The Eyebrows Are Long, Bushy, And Crooked, Broken, As It Were, At
The Angle Where “Order” Is Supposed To Be, And Bent In Sign Of
Thoughtfulness.
Most popular writers, following De Page,[FN#10]
describe the Arab eye as large, ardent,
[P.82] and black. The Badawi of the Hijaz, and indeed the race
generally, has a small eye, round, restless, deep-set, and fiery,
denoting keen inspection with an ardent temperament and an impassioned
character. Its colour is dark brown or green-brown, and the pupil is
often speckled. The habit of pursing up the skin below the orbits, and
half closing the lids to exclude glare, plants the outer angles with
premature crows’-feet. Another peculiarity is the sudden way in which the
eye opens, especially under excitement. This, combined with its fixity
of glance, forms an expression now of lively fierceness, then of
exceeding sternness; whilst the narrow space between the orbits
impresses the countenance in repose with an intelligence not destitute
of cunning. As a general rule, however, the expression of the Badawi
face is rather dignity than that cunning for which the Semitic race is
celebrated, and there are lines about the mouth in variance with the
stern or the fierce look of the brow. The ears are like those of Arab
horses, small, well-cut, “castey,” and elaborate, with many elevations and
depressions. The nose is pronounced, generally aquiline, but sometimes
straight like those Greek statues which have been treated as prodigious
exaggerations of the facial angle.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 102 of 630
Words from 27548 to 27800
of 175520
