"Sobeautiful," saidI, "that, todescribeherworthilyandtelltheethetruth, sheisverylikethee."
Atthisherfatherlaughedveryheartilyandsaid, "ByAllah, Christian, shemustbeverybeautifulifsheislikemydaughter, whoisthemostbeautifulwomaninallthiskingdom: onlylookatherwellandthouwiltseeIamtellingthetruth."
Zoraida'sfatherasthebetterlinguisthelpedtointerpretmostofthesewordsandphrases, forthoughshespokethebastardlanguage, that, asIhavesaid, isemployedthere, sheexpressedhermeaningmorebysignsthanbywords.
Whilewewerestillengagedinthisconversation, aMoorcamerunningup, exclaimingthatfourTurkshadleapedoverthefenceorwallofthegarden, , fortheMoorscommonly, and, sotospeak, instinctivelyhaveadreadoftheTurks, butparticularlyofthesoldiers, , "Daughter, retireintothehouseandshutthyselfinwhileIgoandspeaktothesedogs; andthou, Christian, pickthyherbs, andgoinpeace, andAllahbringtheesafetothyowncountry."
Ibowed, andhewentawaytolookfortheTurks, leavingmealonewithZoraida, whomadeasifshewereabouttoretireasherfatherbadeher; butthemomenthewasconcealedbythetreesofthegarden, turningtomewithhereyesfulloftearsshesaid, "Tameji, cristiano, tameji?" thatistosay, "Artthougoing, Christian, artthougoing?"
Imadeanswer, "Yes, lady, butnotwithoutthee, comewhatmay: beonthewatchformeonthenextJuma, andbenotalarmedwhenthouseestus; formostsurelyweshallgotothelandoftheChristians."
