The deep and disciplined intelligence of Tancred, trained in all
the philosophy and cultured with all the knowledge of the West, acted
with magnetic power upon a consciousness the bright vivacity of which
was only equalled by its virgin ignorance of all that books can teach,
and of those great conclusions which the studious hour can alone
elaborate. Fakredeen hung upon his accents like a bee, while Tancred
poured forth, without an effort, the treasures of his stored memory and
long musing mind. He went on, quite unconscious that his companion was
devoid of that previous knowledge, which, with all other persons, would
have been a preliminary qualification for a profitable comprehension of
what he said. Fakredeen gave him no hint of this: the young Emir trusted
to his quick perception to sustain him, although his literary training
was confined to an Arabic grammar, some sentences of wise men, some
volumes of poetry, and mainly and most profitably to the clever Courier
de Smyrne, and occasionally a packet of French journals which he
obtained from a Levantine consul.
It was therefore with a feeling not less than enthusiastic that
Fakredeen responded to the suggestive influence of Tancred. The want
that he had long suffered from was supplied, and the character he had
long mused over had appeared.
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