Dthemetri, However, Who Generally Came With Me When I Went Out, In
Order To Do Duty As Interpreter, Really Had
In him some enthusiasm.
He was a zealous and almost fanatical member of the Greek Church,
and had long since
Performed the pilgrimage, so now great indeed
was the pride and delight with which he guided me from one holy
spot to another. Every now and then, when he came to an unoccupied
shrine, he fell down on his knees and performed devotion; he was
almost distracted by the temptations that surrounded him; there
were so many stones absolutely requiring to be kissed, that he
rushed about happily puzzled and sweetly teased, like "Jack among
the maidens."
A Protestant, familiar with the Holy Scriptures, but ignorant of
tradition and the geography of modern Jerusalem, finds himself a
good deal "mazed" when he first looks for the sacred sites. The
Holy Sepulchre is not in a field without the walls, but in the
midst, and in the best part of the town, under the roof of the
great church which I have been talking about. It is a handsome
tomb of oblong form, partly subterranean and partly above ground,
and closed in on all sides except the one by which it is entered.
You descend into the interior by a few steps, and there find an
altar with burning tapers. This is the spot which is held in
greater sanctity than any other at Jerusalem. When you have seen
enough of it you feel perhaps weary of the busy crowd, and inclined
for a gallop; you ask your dragoman whether there will be time
before sunset to procure horses and take a ride to Mount Calvary.
Mount Calvary, signor?
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