little dwarfs, the least you could suppose,
Were sate, like ugly imps, as if allied
In mockery to the enormous gate which rose
O'er them in almost pyramidic pride :
The gate so splendid was in all its features,7
You never thought about these little creatures,
LXXXVIII.

Until you nearly trod on them, and then

You started back in, horror to survey The wondrous hideousness of those small men, Whose color was not black, nor white, nor gray, But an extraneous mixture, which no pen

Can trace, although perhaps the pencil may; They were misshapen pigmies, deaf and dumbMonsters, who cost a no less monstrous sum.

LXXXIX.

Their duty was-for they were strong, and though They look'd so little, did strong things at timesTo ope this door, which they could really do,

The hinges being as smooth as Rogers' rhymes; And now and then, with tough strings of the bow, As is the custom of those eastern climes, To give some rebel Pacha a cravat; For mutes are generally used for that.

XC.

They spoke by signs-that is not spoke at all;
And, looking like two incubi, they glared
As Baba with his fingers made them fall
To heaving back the portal folds: it scared
Juan a moment, as this pair so small,

With shrinking serpent optics on him stared;
It was as if their little looks could poison
Or fascinate whome'er they fix'd their eyes on.

XCI.

Before they enter'd, Baba paused to hint

To Juan some slight lessons as his guide: "If you could just contrive," he said, "to stint That somewhat manly majesty of stride, [in't)— 'Twould be as well, and-(though there's not much To swing a little less from side to side, Which has, at times, an aspect of the oddest; And also, could you look a little modest,

XCII.

""Twould be convenient; for these mutes have eyes Like needles, which might pierce those petticoats; And if they should discover your disguise,

You know how near us the deep Bosphorus floats; And you and I may chance, ere morning rise, To find our way to Marmora without boats, Stich'd in sacks-a mode of navigation up A good deal practised here upon occasion."

XCIII.

With this encouragement, he led the way
Into a room still nobler than the last;

A rich confusion form'd a disarray

In such sort, that the eye along it cast

Could hardly carry any thing away,

Object on object flash'd so bright and fast; A dazzling mass of gems, and gold, and glitter, Magnificently mingled in a litter.

In the more chasten'd domes of western kings,
(Of which I've also seen some six or seven,)
Where I can't say or gold or diamond flings
Much lustre, there is much to be forgiven;
Groups of bad statues, tables, chairs, and pictures,
On which I cannot pause to make my strictures.
XCV.

In this imperial hall, at distance lay
Under a canopy, and there reclined,
Quite in a confidential queenly way,

A lady; Baba stopp'd, and kneeling, sign'd
To Juan, who, though not much used to pray,
Knelt down by instinct, wondering in his mind
What all this meant: while Baba bow'd and bended
His head, until the ceremony ended.