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THE ROMANCE OF THE HAREM

BY

MRS. ANNA H. LEONOWENS,

AUTHOR OF "THE ENGLISH GOVERNESS AT THE SIAMESE COURT."

THE EMERALD IDOL

Illustrated.


THE IDOL OF BUDDHA

BOSTON:
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY,
Late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co.
1873.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872,
BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO.,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.


University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co., Cambridge.


PREFACE

"TRUTH is often stranger than fiction" but so strange will some of the occurrences related in the following pages appear to Western readers, that I deem it necessary to state that they are also true. Most of the stories, incidents, and characters are known to me personally to be real, while of such narratives as I received from others I can say that "I tell the tale as it was told to me," and written down by me at the time. In some cases I have substituted fictitious for real names, in order to shield from what might be undesired publicity persons still living.

I gladly acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Francis George Shaw for valuable advice and aid in the preparation of this work for the press, and to Miss Sarah Bradley, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Bradley of Bangkok, for her kindness in providing me with photographs, otherwise unattainable, for some of the illustrations.


New Brighton, Staten Island,

September 13, 1872.



DEDICATION.

To the noble and devoted women whom I learned to know, to esteem, and to love in the city of the Nang Harm, I dedicate the following pages, containing a record of some of the events connected with their lives and sufferings.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

I. THE IDOL OF BUDDHA
II. THE EMERALD IDOL
III. A SIAMESE SLAVE-GIRL
IV. A SIAMESE FLOWER-GIRL
V. GUARD OF AMAZONS
VI. PALM-TREES NEAR THE NEW ROAD, BANGKOK
VII. A YOUNG SIAMESE NOBLEMAN
VIII. SMÂYÁTEE
IX. A ROYAL ACTRESS
X. RUNGEÂH, THE CAMBODIAN PROSELYTE
XI. LADIES OF THE ROYAL HAREM AT DINNER
XII. A LAOTIAN
XIII. CRENELLATED TOWERS OF THE INNER CITY
XIV. AN AMAZON OF THE ROYAL BODY GUARD
XV. QUEEN OF SIAM
XVI. KING OF SIAM
XVII. TEMPLE AND RUINS OF KAMPOOT

CONTENTS.

I. "Huang Thai," or the Kingdom of the Free
II. Tuptim: A Tragedy of the Harem
III. Tuptim's Trial
IV. The King changes his Mind
V. Slavery in the Grand Royal Palace of the "Invincible and Beautiful Archangel"
VI. Khoon Thow App, the Chief of the Female Judges
VII. The Rajpoot and his Daughter
VIII. Among the Hills of Orissa
IX. The Rebel Duke P'haya Si P'hifoor
X. The Grandson of Somdetch Ong Yai, and his Tutor P'hra Chow Saduman
XI. The Heroism of a Child
XII. The Interior of the Duke Chow P'haya Mȃndtree's Harem
XIII. A Night of Mysteries
XIV. "Weeping may endure for a Night, but Joy cometh in the Morning"
XV. The Favorite of the Harem
XVI. May-Peȃh, the Laotian Slave-Girl
XVII. An Accidental Discovery of the Whereabouts of the Princess Sunartha Vismita
XVIII. Lady Thieng, the Head Wife and Superintendent of the Royal Cuisine
XIX. The Princess Sunartha Vismita
XX. Pak Laut, or the Mouth of the Ocean
XXI. Narrative of the Princess of Chiengmai
XXII. "Bijrepuree," or the Diamond City
XXIII. The Deaf and Dumb Changeling
XXIV. Witchcraft in Siam in Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-Six,
           Compared With Witchcraft In England In seventeen Hundred and Sixteen

XXV. Trial for Witchcraft
XXVI. The Christian Village of Tȃmsèng, or of Thomas the Saint
XXVII. Nang Rungeâh, the Cambodian Proselyte
XXVIII. Ad ogni Uccello suo Nido è bello, — "To every Bird its own Nest is charming"
XXIX. Stray Leaves from the Royal School-Room Table
XXX. The Siamese System of Slavery
XXXI. The Royal Proclamations
A Legend of the Gold and Silver Mines of Siam


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