DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22902#0052
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waving a huge chounree* over the head of his sovereign ;
two fierce-looking mustachioed chopedars, in their full mili-
tary uniform, stood at a few yards' distance to announce the
approach of any high personage to the Court ; at intervals they
exclaimed adubb,f in order to ensure decorum in every one,
and to remind all of the .proper etiquette and forms that are to be
observed in the royal presence. Oodoy Sing was smoking his
perfumed hookah, which scented the air all around ; a superb
pandan,* inlaid with precious stones, was lying before him, while
the Raja, having sipped the last drop of Uml-panee§ from the
golden goblet that stood at his elbow, began to experience the
vague, dreamy, drowsy sensation which that narcotic solution
is sure to bring on. Moteeram, facetiously called Mirza
Sahib, who was the favorite companion and courtier of the
King, was the only person that was now sitting with the Raja ;
but even he, like a thorough-bred courtier, chose to follow in
the wake of his sovereign ; retiring, therefore, to the adjoining
chamber, he laid himself flat on his back, and there began to
snore. But the " fat king," however, was soon aroused from
his drowsiness by a tinkling sound that seemed to come from
the public road on which the verandah projected, and the
Raja, ever alert on such matters, immediately guessed that it
proceeded from, the anklets of female feet, and, quick as
thought, he jumped up, stood upon his thick stumpy legs, and
leaning on the railings of the verandah began to gaze with
open mouth towards the side whence the sound was heard :
he was right in his conjecture, for he soon saw a beautiful
young girl with her water vessel returning from the adjacent
well. She was dressed in the plainest white garb, but her figure
* Yak's tail.
+ Means decorum.
J A kind of covered receptacle for keeping betel leaves.
§ An intoxicating drink prepared with opium.
waving a huge chounree* over the head of his sovereign ;
two fierce-looking mustachioed chopedars, in their full mili-
tary uniform, stood at a few yards' distance to announce the
approach of any high personage to the Court ; at intervals they
exclaimed adubb,f in order to ensure decorum in every one,
and to remind all of the .proper etiquette and forms that are to be
observed in the royal presence. Oodoy Sing was smoking his
perfumed hookah, which scented the air all around ; a superb
pandan,* inlaid with precious stones, was lying before him, while
the Raja, having sipped the last drop of Uml-panee§ from the
golden goblet that stood at his elbow, began to experience the
vague, dreamy, drowsy sensation which that narcotic solution
is sure to bring on. Moteeram, facetiously called Mirza
Sahib, who was the favorite companion and courtier of the
King, was the only person that was now sitting with the Raja ;
but even he, like a thorough-bred courtier, chose to follow in
the wake of his sovereign ; retiring, therefore, to the adjoining
chamber, he laid himself flat on his back, and there began to
snore. But the " fat king," however, was soon aroused from
his drowsiness by a tinkling sound that seemed to come from
the public road on which the verandah projected, and the
Raja, ever alert on such matters, immediately guessed that it
proceeded from, the anklets of female feet, and, quick as
thought, he jumped up, stood upon his thick stumpy legs, and
leaning on the railings of the verandah began to gaze with
open mouth towards the side whence the sound was heard :
he was right in his conjecture, for he soon saw a beautiful
young girl with her water vessel returning from the adjacent
well. She was dressed in the plainest white garb, but her figure
* Yak's tail.
+ Means decorum.
J A kind of covered receptacle for keeping betel leaves.
§ An intoxicating drink prepared with opium.