Sarabande

“ The Saracens added iron hooks to their long spears, with which they struck our men who, dressed in cuirasses, were fighting from the tops of machines; drawing their swords, our men made sticks out of their spears. But what best showed the vehement commitment of the Saracens was the fact that when one of them was struck by one of our men, the shield of the man who had been struck was snatched up, quicker than speech, by another man, who took up the place from which the first had fallen, so that none of our men could have known that his blows had wounded any of them. ”

“ SARAH OF THE SAHARA
Chapter I
Love at First Sight
[2]
[3] SARAH OF THE SAHARA
Chapter I
“Allah! Allah! Bishmillah. El Traprock, Dhub ak Moplah!... Wullahy! Wullahy!”
Long, long after their echoes have died away the cries of my desert men ring on my ears. Still do I see myself as, in a cloud of dust, at the head of my band of picked nomads, my burnous floating above me so that I looked like a covered wagon, with the drumming thunder of a hundred hoofs and the wild yells of my followers, I swept like a cyclone to the rescue of one of the fairest creatures of my favorite sex. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIII THE VOYAGE OF THE SARACEN'S HEAD
Whatever the doubts I may at first have entertained, it was soon enough abundantly clear that the Saracen's Head was under way toward the open sea; for from my place in the hold I could hear the shipmen calling to one another as such and such a landmark or hamlet came into sight; as the green heights of Greenwich; and Tilbury, where there was a troop of horse at exercise, the which sight was occasion of a good deal of rough wit amongst the crew. ”

“ Soon the Northern warriors began to give ground before the incessant shocks. Arrows and darts whirred into their midst from the Saracen rear, and many fell, pierced in throat or face. Others were crushed by the plunging horses, or thrust with lances through the joints of their rude armor; but most of all met their fate under the keen-edged scimetars.
The first impetus of the Saracen charge was quickly lost; but the dark riders gave the hated Afranj not a moment's time to gain breath. Their massed ranks closed up against the Franks, and overbore them with the sheer weight of the horses. ”

“ He set his foot in the iron stirrup, hoisted himself, swung his leg, heavy with mail, over the saddle, and settled himself. He drew the Saracen blade Roland had given him.
A Saracen blade to fight Saracens.
He put fear and doubt out of his mind, drew a deep breath and roared, "Suivez-moi!"
He spurred Brillant and slapped the charger's neck. "Good horse! Find a way down." ”

“ If we seek the shore, doubtless we shall be made captives, and fall into the hands of the Saracen."
The Count made answer, "Not my will, but the will of Jesus Christ be done. Let the ship go as He thinks best. We will commit our bodies and our lives to His good keeping, for a fouler and an uglier death we cannot die, than to perish in this sea."
They drove with the wind along the coast of Aumarie, and the galleys and warships of the Saracens put out to meet them. Be assured that this was no fair meeting, for the Paynims took them and led them before the Soudan, who was lord of that realm. ”

“ When he was a boy of ten, on the eve of being sent to school at Rennes, she had come on a visit to his godfather, who was her cousin. It happened that at the time he was taken by Rabouillet to the Manor of Gavrillac, and there he had been presented to Mme. de Plougastel. The great lady, in all the glory then of her youthful beauty, with her gentle, cultured voice—so cultured that she had seemed to speak a language almost unknown to the little Breton lad—and her majestic air of the great world, had scared him a little at first. ”

“ They both fought bravely for a while, and in the meantime the interpreter perceiving them engaged, moved off, and escaped to the Christian camp. At last Calous, growing weary, began to stand altogether upon the defensive part, and the Saracen perceiving that he stood upon his guard, left off pushing him, and dexterously shifting his spear from his right hand to his left, closed with him, and drawing him to himself, flung him from his saddle to the ground. At this sight the Saracens immediately shouted, “Allah Acbar,” which made the whole camp echo, and the poor Christians tremble. ”

“ Even if they accomplished the all but impossible feat of getting out of the fort and the town unnoticed, the desert ringed them round as effectually as any wall. What could they do, burdened with a helpless man? They would need camels and drivers, and even if they had the means to secure the fidelity of the sarwans, they must follow one of the well-known defined routes on which water was to be found, and on any of these they were sure sooner or later to meet the Arabits. ”

“ The Mediterranean was indeed fast becoming a Saracenic lake; and the Saracens were, as has been well said [374] , to the dwellers on its coasts very much what the Danes and Northmen were to the dwellers on the coasts of Northern Europe, a haunting ever-present dread, which would not let men sleep. Some parts indeed suffered from both plagues alike [375] ; and in Spain we find Saracen and Christian combining against the Dane [376] , much as we have seen Celt and Saxon combining in England [377] . ”

“ We had each our exits and our entrances; till in the evening the curtain dropped, and we regaled at the expense of the dupes we had deluded in the day. Wearied however with the company of these wretches, and wishing to live in more worshipful society, I entered into partnership with a gang of sharpers. These fellows taught me some good tricks: but Saragossa soon became too hot to hold us, after we had fallen out with a limb of the law, who had hitherto taken us under his protection. We each of us provided for ourselves, and left the devil to take the hindmost. ”

“ At this time also the Saracens, a race whom it is never desirable to have either for friends or enemies, ranging up and down the country, if ever they found anything, plundered it in a moment, like rapacious hawks who, if from on high they behold any prey, carry it off with rapid swoop, or, if they fail in their attempt, do not tarry. ”

“ Guy has been telling us some strange things about the Saracens. Of course I knew before that they worship idols, [#] and deal in the black art; but it seems that Saladin, when he marches, makes known his approach by a dreadful machine produced by means of magic, which roars louder than a lion, [#] and strikes terror into every Christian ear that is so unhappy as to be within hearing. This is, of course, by the machinations of the Devil, since it is impossible that any true Catholic could be frightened of a Saracen otherwise. ”

“ They called the Sun the greatest luminary, to honour it with a feminine name, and the moon, which is inferior, by a masculine one. This spirit melted into chivalry, and it is to the preux chevaliers, the Arthurs, the Orlandos, and the Round Table, that we owe our present situation in society. However, the Saracens were a great and enlightened people, and till lately literature and science have never fairly been grateful for what they owe them, and half the world to this day even confound them with those savages, the Turks. ”

“ I watched the work from beginning to end, ten or fifteen Arabs, supervised by a burly Sicilian mason, finishing the job in a few days.
"These Saracens!"—such was the overseer's constant lament—"these
Saracens! You don't know, dear sir, what fools they are."
In never-ending procession of gaudy rags the village folk come to these waters, the boys mostly on horseback, the women afoot. Donkeys are loaded with the heavy black goat-skins of water; there is laundry-work going on, and a good deal of straightforward love-making under the shade. ”

“ Just to the right of this comes Sagres, and a little further east is Lagos. In the year 1415 Prince Henry settles at Sagres, a cold, barren, dreary, inhospitable promontory, but one singularly suitable for quiet study and research, with the whole extent of the Atlantic to look out upon, and the fresh sea breezes to invigorate the mind away from the insincerities of civilised life. The fifteenth century has always been regarded as the last of the “Dark Ages,” but few more wonderful things happened either then or after than the activities which emanated from the Sagres community. ”

“ Some of the points mentioned might find a literal fulfilment in the personal appearance of the Saracens—such as the crowns signifying the turbans they wore, etc., but we must adhere strictly to the symbolic mode of interpretation and look for their fulfilment in Saracen character. Their being like war-horses denotes their warlike disposition. The crowns on their heads signify their great success and triumphs. Their faces of men and hair like women doubtless signify their boldness on the one hand and their effeminateness on the other. ”

“ The European expedition was decided upon, and when he took leave of his friend, the latter said to him, "You will return to your own country according to present appearances; if you ever wish to return to Chili, you shall take any place you wish. Undeceive yourself; these enmities which trouble you are wholly upon the surface. No one despises you, many esteem you."
"Such a statesman," to use the words of Señor Sarmiento, in speaking of this true and appreciative friend, whose words on their first meeting were, "Sir, ideas are of no country," "can, like Deucalion, make men out of stones. ”

“ There is a wonderful, a sad, descent from the Saracen conqueror to a benighted Mahdist. The contrast between a chief of Arabian troopers and such a chief as Tippoo Tib is enough to show degeneracy of the most ultra type. The brave, fiery Saracen, sweeping along the coasts and through the deserts, was a being infinitely superior to anything he came in contact with. His progeny, after centuries of acclimatization and intercourse with the native populations, is a lazy, inferior being, a curse to his surroundings, not half such a man as the native whom he plunders and carries off as human booty. ”

“ The sardar thus addressed him:—
"Babuji, do you know us?"
"How can I know you?" groaned their victim. "Your faces are blackened and concealed by your turbans. Gentlemen, I implore you to spare my life! I never injured any of you."
"Indeed!" replied the sardar sarcastically; "you have been the ruin of us all. ”

“ When the Saracens that had it saw themselves hard beset, they shifted it from one to another, till it came to Serjabil’s hands. As the Damascenes followed Thomas with great courage and vigour, the engines all the while playing upon the Saracens from the walls, and throwing stones and arrows as thick as hail, the battle soon began to be fierce and bloody. They plied the engines so well from the walls, that the Saracens were forced to retreat, and fight out of the reach of their fire. Thomas having at last discovered the standard in Serjabil’s hand, made up to him, and fell upon him like a lion. ”

“ The valour of the citizens, together with the extreme coldness of the weather, made the Saracens glad to draw off from the assault. The next morning, after prayers were over, a crier went round the camp, in the general’s name, forbidding a man of them to stir, or to do anything else, before he got himself ready some hot victuals. The order was no sooner heard than obeyed, and every man went to work for himself. ”

“ Colonel Sarmiento's "Travels in Europe, Algiers, and America," are full of lively pictures of all that is most interesting and instructive to observe in other lands. He studied not only education, but legislation, and all the nations he visited seemed to yield up to his well-prepared inspection the secret of their being for evil or for good. In France he saw and conversed with Thiers, Guizot, and Humboldt, and was made a member of the Historical Society. He visited Spain at the moment when the Duke of Montpensier entered Madrid to marry the Infanta. ”

“ If a person dies without a child a hole is made in a stone, and his soul is induced to enter it by the gunia. A few grains of rice are placed in the hole, and it is then closed with melted lead to imprison the ghost, and the stone is thrown into a stream so that it may never be able to get out and trouble the family. Savars offer water to the dead. A second wife usually wears a metal impression of the first wife by way of propitiation to her.
6. Religion
The Savars worship Bhawāni under various names and also Dūlha Deo, the young bridegroom who was killed by a tiger. ”

“ The Saracen will not do so infamous a thing as to put his enemy to death in a bath, but assures his wife that the Bastard shall die à guise de martir. A rich dress is furnished the Bastard, and Corsabrin then says, On your oath, now, what death should I die, were I in your power? Sire, says the Bastard, why should I dissemble? I promise you, I would take you to a wood, and I would hang you to the highest tree I could find. By Mahound! says the king, so will I do with you. The Bastard is taken to a wood, with a rope round his neck. Corsabrin’s people look out the highest tree. ”

“ That sarabha had a solid body, endowed with strength, vigour, and swiftness; he was distinguished by the beautiful colour of his skin. As he was addicted to practising compassion, he cherished friendly feelings towards all animals. Possessing the virtue of contentment, he subsisted only on grasses, leaves and water, and was pleased with his residence in the forest. So he adorned that part of the forest, longing, like a Yogin, for complete detachment. ”