Naisi

“ But when he found the doors and windows of the Red Branch shut up, he was seized with fear, and he said: "It is not safe to approach the Sons of Usna, for they are surely in wrathful mood: nevertheless I must needs bring back tidings to the king."
Whereupon, not daring to knock at the door, he climbed nimbly to a small window high up that had been unwittingly left open, through which he viewed the spacious banquet hall, and saw Naisi and Deirdre playing chess. ”

“ In judging them we judge them from our standpoint instead of theirs, and we too often condemn where we should pity. In respect of these influences Nansie's home shone forth a sweet and bright example of what may be accomplished when the early training is good. There were few poorer homes than Nansie's, there were few lives more full of struggle, but she kept herself and those most dear to her pure through all the bitter phases of the battle she was destined to fight. ”

“ Naysi paid slight attention to her, though, as she was the first to come forth, he observed these things. The other was young, tall, slender, and lissom, her raiment costly and splendid like a high queen’s on some solemn day, and like a queen’s her behaviour and her pacing over the flowery lawn. Never had that hunter seen such a form, so proudly modest and virginal, such sweetness, grace, and majesty of bearing. ”

“ I am, as you surmised, an Egyptian—not one of the down-trodden race of slaves who now inhabit the Delta of the Nile, but a survivor of that fiercer and harder people who tamed the Hebrew, drove the Ethiopian back into the southern deserts, and built those mighty works which have been the envy and the wonder of all after generations. ”

“ My dear, I have questioned myself, I have asked: 'Does Nansie come up to your ideal? Is she the true woman you supposed her to be? Does she represent what you believed--the sweetness, the purity, the nobility, the tenderness which have sanctified the very name of woman?' The answer is: 'She is all, and more than all, you believed her to be. There is nothing in her that is not sweet, and true, and good. ”

“ But for this English youth, words had been uttered and things done, more than thirty centuries ago, in this stony wilderness, which influenced his opinions and regulated his conduct every day of his life, in that distant and seagirt home, which, at the time of their occurrence, was not as advanced in civilisation as the Polynesian groups or the islands of New Zealand. The life and property of England are protected by the laws of Sinai. The hard-working people of England are secured in every seven days a day of rest by the laws of Sinai. ”

“ The eastern side of the Nyassa basin, on the other hand, is one of the principal scenes of the slave-traders’ operations. In conjunction with predatory negro tribes, such as the Ajawa on the left bank of the Shiré, they have made a wilderness of all the country between the Nyassa and the Indian Ocean. Nothing can exceed the waste and havoc they have wrought in this beautiful and fruitful land. ”

“ Why do you sigh, Nansie?"
"Did I sigh, Kingsley?" she asked, with feminine duplicity. "It must be because I am overjoyed that we are together."
"Dear girl! The reason I ramble on so about my father is because I wish you to know him thoroughly. He is very practical--so am I. Sentiment does not run in our family. Only he must be humored, because everything depends upon him. He is rather proud; he has a right to be so, being a self-made man. And obstinate; so am I. You do not know all sides of me yet, Nansie. ”

“ They are a race differing much, in some respects, from the Negro and Red Indian, being of peculiarly active temperaments; they exhibit considerable intellectual capacity, and are an ingenious people. It is extremely probable, from the fact of their being found in islands surrounded by others in the hands of the Ethiopic race, that they have pushed out the less active variety, and, in short, annihilated them; and it is likely that they will in turn suffer extinction at the hands of a superior variety, or a variety rendered superior by civilisation. ”

“ Thus, when fate rolled up the scroll of Taib's life, Nassim inherited all his father's fortune, and he prospered exceedingly. Every enterprise he touched turned into gold: he made treaties with the pirates of the Barbary coast, and to him they brought the fairest and strongest of the Giaour slaves whom they captured; his caravans, guarded by armed Bedawin tribes, crossed the desert from the white Nile to the black ranges of the Atlas, from the sweet shores of Tripoli to the desert cities of the far bitter South ”

“ That which was known as the land of Nephi, comprehending an immense district of country, was so favored in climate and soil, was so abundantly blessed in all vegetables and minerals, and was generally so healthy that an industrious people like the Nephites would surround themselves with every comfort and luxury in, what would appear to the inhabitants of less favored localities, an incredibly short space of time. ”

“ I used to walk up and down my room, speaking to you and listening for your answers; there are silent voices, you know, Nansie--'Here,' said I to myself, 'here is the sweetest and purest spirit that ever was embodied in woman. Here is one whose companionship through life would make earth a heaven'--exactly as you expressed it just now, my love--'and to win whom would be the most precious blessing which could fall to a fellow's lot. I love her, I love her, I love her!'"
"Oh, Kingsley!" murmured Nansie, laying her face on her husband's breast. ”

“ NASI, JOSEPH (16th century) , Jewish statesman and financier, was born in Portugal of a Jewish (Marano) family. Emigrating from his native land, he founded a banking house in Antwerp. Despite his financial and social prosperity there, he felt it irksome to be compelled to wear the guise of Catholicism, and determined to settle in a Mahommedan land. After two troubled years in Venice, Nasi betook himself to Constantinople. ”

“ First, the sparks from his eyes disappeared—then his breath ceased to be hot and scorching, and his eyes red and glowing—and soon there was remaining but the indistinct resemblance of a being with the shape of a man. A little while, and even that faint glimmering had ceased to be.
The Nansemonds arose and followed with confidence the fiery ball down the valley. After travelling in an open path for some time, they came all at once to the shore of the lake; they saw its little waves dashing upon the smooth sand, and the stars reflected in the bosom of the clear waters. ”

“ Nansie's face was bright, and now and then her lips were wreathed in happy smiles, and now and then her eyes were filled with tears. And so we leave them. Flowers are blossoming; there is good in the future to be done. ”

“ We do not owe one penny in the world. What do you think I discovered, Nansie?"
"I cannot imagine, dear."
"That I had a great deal more property than I supposed."
"That is delightful news, dear."
"Yes, isn't it?" said Kingsley, with a light, puzzled laugh. "When I say property, I don't mean land. Wish I could mean it, because it would represent something tangible in the way of an income, perhaps; and that is what we want, Nansie, don't we? An income."
"It would be very pleasant, dear," said Nansie, with a fond look of pity at him.
"Yes, very pleasant; it would rub away the crosses of life." ”

“ In truth the Ouled-Naïls are a race of girls and women quite apart from those other Algerian tribes. They come to Biskra, to Constantine, and to Algiers, and live the lives of other free-and-easy women of the world. They dance in the Moorish cafés for the delectation of Arabs, Turks, and strangers, and they carry on a considerably less moral traffic as well, gaining sous, francs, and louis meanwhile. ”

“ In the heat of the conflict with its attendant turmoil none of those immediately concerned had remarked a procession approaching from the distance which now emerged from the shadow of the great arch into the moonlit thoroughfare.
It was headed by four giant Nubians, carrying a litter on silver poles, from between the half-shut silken curtains of which peered the face of a woman. In its wake marched a score of Ethiopians in fantastic livery, their broad, naked scimitars glistening ominously in the moonlight. ”

“ Nisida, the beloved daughter of Solomon, the fisherman, was, as we have said, the loveliest flower of the island from which she derived her name. That island is the most charming spot, the most delicious nook with which we are acquainted; it is a basket of greenery set delicately amid the pure and transparent waters of the gulf, a hill wooded with orange trees and oleanders, and crowned at the summit by a marble castle. All around extends the fairy-like prospect of that immense amphitheatre, one of the mightiest wonders of creation. ”

“ Nansie paused and sighed.
"But for myself," he said, taking up her words, "I have done that which is happiest and best, and that which falls to the lot of few men."
"Ah, Kingsley?" she said, hiding her face on his shoulder.
"I have won a faithful heart. What more could I desire?"
"It is sweet to hear you say so; but if your father should be angry--"
"What then? We are young and strong and willing, and shall be able to manage. I have friends who will give me a helping hand, as I would give them were our places changed. New men spring up every day, Nansie ”

“ The Neyi takes the boy—who is now called Kani-nura, from the cord which the Neyi ties round him—and sends him by another Neyi to his country, where his kindred look after the boy. After a time these return, bringing with them articles for barter, carrying them secretly, so that no one may see what they are. The people who have come with the boy, and the people of his own place, seat themselves opposite to each other; the old Neyi of the boy who had called the people together, by means of the Kani-nura, being so placed that he just faces the boy, who is seated on his father's lap. ”

“ Nyassaland, a region in Central Africa under British protection, lying round the shores of Lake Nyassa, the chief town of which is Blantyre; it is known also as the British Central Africa Protectorate, the administration being in the hands of a commissioner acting under the Foreign Office; the Europeans number some 300, and the natives 850,000, while the forces defending it consist of 200 Sikhs and 300 negroes; there are plantations of sugar, coffee, tobacco, &c., and almost the entire trade is with Britain. ”

“ We followed the banks of the river through the valley, and came to another mountain, difficult to pass, although [357] cars and carts do go over it. We then arrived at an agreeable valley, still watered by the Nissave, which having crossed by a bridge, we entered Nissa. This town had a handsome castle that belonged to the despot of Servia. The Turk took it, five years ago, by storm, and entirely destroyed it. The situation is in a delightful country, abounding in rice. I continued to follow the river from Nissa, through a country equally pleasant, and well filled with villages. ”

“ Nisibeen is at present inhabited by 300 families, chiefly Arabs of the Tai tribe, who live in tents pitched amidst the debris of the ancient city, and speak Coordish as well as their own native language. The Christians, who are Jacobites and Armenians, number twelve families, without a church or priest. ”

“ It is undoubtedly the wildest bit of West Africa.
The dominant tribes here have, for as far back as we can get evidence—some short four hundred years—been tribes of the Mpongwe stem—the so-called noble tribes. To-day they are dying—going off the face of the earth, leaving behind them nothing to bear testimony in this world to their great ability, save the most marvellously beautiful language, the Greek of Africa, as Dr. Nassau calls it, and the impress of their more elaborate thought-form on the minds of the bush tribes that come into contact with them. ”

“ North was faithful to his promise. [He] gave him his house which was beautiful and spacious, but mostly underground, or at least in the side of a mountain. All [North's] friends turned out, put in Nayhanimis and gave him the full possession.
But he was no sooner in than they secured all the outlets: doors [and] windows. And [they] set it on fire to destroy one whom they found so much more powerful than themselves! Nayhanimis, finding this to be the case, was not in the least dismayed, but took his smoking bag and thus addressed it. ”

“ Encouraged by this intelligence, Da Nizza passed on till he came to the encampment of a tribe of Indians who had never seen a white man, but who received him courteously, informing him that forty days’ journey to the north, on the other side of lofty mountains, there existed a vast plain full of cities inhabited by a people whose wealth far exceeded their own. ”

“ The land to which Nephi and his company were led was probably not excelled for fertility of soil, for healthfulness and agreeableness of climate, for abundance and variety of vegetables and minerals, for grandeur and beauty of scenery by any other part of this "promised land" and certainly by no other land outside of this continent. It abounded in all the elements necessary to make a nation rich and powerful. ”

“ And thus ended the thirtieth year; and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi.
14 And it came to pass in the thirty and first year that they were divided into tribes, every man according to his family, kindred and friends; nevertheless they had come to an agreement that they would not go to war one with another; but they were not united as to their laws, and their manner of government, for they were established according to the minds of those who were their chiefs and their leaders. ”