Her complexion is more than dark, for it is almost that of
a mulatto; and her hair, which hangs in long locks on either side
of her face, is black as coal, and coarse as the tail of a horse,
from which it seems to have been gathered.
There is no female eye in Seville can support the glance of hers, -
so fierce and penetrating, and yet so artful and sly, is the
expression of their dark orbs; her mouth is fine and almost
delicate, and there is not a queen on the proudest throne between
Madrid and Moscow who might not and would not envy the white and
even rows of teeth which adorn it, which seem not of pearl but of
the purest elephant's bone of Multan. She comes not alone; a
swarthy two-year-old bantling clasps her neck with one arm, its
naked body half extant from the coarse blanket which, drawn round
her shoulders, is secured at her bosom by a skewer. Though tender
of age, it looks wicked and sly, like a veritable imp of Roma.
Huge rings of false gold dangle from wide slits in the lobes of her
ears; her nether garments are rags, and her feet are cased in
hempen sandals. Such is the wandering Gitana, such is the witch-
wife of Multan, who has come to spae the fortune of the Sevillian
countess and her daughters.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145