At Dawn We Arose, Washed, Prayed, And Broke Our Fast[FN#22] Upon A
Crust Of Stale Bread, Before Smoking
A pipe, and drinking a cup of
coffee.[FN#23] Then it was time to dress, to mount, and to
Visit the
Harim or one of the Holy Places outside the city. Returning before the
sun became intolerable, we sat together, and with conversation, Shishas
and Chibuks,[FN#24] coffee, and cold water perfumed with
mastich-smoke,[FN#25] we whiled away the time till our
[p.299] "Ariston," a dinner which appeared at the primitive hour of 11
A.M. The meal, here called Al-Ghada, was served in the Majlis on a
large copper tray, sent from the upper apartments. Ejaculating
"Bismillah"-the Moslem "grace"-we all sat round it, and dipped equal
hands in the dishes set before us. We had usually unleavened bread,
different kinds of meat and vegetable stews; and, at the end of the
first course, plain boiled rice eaten with spoons; then came the
fruits, fresh dates, grapes, and pomegranates.
After dinner I used invariably to find some excuse-such as the habit of
a "Kaylulah[FN#26]" (mid-day siesta) or the being a "Saudawi[FN#27]"-a
person of melancholy temperament-to have a rug spread in the dark
passage behind
[p.300] the Majlis; and there to lie reading, dozing, smoking, or
writing, en cachette, in complete deshabille, all through the worst
part of the day, from noon to sunset.
Then came the hour for receiving or paying visits. We still kept up an
intimacy with Omar Effendi and Sa'ad the Demon, although Salih Skakkar
and Amm Jamal, either disliking our society, or perhaps thinking our
sphere of life too humble for their dignity, did not appear once in
Hamid's house. The evening prayers ensued, either at home, or in the
Harim, followed by our Asha or "deipnon," another substantial meal like
the dinner, but more plentiful, of bread, meat, vegetables, plain rice
and fruits, concluding with the invariable pipes and coffee.
To pass our soiree, we occasionally dressed in common clothes,
shouldered a Nabbut,[FN#28] and went to the cafe; sometimes on festive
occasions we indulged in a Taatumah (or Itmiyah), a late supper of
sweetmeats, pomegranates, and dried fruits. Usually we sat upon
mattresses spread upon the ground in the open air at the Shaykh's door;
receiving evening visits, chatting, telling stories, and making merry,
till each, as he felt the approach of the drowsy god, sank down into
his proper place, and fell asleep.
Whatever may be the heat of the day, the night at Al-Madinah, owing, I
suppose, to its elevated position, is cool and pleasant. In order to
allay the dust, the ground before the Shaykh's door was watered every
evening, and the evaporation was almost too great to be safe,-the boy
Mohammed suffered from a smart attack of lumbago,
[p.301] which, however, yielded readily to frictions of olive oil in
which ginger had been boiled.
Our greatest inconvenience at night-time was the pugnacity of the
animal creation. The horses of the troopers tethered in the Barr were
sure to break loose once in twelve hours. Some hobbled old nag, having
slipped the headstall, would advance with kangaroo-leaps towards a
neighbour against whom it had a private grudge. Their heads would touch
for a moment; then came a snort and a whinny, a furious kick, and,
lastly, a second horse loose and dashing about with head and tail
viciously cocked. This was the signal for a general breaking of halters
and heel-ropes; after which, a "stampede" scoured the plain, galloping,
rearing, kicking, biting, snorting, pawing, and screaming, with the
dogs barking sympathetically, and the horse-keepers shouting in hot
pursuit.
It was a strange sight to see by moonlight the forms of these "demon
steeds" exaggerated by the shades; and, on more than one occasion, we
had all to start up precipitately from our beds, and yield them to a
couple of combatants who were determined to fight out their quarrel a
l'outrance, wherever the battle-field might be.
The dogs at Al-Madinah are not less pugnacious than the horses.[FN#29]
They are stronger and braver than those that haunt the streets at
Cairo; like the Egyptians, they have amongst themselves a system of
police regulations, which brings down all the posse comitatus upon the
unhappy straggler who ventures into a strange quarter of the town. They
certainly met in Al-Barr upon common
[p.302] ground, to decide the differences which must arise in so
artificial a state of canine society.
Having had many opportunities of watching them, I can positively assert
that they were divided into two parties, which fought with a skill and
an acharnement that astounded me. Sometimes when one side gave way, and
as the retreat was degenerating into a sauve qui peut, some proud
warrior, a dog-hero, would sacrifice himself for the public weal, and
with gnashing teeth and howls of rage encounter the assaults of the
insolent victors until his flying friends had time to recover heart.
Such an one my companions called "Mubariz.[FN#30]" At other times, some
huge animal, an Ajax of his kind, would plunge into the ring with
frantic yells, roll over one dog, snap at a second, worry a third for a
minute or two, and then dash off to a distant part, where a thicker
field required his presence. This uncommon sagacity has been remarked
by the Arabs, who look on amused at their battles. Current in Al-Hijaz
are also certain superstitions about the dog resembling ours; only, as
usual, more poetical and less grotesque. Most people believe that when
the animal howls without apparent cause in the neighbourhood of a
house, it forbodes death to one of the inmates; for the dog they say
can distinguish the awful form of Azrail, the Angel of Death, hovering
over the doomed abode, whereas man's spiritual sight is dull and dim by
reason of his sins.
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