Napoleon's Egypt: Invading The Middle East - Reenactor.ru

THE FESTIVAL OF THE REPUBLIC177ments with their body language (or lack of it). The commander in chief foundwith these Ottoman-Egyptian women “neither reciprocity nor any charm of society.”Other French officers had better luck with the abandoned wives of the beys,suggesting that the Georgians singled Bonaparte out for special opprobrium asthe commander in chief of the invading army and author of their downfall.Ironically, before he encountered Fatima, Bernoyer, that Jacobin championof the Enlightenment and designer of uniforms, had been tempted to become aslave owner. He met a Captain Lunel, from Avignon, who proposed that the twoof them go to the bazaar, where a caravan had just arrived with a large numberof female slaves, “blacks for the most part.” 27 They went to the slave auction, “avast building like a monastery,” and saw that in the courtyard slaves were beingsold. 28 The Sudanese women were in grass skirts and “all smelled very bad.” Attheir complaints, the auctioneer displayed for them better women, but they stillwere not impressed. Then, with a show of reluctance, he took them upstairs andlet them inspect his two best, “marvels” that no other customer had yet seen.They were sitting on the ground. When the two Frenchmen entered, theystood and drew their veils over their faces. The auctioneer commanded them todisrobe but they refused. Bernoyer wrote,Then I approached one of them and, so as not to startle her, I smiled tenderlyat her. Delicately, I lifted her veil. I remarked a slight resistance. I perceived,shining in her eyes, a secret joy when she saw that I was avidly following all thealluring and marvelous curves of her body. Her modesty required that I be theone who disrobed her. She covered herself from one side when I uncovered herfrom another. I absolutely could not stop admiring that body, so perfect—theslenderness of the arms, the harmony of the legs, the two breasts rounded andfirm, the symmetrical hips, all demarcating an astonishingly flat stomach,lightly creased down the middle to the navel . . . and, lower down, that densetuft of coiled hair, which allowed one to divine the intimate entrance to an instantof pleasure that one would never forsake. 29Despite his enthusiasm, Bernoyer found the price prohibitive. The auctioneerwanted 1,800 francs for each woman. Bernoyer offered 1,600. Lunel remonstratedwith him that this offer was entirely too high. The auctioneer declinedto bargain. So, to demonstrate their uninterest, they left, expecting him to callthem back. He did not budge. They walked about the bazaar for half an hour,hoping to soften him up. When they came back, Bernoyer was dismayed to findthe two women already sold.