Chapter 39: The Aga’s Test

Irem is called away before I can learn much more about Ahmed, but what she has told me may be useful. Anna is eager to meet the two Hungarian girls in one of the other dormitories. We don’t have time to go looking for them now, but I promise Anna that we will do so tomorrow. In the meantime I prepare myself for tomorrow’s lessons. I’m pleased with the progress made today, and with most of the girls’ mental adjustment to their new surroundings. Şenay, the Polish girl, is the only girl whose mental state causes me some concern. At the other extreme, Anna’s acceptance of her circumstances is a big surprise to me. I had expected rebellion, but instead she seems to enjoy the prospect of harem life. Of course, given the ingenuity of her previous escape attempts, her behaviour now could all be a ruse.

Araj Aga makes an inspection of his six charges before bedtime. I don’t know why he feels it necessary to do so, and it makes each girl nervous when he stands so close to them. Unfortunately the girl’s nervousness seems to please him and I suspect that is why he is making such a thorough inspection. He finishes his inspection by walking over to me. He tries to intimidate me by standing very close, but he backs off when I show no reaction. Having endured Gülsah’s intimidation in Constantinople, I’m not naïve to such tricks.

“How well are these slaves progressing with their lessons?” he asks me.

“As well as can be expected after only half a day’s training,” I reply.

“Which girl understands Turkish the best?” he asks, persisting in referring to the young women as girls, and insisting that I do the same.

“It’s too early to say,” I reply, hiding my annoyance at such a pointless question. “So far I’ve only covered simple words and phrases. I don’t expect any of them to be ready to hold a conversation in Turkish for at least a week.”

“I shall test each of them tomorrow night,” growls Araj Aga. “There will be consequences for any girl who fails the test. Ahmed Sultan is eager to meet his slaves but Şah Sultan refuses to allow it until the girls are ready. You and your two kalfas had better work them hard tomorrow. Şah Sultan will not be pleased with you if I can’t report good progress in the girls’ training.”

“I know my duty, Araj Aga,” I reply, being careful not to show how angry I am with him. I know better than to argue with fools, particularly vindictive bullies like Araj Aga. If Şah Sultan has any problem with my work, then she can discuss it directly with me.

Having unsettled the his charges, as he probably intended, Araj Aga leaves us in peace. I decide against trying to tell them about Araj Aga’s test. They may not understand, and there’s no point in causing them more worry. They won’t learn Turkish any faster under the cloud of Araj Aga’s threats. We prepare for bed and I have an uneasy night’s sleep.

Next morning I discover that Araj Aga also repeated his threats to the two young kalfas, Birgül and Didem. They are worried about Şah Sultan’s reaction should Araj Aga carry out his threat. There’s not much I can say to ease their minds, but we all agree to start with the lessons as soon as breakfast is finished.

Since I have no idea what Araj Aga intends to test, I decide to carry out the lesson I prepared yesterday without any changes. I recall the lessons I received when I was taught Turkish and I follow the same pattern of instruction. Fortunately the harem store contains plenty of visual aids used by previous language instructors. I’m not the first person to teach the Turkish language to new arrivals in the harem, and I know I won’t be the last.

Birgül and Didem spend the rest of the morning giving tuition in etiquette and hygiene. They are experienced tutors and manage to cover most of their material without needing my help. I feel we have all made good progress by the end of the this morning’s sessions. If we had enough time all of them will soon be trained to a good standard. Unfortunately the kalfas are being forced to condense several months of training into a few weeks, and some subjects will probably be omitted entirely. Hopefully Sultanzade Ahmed will allow them to complete their training. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t allow it, but anything is possible if he’s relying on Araj Aga for advice.

Anna remains during the kalfa’s tuition. I remind her that she isn’t obliged to do so, but she chooses to stay. She says that since Sultan Suleiman has ordered that she be treated as a hatun, she should learn everything necessary to be a concubine fit for a sultan. I’m not certain Sultan Suleiman meant for her to be trained as a concubine, but I don’t argue with her.

I hold another Turkish language lesson in the afternoon. The lesson reinforces my earlier observation that Anna, Aysun, Mehtap and Nuray are finding the lessons easier than the other three. It’s fortunate that Anna can speak English and German, and she does so regularly during lessons, despite her refusal to speak anything but Hungarian when we first met. Her ability to speak German has helped her to coach Mehtap. Perhaps I should try and find time to do the same with Şenay, whose native language is Polish. But I think it is Şenay’s sour mood and reluctance to accept her enslavement is the real cause of her difficulties. The rapid progress of the two English women, Aysun and Tülay, is a pleasant surprise. They are both eager and talented in picking up Turkish. It would be easy to dismiss their progress as a consequence of them wanting to communicate in a place where nobody else speaks their native language. But the extent of their Turkish vocabulary in such a short time indicates they both have a natural gift for learning languages. If Araj Aga asks me again which of them can speak Turkish the best, my answer would be Aysun, although Tülay could run her a close second.

More lessons from Birgül and Didem throughout the afternoon leave tutors and students exhausted by the time we finish for the day. We could run further lessons in the evening, but Birgül and Didem have other duties needing their attention, and I promised Anna we would go and find the two Hungarian captives who are part of Kadir’s personal harem.