It Was A Fair Lesson Of
Humility For A Man To Find Himself Ranked Beneath This High-Shouldered,
Spindle-Shanked, Beardless Bit Of Neutrality; And As Such I Took It
Duly To Heart.
The dinner was served up in a Sini, a plated copper tray about six feet
in circumference, and handsomely ornamented with arabesques and
inscriptions.
Under this was the usual Kursi, or stool, composed of
mother-o’-pearl facets set in sandal-wood; and upon it a well-tinned and
clean-looking service of the same material as the Sini. We began with a
variety of stews—stews with spinach, stews with Bamiyah (hibiscus), and
rich vegetable stews. These being removed, we dipped hands in Biryani,
a meat pillaw, abounding in clarified butter; Kimah, finely chopped
meat; Warak Mahshi, vine leaves filled with chopped and spiced mutton,
and folded into small triangles; Kabab, or bits of roti spitted in
mouthfuls upon a splinter of wood; together with a Salatah of the
crispest cucumber, and various dishes of water-melon cut up into
squares.
Bread was represented by the Eastern scone, but it was of superior
flavour, and far better than the ill-famed Chapati of India. Our drink
was water perfumed with mastic. After the meat came a Kunafah, fine
vermicelli sweetened with honey, and sprinkled with powdered white
sugar; several stews of apples and quinces; Muhallibah, a thin jelly
made of rice, flour, milk, starch, and a little perfume; together with
squares of Rahah,[FN#15] a confiture
[p.257] highly prized in these regions, because it comes from
Constantinople. Fruits were then placed upon the table; plates full of
pomegranate grains and dates of the finest flavour.[FN#16] The dinner
concluded with a pillaw of rice and butter, for the easier discussion
of which we were provided with carved wooden spoons.
Arabs ignore the delightful French art of prolonging a dinner. After
washing your hands, you sit down, throw an embroidered napkin over your
knees, and with a “Bismillah,” by way of grace, plunge your hand into the
attractive dish, changing ad libitum, occasionally sucking your
finger-tips as boys do lollipops, and varying that diversion by
cramming a chosen morsel into a friend’s mouth. When your hunger is
satisfied, you do not sit for your companions; you exclaim “Al Hamd!” edge
away from the tray, wash your hands and mouth with soap, display signs
of repletion, otherwise you will be pressed to eat more, seize your
pipe, sip your coffee, and take your “Kayf.” Nor is it customary, in these
lands, to sit together after dinner—the evening prayer cuts short the
seance. Before we rose to take leave of Ali bin Ya Sin, a boy ran into
the room, and displayed those infantine civilities which in the East
are equivalent to begging a present. I slipped a dollar into his hand;
at the sight of which he, veritable little Meccan, could not contain
his joy. “The Riyal!” he exclaimed; “the Riyal! look, grandpa’, the good
Effendi has given me a Riyal!” The old gentleman’s eyes twinkled with
emotion:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 170 of 331
Words from 88079 to 88595
of 175520
