The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-05-06
Daughter of t[be Sultan

NN HE dovecotes of STEAMBOAT have
lately been huttered by no less
terrible a scandal than the night
Ill and clandestine marriage Of
princess of the highest osmdnli
rank. In fact, II is daughter of
the sultan himself and a favorite daugh-
Ter to, who is reported to have eloped
With Turkish poet, whose name is given
as Nedjar The young princess is styled
Nadeshda In the most inarticulate para
graphs which convey the I'll news, and is
SAID TO be accompanied In her desperate
step by daughter Of Osman Pasha, the
iilustrious hero OF Plevna- In face of sur h
perturbing particulars It * natural to
hear that his imperial majesty the sultan
has been moved deeply by this unheard-of
occurrence, which upsets all ideas of ORR
entail decorum. and will be attributed uni
yersally by orthodox Turks TO the deplor-
able decay OF strict and proper views up
on religion and morals, and to the ever
diminishing opacity OF the yashmak or
race veil. which used to make such shock
ing events all but impossible.
But were they ever impossible? asks Sir
Edwin Arnold. In the London Daily Tele-
graph. having been moved to write this
about the romance: Did palaces any bet
ter than harems or huts, ever keep out
the little god who laughs at Iocksmths"
and is stronger than all ulemas and fet-
was? II anybody desires 20 comprehend
exactly how such thing may befall, even
in the precincts Of the august Yildiz kiosk
itself and inspite of eunuchs, duennas.
slaves. guards and jealous turbaned kins-
men. he needs only to turn to that treas
ure house OF Eastern life and manners.
the immortal Thousand and One Nights"
AS myself came upon the distressing
communication reporting the escapade of
her too susceptible royal highness. the
probably describes almost fact for fact the
very way in which this last sadly subver-
sve and Irregular affair happened. Then
I took down from my book shelves a vol
ume OF the "Alf Leila" in Arabic, and
another of tho excellent. though unfinish-
cd translation which DR.. j. C. Mardrus
~ now making into French--the best YER
sion OF the wonderful oid-world stories. to
my mind, ever undertaken. Yes, here Is
the ta1e, begun, we read. on the 152d night.
and entitled by that charming and mex
haustible Scheherezade 1.-THE History of
All Ben-Bekar and the Beautiful Seham-
sennahar." If I abridge II here from
these two versions. the original and the
French, It will supply, I venture to af-
firm. a faithful account OF what has Just
been Detailing In those modren halls and
aIcoves, which have succeeded to the an
cent ones without much real TRANSFORMED
ton. Here Is the story, therefore. accu-
rately rendered, although IN some parts
little condensed:
At Baghdad, under the reign OF the
KhaIif Haroun-al- Raschid. there lived
Abui- Hassan ben Tahir a young mer-
chant very comedy and rich He was the
most fashionable of all the dealers In the
Grand Bazaar. Thus he was chosen by
the chief eunuch of the palace to fur
nish the favorites with the articles, such
as silks and jewels, of which they had
Iadiaa Cd tn
his good taste and discretion. He never
failed to supply with refreshments the
eunuchs and palace officers who called to
bring him orders. nor to present them