Pagina 229 de 483

"Safie related that her mother was a Christian Arab, seized and

made a slave by the Turks; recommended by her beauty, she had won

the heart of the father of Safie, who married her. The young girl

spoke in high and enthusiastic terms of her mother, who, born in

freedom, spurned the bondage to which she was now reduced. She

instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion and taught

her to aspire to higher powers of intellect and an independence

of spirit forbidden to the female followers of Muhammad. This

lady died, but her lessons were indelibly impressed on the mind

of Safie, who sickened at the prospect of again returning to Asia

and being immured within the walls of a harem, allowed only to

occupy herself with infantile amusements, ill-suited to the

temper of her soul, now accustomed to grand ideas and a noble

emulation for virtue. The prospect of marrying a Christian and

remaining in a country where women were allowed to take a rank in

society was enchanting to her.