The Private Life of an Eastern King |
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amongst animal antagonist antelope antlers arms Asoph attendants bamboo bamboo railing barber bazaars bearers body-guard Burrhea cage Calcutta captain cheetah claws clothes colour COMBAT contest course court court-yard courtiers Dhull dinner dress elephant Emanbarra encampment enclosure eunuchs European excited exclaimed eyes favourite female sepoys female slaves fight forthwith gallery gazing hand harem Hassan head heard Himalayas Hindu Hindustani honour hookah horse Hosein hundred gold mohurs India Kagra Kerbela king king's ladies length looked Lucknow mahout majesty majesty's Malleer man-eater mehter ment Mohurrim musnud Mussulman native nautch-girls nawab neck never numbers Nuna Nussir once ornamented Oude Padshah Begum palace palanquins Peeroo pistols poor push reply resident rhinoceros Rooshun round royal saheb scene seen servants shouted side silver silver sticks sport stood tent Terai Terai-wallah thing thrown tiger tion took tulwar turban turned tutor usual wallah watched whilst wild wine zenanahs
Popular passages
Page 18 - Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?
Page 42 - Listen to me, nawab ; and you, general, listen to me. The King of England is my master, and these gentlemen would go into his presence with their shoes on ; shall they not come into mine, then ? Do they come before me with their hats on ? Answer me, your excellency.' " ' They do not, your majesty.' " ' No ; that is their way of showing respect. They take off their hats, and you take off your shoes. But, come now, let us have a bargain. Wallah ! but I will get them to take off their shoes and leave...
Page 272 - We expected to see the wild animal turn from the mangled remains of the husband to tear the wife and child asunder. We were agreeably disappointed. Malleer's rage was satiated, and he now felt remorse for what he had done. You could see it in his drooping ears and downcast head. He took his foot off the shapeless carcass. The wife threw herself upon it, and the elephant stood by respecting her grief It was a touching spectacle. The woman lamented loudly, turning now and then to the elephant to reproach...
Page 319 - They were let off under the old man's chair. The legs of the unfortunate uncle were scorched and burnt, and he seized the arms of the chair with his hands, and started to his feet. Two locks of hair were torn from his upper lip as he did so, and a portion of the skin with them. The blood flowed freely from the wound, and the* drunkenness of the sufferer disappeared. He left the room, thanking the king for his entertainment, and regretting that the bleeding of his nose prevented him from remaining....
Page 202 - India — a musket and bayonet, cross-belts and cartridge-boxes, jackets, and white duck continuations, which might be seen anywhere in Bengal. Intended solely for duty in the palace as guardians of the harem, they were paraded only in the court-yards, where I have seen them going through their exercise just like other sepoys. They were drilled by one of the native officers of the king's army, and appeared quite familiar with...
Page 44 - ... a high wall. Some one had been describing the game of leap-frog to his majesty, or else he had seen some pictures of it, and it had taken his fancy mightily. The natives were left without the garden, the heavy gates were swung to, and majesty commanded that we should forthwith begin.
Page 13 - My hat was resting on a seat hard by. I was uncovered, of course ; and the day was sunny and hot. Before the king came round, I was in an extempore bath. At length the party approached. His majesty was dressed as an English gentleman, in a plain black suit, a London hat on his head. His face was pleasing in its expression, of a light, a very light sepia tint. His black hair, whiskers, and moustaches contrasted well with the colour of the cheeks, and set off a pair of piercing black eyes, small and...
Page 271 - Malleer, Malleer ! cruel, savage beast ! see what you have done," she cried; "here finish our house at once. You have taken off the roof, now break down the walls ; you have killed my husband, whom you loved so well, now kill me and his son.
Page 203 - England, whose figure was just as outre as those among them furthest advanced in pregnancy. Their appearance was a piquant subject of merriment to the king, who usually ended his badinage by ordering some present to be given to the delinquent — delinquent, properly so called, for there was an express order against such disfigurement, clothed in the plainest language, and of the most absolute character, posted up in their barracks.
Page 202 - They had their own corporals and sergeants ; none of them, I believe, attained a higher rank than that of sergeant. Many of them were married women, obliged to quit the ranks for a month or two at a time occasionally. They retained their places, however, as long as possible ; and it was not until the fact of their being women was pointed out to me, that I perceived their figures were not always in the proportions allotted to the other sex. I have seen many a sergeant in England, however, whose figure...