Marfa

“ He returned to the kitchen, saw the kitten again in ambush, again drove it away. He thought of the cats prowling round the Pantheon. He thought of Aunt Varvara and the wax candle he was to carry for her to the Basilica of the Holy Martyrs; he thought of his father busy in the padrone's tancas; he remembered the sonorous pine-tree, which murmured like an angry giant, the king of a solitary region of stubble and thicket. He thought of the nuraghe and Aunt Varvara's vision reproduced by fever in himself. He remembered a gold bracelet seen in the museum at the Baths of Diocletian. ”

“ BELLAMIRA. Musician, hast been in Malta long? BARABAS. Two, three, four month, madam. ITHAMORE. Dost not know a Jew, one Barabas? BARABAS. Very mush: monsieur, you no be his man? PILIA-BORZA. His man! ITHAMORE. I scorn the peasant: tell him so. BARABAS. He knows it already. [Aside.] ITHAMORE. 'Tis a strange thing of that Jew, he lives upon pickled grasshoppers and sauced mushrooms. 175 BARABAS. What a slave's this! the governor feeds not as I do. [Aside.] ITHAMORE. He never put on clean shirt since he was circumcised. BARABAS. O rascal! I change myself twice a-day. ”

“ Few objects render the prospect from the platform of Mafra, interesting. You look over the roofs of an indifferent village and the summits of sandy acclivities, backed by a boundless stretch of sea. On the left, your view is terminated by the craggy mountains of Cintra; to the right, a forest of pines in the Viscount of Ponte de Lima’s extensive garden, affords the eye some small refreshment. ”

“ Very beautiful also is the scene towards sunset, when the slopes descending to the Marmora are in shade, and the glowing vault of heaven is a canopy of glory; when the windows in the dome of S. Sophia, as the last beams of day shine through them, sparkle like jewels in a coronet, and the sea beneath seems woven of crimson, gold, and purple. Nor can one fail to recall the soft tranquil beauty of the scene when the Sea of Marmora glitters in the moonlight, and the golden waters kiss the shadows of the broken towers and battlements that watched and guarded the city in the days of old. ”

“ In a terrible gorge at your side, the river Barrada, the ancient Pharpar, forces its way to the plain, and its waters, divided into twelve different channels, make all between you and those blue island-hills of the desert, one great garden, the boundaries of which your vision can barely distinguish. Its longest diameter cannot be less than twenty miles. You look down on a world of foliage, and fruit, and blossoms, whose hue, by contrast with the barren mountains and the yellow rim of the desert which incloses it, seems brighter than all other gardens in the world. ”

“ You shall have her yet, if you show pluck; and you won't be like yourself, if you fail there. But you want to know who the dark enemy is, the one who is resolved to have Sûr Imar's life, as well as everything else that belongs to him. Very well, it is his own twin sister, Marva."
"What! Marva, the widow of Rakhan, that rascally Prince of the Ossets, whom Imar very justly slew! So justly, that even he felt no compunction. Marva, who knew of her husband's falseness!"
"That's the woman, and a nice specimen she is. I know one or two fine things about her, from what Hafer, her own son, let out. ”

“ These decomposing human and other débris trace across the desert the route to Marhala, a city situated ten days' march from Jerusalem,—the holy city toward which converge the several armies of the Crusaders from Gaul, Germany, Italy and England, marching to the conquest of an empty tomb.
If in this solitude there are skeletons and corpses half devoured, there are also dying and living beings. Numerous are the dying, few, on the contrary, the living; and the latter would count themselves happy if the dead and the dying around them were the worst of their plight. ”

“ Or how can you hope to breathe that rarefied air, unfitted for your human lungs?"
"True, my lord," said Babbalanja; "and Bardianna asserts that the plain alone was intended for man; who should be content to dwell under the shade of its groves, though the roots thereof descend into the darkness of the earth. But, my lord, you well know, that there are those in Mardi, who secretly regard all stories connected with this peak, as inventions of the people of Maramma. They deny that any thing is to be gained by making a pilgrimage thereto. ”

“ Author and Artist have discussed most seriously how best to show the traveller these walls along the Sea of Marmora, for there is much to be seen. The Artist loves the view from across the Sea of Marmora seen at sunrise, of the city swimming in a sea of pearly grey; or at sunset, purple against a glowing mass of orange, red and green, colours which are all truthfully reflected in the placid waters. And the centre of the composition is the Seraglio lighthouse. ”

“ Go you into the city before us, and let there be a prophecy there which saith that the gods who are carven from green rock in the mountain shall one day arise in Marma and come here in the guise of men. ”

“ She was conscious only of an eager and thrilling expectancy.
She was about to relapse into slumber when a gliding sound caught her ear, and in a moment she was listening again, with all her senses alert. Was it fancy? or was there a soft footfall, and a sound as of a hand drawn over the whitewashed wall of the passage? A board creaked, and Morva sat up, and strained her ears to listen. After a stillness of some moments, again there was the soft footfall and the gliding hand on the wall. She rose and quietly crept into the passage just in time to see a dark figure entering the preacher's room. ”

“ Morva made no answer, but watched the sparks from the crackling furze, as they flew up the chimney, and thought of the night when she had stamped them out with her wooden shoe, and had dared the uncertainties of the future. She was wiser now, and knew that life had its shadows as well as its glowing sunshine. ”

“ MERCHANT. The very custom barely comes to more Than many merchants of the town are worth, And therefore far exceeds my credit, sir. BARABAS. Go tell 'em the Jew of Malta sent thee, man: Tush, who amongst 'em knows not Barabas? MERCHANT. I go. BARABAS. So, then, there's somewhat come.— Sirrah, which of my ships art thou master of? MERCHANT. Of the Speranza, sir. BARABAS. And saw'st thou not Mine argosy at Alexandria? Thou couldst not come from Egypt, or by Caire, But at the entry there into the sea, Where Nilus pays his tribute to the main, Thou needs must sail by Alexandria. ”

“ MARVA. Ja mikä olisi se onni, jonka meille tarjoisitte? Itse näette: ryövärein ja roistoin onni!
KULLERVO. Varo kieltäs, ämmänkenkku!
MARVA (melkein huutaen) . Sen sanon, huudankin julki: tää on roistojen tekoa, murhamiesten —
KULLERVO (Iskee nyrkillään korvalle, jotta Marva kaatuu) . Äsh, perkele!
MARVA (yhä jatkaen pitkällään) . — pettureitten, maankavaltajain kurjain...
KULLERVO (potkien Marvaa päähän) . Tuhannen tuhatta! Vaikenetko, vaikenetko! ”

“ When they were gone, Morven cautiously descended, and, striking into a broad path, hastened to a vale that lay between the forest and the river in which was the city where the chief of his country dwelt. As he passed by the warlike men, giants in that day, who thronged the streets (if streets they might be called) , their half garments parting from their huge limbs, the quiver at their backs, and the hunting spear in their hand, they laughed and shouted out, and, pointing to him, cried, “Morven the woman! Morven the cripple! what dost thou among men?” ”

“ Jellison had this small belief in the powers of the new mistress of Mellor over matters which, according to her, had been settled generations ago by "the Lord and natur'," Marcella certainly was in no mood to contradict her. She walked through the village on her return scanning everything about her—the slatternly girls plaiting on the doorsteps, the children in the lane, the loungers round the various "publics," the labourers, old and young, who touched their caps to her—with a moody and passionate eye. ”

“ The boys, trembling and shrieking, are delivered to them, and must creep between the legs of the disguised men. Then the procession moves through the village again, and announces that Marsaba has eaten up the boys, and will not disgorge them till he receives a present of pigs, taro, and so forth. So all the villagers, according to their means, contribute provisions, which are then consumed in the name of Marsaba.
In the west of Ceram boys at puberty are admitted to the Kakian association. ”

“ Discovering nothing of any kind, concerning Sûr Imar and his daughter, after they had quitted Athens, we made up our minds that the proper course was to pay a visit to the Princess Marva, and try to get some inkling of her plans. It was not very likely that a couple of clumsy fellows, like Strogue and my humble self, would prove a match, or even a serious check, for a subtle and ruthless woman, commanding a reckless tribe, and probably well informed of all the plans of her unsuspicious victims. ”

“ But it was not very long unknown, for Marva was coming along the ravine upon her return to Karthlos, in the teleka which had brought her first, and which she kept at the posting-house. She saw the two children lying there after their fall of two hundred feet, her own child unhurt in a pile of snow, and my little darling on the rocky floor, with his poor head dashed to pieces.
"For her bitter turn against me, I forgave her, when I heard of her tenderness to my poor child. It is at such [Pg 243] times that the greatness of a woman's nature shows itself. ”

“ But then the mere snowy whiteness of the muslin and freshness of the ribbons, and the burning curiosity to see herself decked therein, overcame a nature which, in the midst of its penury, had been always really possessed by a more than common hunger for sensuous beauty and seemliness. Marcella wore it, was stormily happy in it, and kissed Mademoiselle Rénier for it at night with an effusion, nay, some tears, which no one at Cliff House had ever witnessed in her before except with the accompaniments of rage and fury. ”

“ Passing through a gateway of rock, so narrow that we were often obliged to ride in the bed of the stream, we reached a little meadow, beyond which was a small hamlet, almost hidden in the leaves. Here the mountains again approached each other, and from the side of that on the right hand, the main body of the Barrada, or Pharpar, gushed forth in one full stream. The fountain is nearly double the volume of that of the Jordan at Banias, and much more beautiful. The foundations of an ancient building, probably a temple, overhang it, and tall poplars and sycamores cover it with impenetrable shade. ”

“ Usually at such times a Marabout enters upon a period of riada, or mortification of the flesh, during which, suffering the pangs of hunger and thirst, he strays off into the desert, where he keeps a sleepless vigil of prayer, repeating continually all of the names of Allah, flogs himself, wanders about naked and finally, returning to the haunts of men, exhibits to the Faithful the talisman teksis, which is a powerful magic means of rendering its bearer invisible. ”

“ BARABAS. Who carried that challenge? ITHAMORE. I carried it, I confess; but who writ it? marry, even he that strangled Barnardine, poisoned the nuns and his own daughter. FERNEZE. Away with him! his sight is death to me. BARABAS. For what, you men of Malta? hear me speak. She is a courtezan, and he a thief, And he my bondman: let me have law; For none of this can prejudice my life. FERNEZE. Once more, away with him!—You shall have law. BARABAS. Devils, do your worst!—I ['ll] live in spite of you.— [Aside.] ”

“ In the course of the afternoon we went about half a mile, along the banks of the river Mareb, to visit an old ruin, seen from a considerable distance, called the monastery of Abba Asfé. The chief part of the remains consists of an ancient stone building, of an oblong square shape, about sixty feet long, and forty-five wide, standing on the centre of an eminence, partly surrounded by trees, and commanding a beautiful prospect, in which the river Mareb makes a conspicuous object, winding its circuitous course through the valley. ”

“ He teaches all Liberal Sciences, and giveth account of Dead Souls that died in sin. And his Seal is this, which is to be worn before the Magician when he is Invocator, etc.
(5.) Marbas.—The fifth Spirit is Marbas. He is a Great President, and appeareth at first in the form of a Great Lion, but afterwards, at the request of the Master, he putteth on Human Shape. He answereth truly of things Hidden or Secret. He causeth Diseases and cureth them. Again, he giveth great Wisdom and Knowledge in Mechanical Arts; and can change men into other shapes. ”

“ Scorn our heroes until they die, then put them in a marble cheese-box."
"One must die to become good," completed the Deficient, efficiently.
"Could an old lady sit upon a tomb of a marabout?" I inquired, cautiously.
Old ladies could—and did.
"But the ribbons?" asked the Illustrator in a low voice, hoping that we didn't hear him.
"Come with me this day," urged the Soudanese. "Come with me to El Hamel, and I shall show you the most beautiful tomb of the most wondrous marabout in Africa or the United States— yes, and hung-with ribbons!" ”

“ Wharton sat among the little group, far too clever to patronise a cat, let alone a Venturist, but none the less master and conscious master of the occasion, because it suited him to take the airs of equality. Craven said little, but as he lounged in Marcella's long cane chair with his arms behind his head, his serene and hazy air showed him contented; and Marcella talked and laughed with the animation that belongs to one whose plots for improving the universe have at least temporarily succeeded. ”